Kash Patel says FBI was ‘kept out’ of Nancy Guthrie search for first 4 days – National
FBI Director Kash Patel has criticized authorities in Arizona for their handling of the Nancy Guthrie investigation three months into the search for Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother, who was reported missing on Feb. 1.
During a May 5 episode of Sean Hannity’s “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, Patel said that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department waited too long to get the FBI involved in the investigation.
“The first 48 hours of anyone’s disappearance are the most critical. It is a state matter and a local law enforcement matter. What we, the FBI, do is say, ‘Hey, we’re here to help. What do you need? What can we do?’ And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation,’” Patel told Hannity.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has disputed Patel’s comments, in a statement Tuesday, saying, “Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is aware of FBI Director Kash Patel’s recent interview and statement.”
“Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight. A member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and present at the scene working alongside our personnel,” the statement continued.
“The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family. While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.”
Nanos’ statement noted that decisions regarding evidence processing were made on scene based on operational needs.
“The statement added: “The laboratory utilized the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Laboratory in Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outset and continue to collaborate in the analysis of evidence.”
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“We remain committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact-based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward,” Nanos’ statement concluded.
During his podcast interview, Patel made reference to the first surveillance photos of a potential subject in the investigation, which were released by the FBI 10 days after the search began.
“When we were finally let in, Sean, look what we did. We went in and got the Ring doorbell. And we said, ‘Hey, is anyone talking to Google?’ I called the leadership at Google… ‘Can we go in to the data before it’s deleted and see what we can find?’ That’s why you have that image, because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out,” Patel said.
“We could have gotten it days before,” Patel claimed of the footage. “We could have also maybe gotten more data.”
Patel said that he “launched hundreds of agents and intel staff to Phoenix and Tucson just for this case, just to be on standby, just to do the canvassing.”
When asked why the Pima County Sheriff’s Office sent the DNA evidence collected by authorities to a private lab in Florida, Patel said it was their jurisdiction “so it’s their call.”
“We said ‘we’ll take the DNA’ and again it’s a state and local matter, so it’s their call where to send the DNA. We have Quantico, best lab in the world. I had a fixed-wing aircraft on the ground ready to move it [the DNA] immediately through the night,” Patel claimed.
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will after finding blood near the doorstep of her home in the foothills outside Tucson, Ariz. The FBI later released surveillance videos showing a masked man on the porch that night.
Since their mother’s disappearance, Savannah and her siblings have shared multiple videos on social media and offered a US$1-million reward for information leading to the recovery of their mother.
“Every hour and minute and second, and every long night, has been agony since then,” Savannah said in a video in February. “Worrying about her and fearing for her and aching for her. Most of all, just missing her.”
By April, Savannah returned to the Today show anchor desk, appearing for the first time in over two months since her mother’s disappearance.
She was surrounded by viewers wearing yellow ribbons in honour of her missing 84-year-old mother and holding signs that read, “Welcome back, Savannah.”
Savannah stepped away from her Today show role in early February after her mother was reported missing.
The morning show host, who has been a Today host since 2012, read the morning’s biggest headlines and said, “We are so glad that you started our week with us and it’s good to be home.”
Her co-host, Craig Melvin, who was wearing a yellow tie, said that “it’s good to have you back at home.”
The search for Guthrie remains active and ongoing.
—with files from The Associated Press
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