Nancy Guthrie case: Patel says local officials delayed FBI help

Four months after the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, no suspect has been named, and FBI Director Kash Patel said that it is up to local authorities whether they choose to use FBI assistance, News.Az reports, citing NewsNation.

Authorities believe Guthrie was abducted from her Arizona home before she was reported missing on Feb. 1, 2026.

Speaking with NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich, Patel said the agency has been present since day one, offering assistance in the investigation into the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of TV anchor Savannah Guthrie.

“We showed up immediately and offered our assistance. We were not let in for four days. And that’s their choice,” Patel said of local law enforcement.

As months have passed without a suspect being identified and with Nancy Guthrie still missing, questions have been raised about decisions made by Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.

One concern was how the department handled evidence, including sending DNA evidence to a private lab for testing.

“We offered our assistance to go test the DNA. And it’s up to them. They chose to use a private laboratory,” Patel said.

When local authorities take advantage of FBI expertise, it can yield results, Patel said, pointing to images of a suspect recovered from a camera at Guthrie’s home.

“What the FBI is great at, what we did when we finally had access to the Ring doorbell camera, for example, we went to our partners at Google and we said, ‘Hey, we know that there wasn’t a paid subscription service, but let’s go look at the metadata and see if we can find a needle in a needle in a needle in a haystack,'” hes said.

The FBI is still offering assistance in the case, Patel said, as investigators continue to pore through tips in hopes of cracking the case.

“We continue to offer assistance,” Patel said. “I even visited our Tucson office, where we had 150 agents and analysts working on the Nancy Guthrie race to provide intelligence.”

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev