FBI Blames Local Authorities for Delays in Nancy Guthrie Case
It has been nearly six months since Nancy Guthrie disappeared without a trace. Now the FBI is putting the blame on local authorities for fumbling the investigation from the start. Here is the latest on the missing persons case that has captivated the nation.
FBI Director Blames Local Authorities for Delay in Nancy Guthrie Investigation
In a new interview with Fox News Digital, FBI Director Kash Patel suggested that local authorities in Tucson, Arizona, may have compromised Guthrie's case by not involving federal authorities sooner. Patel said in the July 23 interview that delays in involving the FBI may have resulted in the loss of doorbell camera footage that could have helped authorities narrow down a suspect while time was of the essence.
Patel said that authorities "were looking for the needle of all needles in all haystacks. Because since she didn't pay for it, they didn't record that data," he noted of Guthrie's Google Nest camera. "But there was a chance that it was located in their cache just before it was being deleted," said Patel.
While the FBI worked with Google to recover the video footage from the camera, the crucial evidence was almost deleted as it was not intended to be stored long-term. Patel went on to say that there could have been additional videos that were not recovered before the FBI took on the case. He suggested that the evidential value of this potential footage will never be known, as local authorities did not act quickly enough to recover the video.
Patel has been overly critical of the investigative work of the Pima County Sheriff's Department. In a May 5 episode of Sean Hannity's podcast, the head of the FBI said that the local officials did not allow the FBI to get involved during the initial four days after Guthrie went missing.
Latest in the Guthrie Case
The 84-year-old mother of "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie was reported missing from her Tucson home in early February, with the case quickly turning into a media frenzy. Guthrie was last seen on Saturday, January 31, after having dinner with her daughter and son-in-law. Guthrie's son-in-law dropped her off at home after dinner, marking the last time that family members had contact with her.
Guthrie was reported missing the next morning when she failed to show up for Sunday morning church. The Pima County Sheriff's Department immediately launched a full-scale investigation; however, the FBI was not brought on until days later.
It was not until February 10 that the FBI released the still images and video that came from the Google Nest camera. The footage showed a man wearing a mask and gloves approach Guthrie's front door.
Law enforcement officials on both the local and national scene continue to investigate multiple ransom notes that were sent to Guthrie's family and various media outlets during the early days of her disappearance. The FBI said that it has reason to believe that some of the notes were legitimate while some of the letters were extortion attempts.
A later note said that Guthrie died shortly after she was taken as a result of her pre-existing heart condition. However, that has not been verified, as a body has not been recovered.
No arrests have been made in the case. The FBI recently confirmed that it “continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case."
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