FBI Director Kash Patel has accused local investigators of keeping the bureau out of the early stages of the Nancy Guthrie case, as the 100-day mark passed with no public arrest, and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the investigation is still active.

The news came after Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother ofTodayco-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was last seen on 31 January at her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson, with family members reporting her missing the next day. Since then, the search has become a frustrating, highly visible tug-of-war, with federal and local authorities trading accounts of how the first days unfolded.

Speaking on the Hang Out with Sean Hannity podcast on 6 May, Patel said his team was effectively shut out just when federal support could have mattered most.

'The first 48 hours of anyone's disappearance are the most critical,' he told host Sean Hannity. '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 framed his criticism around speed and access, arguing that early involvement often allows the bureau to secure digital records and physical evidence before they are lost. He highlighted his own role in liaising with tech companies, saying he personally called senior figures at Google to secure footage from Guthrie's Ring doorbell camera.

The video, released on 10 February, showed a figure in a mask and gloves, carrying a backpack, walking up to Guthrie's front door in the early hours of the morning she disappeared. Patel told Hannity 'that's why you have that image, because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out.'

He also questioned, albeit indirectly, the decision byPima County detectivesto sendDNA samples gathered from Guthrie's home to a private laboratory in Floridarather than theFBI's own facility in Quantico, Virginia.

While he acknowledged it was a 'state and local matter, so it's their call,' he added that 'our lab's just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn't get the chance to do that.'

Patel suggested the FBI could have 'analysed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information.'

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has pushed back hard. In a written statement responding to Patel's comments, and in subsequent local interviews, he flatly rejected the suggestion that his office blocked the bureau.

Source: International Business Times UK