Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is publicly challenging FBI Director Kash Patel over what he calls inaccurate statements about the investigation into 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie's disappearance, a dispute that raises hard questions about who fumbled what and when.
Nanos, in an interview on "The Sharpe Exchange," called Patel "misinformed" and said the two have never met or spoken. He accused the FBI director of releasing incorrect information about the case and warned that doing so "hurts the case." The sheriff pushed back directly on Patel's claim that local investigators delayed contacting the FBI after Guthrie was reported missing from her Tucson-area home on Feb. 1, The Hill reported.
Patel has told a different story. The FBI director said his agency was kept out of the investigation for four days after Guthrie vanished. He also revealed that Nanos sent DNA evidence to a private lab in Florida rather than the FBI's own facility in Quantico, Virginia, even though Patel said he had an aircraft on the ground ready to transport the evidence overnight.
In a separate interview covered by Fox News, Patel was blunt about the early days of the investigation.
"For four days, we were kept out of the investigation."
Patel added that when it came to the DNA evidence, he had resources ready to move fast.
"I had a fixed-wing aircraft on the ground ready to move it immediately through the night. And they said, we're sending it to Florida."
The sheriff's department pushed back on that account, claiming coordination with the FBI began without delay and that an FBI task force member was present on the scene. Nanos told interviewers he had "zero indication" that the Guthrie family was frustrated with local law enforcement's handling of the search.
But the dispute matters because of what was at stake. Nancy Guthrie, 84, is the mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie. She was reported missing from her home on Feb. 1, and the case quickly drew national attention. Savannah Guthrie has said she believes her mother is still alive. Sheriff Nanos said he shares that belief.
Whatever the friction between local and federal investigators, the FBI moved aggressively once it gained access. Patel released recovered doorbell camera footage showing a masked, gloved individual who appeared to be armed, tampering with and covering Nancy Guthrie's front door camera. The footage came from residual data in backend systems after recording devices had been physically removed from the home, a detail that suggests the suspect tried to destroy evidence, the Washington Examiner reported.
The FBI identified the suspect as a male, roughly 5 feet 9 inches with a medium build, carrying an Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack and wearing what appeared to be a handgun holster. A glove found approximately two miles from Guthrie's home was later DNA-matched to gloves worn by the masked figure, AP News reported.
A Tucson couple also discovered blood-stained gloves and a rock with dried blood in the desert roughly one mile from the home. Law enforcement sealed off a road two miles from the residence, tagged and towed a Range Rover SUV from a nearby restaurant parking lot, and executed a court-authorized search in Rio Rico, Arizona.
The investigation has also been complicated by fake ransom notes sent to the Guthrie family. A $6 million Bitcoin ransom demand surfaced early in the case, though the FBI's assessment of those notes has shifted over time.
Patel said within 36 to 48 hours of gaining full access, the FBI had identified multiple persons of interest using technical capabilities and private-sector partnerships.
"We have made substantial progress in these last 36 to 48 hours, thanks to the technical capabilities of the FBI and our partnerships, and I do believe we are looking at people who, as we say, are persons of interest."
A FedEx driver, Carlos Palazuelos, was detained in Rio Rico but released without charge. He told investigators he had never heard of Nancy Guthrie, the New York Post reported.
Sheriff Nanos is not operating from a position of unchallenged authority. He has faced scrutiny over accusations that he lied about being suspended from a previous job and misrepresented details on his resume. Those credibility questions hang over his public confrontation with Patel, even as Nanos insists the same investigative team has worked the Guthrie case from the beginning and still meets daily.
Nanos also told interviewers that familial genealogy, a technique that uses DNA databases to identify suspects through family connections, is being used in the investigation. He said it remains possible that the person responsible for Guthrie's disappearance is still in the Tucson area.
Meanwhile, the case has dragged on for months. The tip volume has been enormous, more than 13,000 tips to the FBI and 18,000 calls to the sheriff's department, but no arrest has been made. The investigation has stalled past the 150-day mark, and a private investigator has urged the public to keep calling in leads.
The rewards for information remain substantial. The Guthrie family is offering $1 million. The FBI has posted $100,000. And 88-CRIME, a local tip line, is offering $102,500. Anyone with information can contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or call the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520-351-4900.
At least one person who inserted himself into the case for the wrong reasons has already faced consequences. A California man received probation for sending a fake ransom note to the family, and a separate ransom imposter was sent to inpatient treatment ahead of sentencing.
Savannah Guthrie returned to the "Today" show in late March but has continued to plead publicly for help finding her mother. In an Instagram video, she appealed directly to anyone who might know something, Breitbart reported.
"It is never too late to do the right thing. And we are here. And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being, that it's never too late."
A separate home invasion investigation roughly 30 miles from where Guthrie vanished has also drawn attention from Pima County deputies, though no public connection to the Guthrie case has been established.
The dispute between Nanos and Patel leaves an uncomfortable question unanswered: did the first four days of this investigation go the way they should have? Patel says the FBI was locked out. Nanos says that is inaccurate. The sheriff's department says a task force member was on scene. Patel says he had a plane ready to rush DNA evidence to Quantico and was told the evidence was going to a private lab in Florida instead.
Both sides cannot be right. And while officials trade accusations, Nancy Guthrie, an 84-year-old woman, remains missing. No proof of her death has been presented, but no proof of life has surfaced either. The family has put up a million dollars. The FBI has released surveillance images of a masked, armed suspect. Thousands of tips have poured in. And still, nothing.
When an investigation this high-profile produces this little progress, the public deserves a clear accounting of who did what and when, not a press conference standoff between agencies that should be working the same side of the case.