Kash Patel claimed that local police in Arizona stopped the FBI from investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie for four days before they could go in.

The disappearance of NBC star Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother has lasted well over two months, perplexing a nation and law enforcement.

Some of the blame has been aimed at Patel, but the FBI director defended himself on Sean Hannity's podcast, saying that while Guthrie's case was a state matter, they were being kept out altogether by the Pima County Sheriff's Department.

'For four days we were kept out of the investigation,' he said, adding that this was especially damaging because 'the first 48 hours of anyone's disappearance are the most critical.

He said that when they were finally able to get involved, they were immediately able to get the Ring doorbell and communicated with Google to try and get whatever they could from it. 

The result was an infamous image of a masked man showing up at Guthrie's Arizona home. 

'That's why you have that image, because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out.'

Patel said that the Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos delayed them from getting that break in the case by days. 

'We would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information,' Patel claimed, with Hannity adding that it was a 'bad call.' 

They were able to launch 'hundreds' of agents and intelligence personnel to the area just for the case and offered to do anything needed to speed up the process.

In a statement to The New York Post, the sheriff's office disputed Patel's claims.

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

They added that the FBI and sheriff's department 'have worked in close partnership from the outset' and will continue to do so.  

'We remain committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact-based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward.'

Authorities have had more than 90 days on the case and failed to identify a single suspect in the case.

Nancy was last seen on January 31 after being dropped off by a family member at her home in the Catalina Foothills. 

Police believe she was taken against her will during the early hours of February 1. After she failed to show up at a friend's home that day, her family reported her missing.

Nancy's home surveillance footage showed a masked man at her door the night she went missing. Authorities have not been able to identify the man, nor have they zeroed in on a possible suspect.

Her disappearance remains unsolved after more than two months. 

From the start, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has endured relentless criticism for his handling of the case. 

The Daily Mail reported in February that the sheriff's department failed to deploy its fixed-wing Cessna aircraft to search the area around Nancy's home immediately after she was reported missing.

The aircraft, equipped with high-resolution thermal imaging cameras capable of scanning vast swaths of desert terrain, remained on the tarmac for roughly half a day, sources close to the sheriff's department told the Daily Mail. 

There was a staffing shortage that left the department without qualified pilots to fly the plane – a shortage people familiar with the situation blamed directly on Nanos.

Nanos has also acknowledged that crime scene tape around Nancy's house was put up and taken down on numerous occasions.

Nanos has also been accused of covering up a series of suspensions he received in the 1980s when he worked at the El Paso Police Department in Texas.

The Arizona Republic reported in April that Nanos testified during a December 2025 deposition that he had never been suspended while working as a police officer. 

This alleged misrepresentation, which Nanos denies, could lead to him being removed from office by the Pima County Board of Supervisors.