FBI Director Kash Patelhas claimed that his agents were kept out of the Nancy Guthrie investigation in Pima County, Arizona, for several days at the start of the case, telling a US podcast on 5 May 2026 that the sheriff's department did not initially cooperate with the bureau's efforts to assist.
After more than three months of often opaque progress in the hunt for answers over what happened toGuthrie, a case that has gripped US true-crime followers and drawn intense scrutiny of local law enforcement, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has formally led the investigation, with the FBI brought in as a supporting agency rather than the primary authority. That structure has fed weeks of speculation about whether information and evidence were being shared effectively between local and federal teams.
Pima County Sheriff Fires Back at Kash Patel Over Nancy Guthrie Case Critiquehttps://t.co/iGp7z9gxfSpic.twitter.com/ZSDVF3DoR4
Speaking on Fox News Media'sHang Out with Sean Hannitypodcast, Patel was asked directly about the state of the Nancy Guthrie inquiry. He did not go into operational detail, but he said the FBI was 'kept out of the investigation for days' and argued that his agency could have been useful earlier, including in DNA testing. The remarks, aired nationally, effectively confirmed rumours that the relationship between Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos and federal agents had been strained in the crucial early window.
Patel's comments are not backed up by published case files, and no timeline has been released showing exactly when the FBI was granted access to evidence. Nothing is confirmed yet and the claims remain unverified. Still, for families following the case from afar, the notion that federal specialists were sidelined at the outset is not a small matter. In the first days of any major investigation, decisions about scene security, laboratory work and digital forensics can shape everything that follows.
There is a certain irony here. The latest reporting suggests that relations between the two sides may now be significantly better than they were. On 3 May, NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin, who has been tracking the story closely, told Parade that, according to his sources, cooperation between the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI has improved. He also pushed back on some of the online anger directed at Nanos, saying he was trying to give the sheriff 'the benefit of the doubt.'
Entin acknowledged there had been 'issues' at the outset with Nanos not sharing information with the FBI, but said those problems were 'mostly' resolved. 'I think he has good intentions. I really do,' he told the outlet. That is hardly a ringing endorsement, yet it is an attempt to draw a line under what he portrays as an early misstep rather than an ongoing turf war.
FBI Director Kash Patel calls out Nancy Guthrie sheriff over handling of DNA: 'We would have analyzed it within days'https://t.co/z24cb5nU5Spic.twitter.com/rgfjQe2vn2
If this were simply a story of imperfect coordination, it might have faded. Instead, it has become entangled with Pima County's political history and the sheriff's own past run-ins with federal authorities.
Criticism has not only come from television pundits or online commentators. Pima County Board of Supervisors vice chair Dr. Matthew Heinz has publicly alleged that Nanos's dealings with the FBI over Nancy Guthrie have been coloured by resentment. Heinz pointed back to 2015, when Nanos was, according to the official, almost indicted on racketeering charges under the federal RICO statute charges that were never pursued.
Source: International Business Times UK
