Patel and Pimos Clash Over Handling of Nancy Guthrie Probe

FBI Director Kash Patel accused Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos of shutting the federal agency out of the probe.

Published: 5/6/2026, 5:42:40 PM EDT

Patel and Pimos Clash Over Handling of Nancy Guthrie Probe — Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 3, 2026. He answered questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie.(Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos defended his probe into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie against FBI Director Kash Patel’s claims that the agency was kept out of the investigation early on.

Nanos on Monday dismissed Patel’s statements, saying that his department in fact began working with the agency right away.

“Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight,” the statement reads. “A member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and present at that scene working alongside our personnel. 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.”

Nancy Guthrie, the daughter of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen at her Tucson residence on Jan. 31 and reported missing Feb. 1. The Guthrie case garnered national attention and media outlets from across the nation flocked to Arizona to cover the story.

The FBI discovered crucial images of the kidnapping suspect tampering with Guthrie’s front door surveillance camera. Nonetheless, authorities have come up empty on any leads in the high-profile case.

Patel, during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, accused Nanos and the Pima County Sheriff's Department of keeping the FBI out of the loop during a crucial period of time in the investigation.

“The first 48 hours of anyone's disappearance are the most critical,” Patel told Hannity. “For four days, we were kept out of the investigation. And 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 into 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.”

The sheriff’s department responded to Patel’s claims that Nanos snubbed an offer to rush evidence to an FBI lab and defended the integrity of the investigation.

“Decisions regarding evidence processing were made on scene based on operational needs. The laboratory utilized by 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," the statement reads.

Nano added that the Pima County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to a “thorough, coordinated and fact-based investigation” and will continue to work with federal partners in the case.