Why hasn't FBI stepped in on Nancy Guthrie case? Patel blames local officials

Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance has entered into its fourth month with no apparent signs of her traces.

Four months into the disappearance, FBI Director Kash Patel spilled the beans on why FBI hasn’t stepped in in the case.

Patel appeared for a TV interview on NewsNation with Katie Pavlich on Thursday, June 4, 2026.

Patel said it is upto the local officials on whether they want to take advantage of FBI help as the agency remains available from day 1.

“We showed up immediately and offered our assistance. We were not let in for four days. And that’s their choice,” Patel blames local officials in an apparent reference to the Pima County Sheriff’s office.

On key issue of how the department handled evidence, including the transfer of DNA evidence to a private lab for analysis.

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

“What the FBI is great at, what we did when we finally had access to the Ring doorbell camera.”

Patel then recalled the agency sought Google assistance in the case, adding, “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.”

Patel is still making offers of assistance to solve the case; he added, “We continue to offer assistance. I even visited our Tucson office, where we had 150 agents and analysts working on the Nancy Guthrie race to provide intelligence.”

Months later, without a suspect being traced and with Guthrie still missing, questions have also been raised against Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.

Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother Nancy Guthrie disappeared on January 31 at her $1 million home in Tucson, Arizona.