Kash Patel Called Out This Sheriff Over the Nancy Guthrie DNA as Investigation Hits Critical 100-Day Mark

Kash Patel publicly embarrassed a sitting county sheriff over botched DNA evidence in a kidnapping case watched by the entire nation.

Now the FBI has the evidence the sheriff's office sat on for weeks – and 100 days later, Nancy Guthrie is still missing.

The question isn't whether the DNA will crack this case open.

Kash Patel Says the Sheriff Blocked the FBI From Nancy Guthrie Evidence

Patel went on Sean Hannity's podcast May 5 and didn't mince words about Democrat Sheriff Chris Nanos' handling of the Nancy Guthrie abduction.

For the first four days after Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home on February 1, Patel said the FBI was shut out entirely.

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

When federal agents were finally let in, they immediately delivered – recovering doorbell camera footage by working directly with Google that showed a masked, armed man tampering with the camera the morning of the abduction.

"We could have gotten it days before," Patel said.

Then came the DNA.

Investigators recovered a strand from Guthrie's home that doesn't match her or anyone known to have been there – a potential gold-standard lead in a case that has produced virtually none.

Patel said the FBI offered to fly it to Quantico immediately.

"I had a fixed-wing aircraft on the ground ready to move it immediately through the night," Patel said. "And they said we're sending it to Florida."

The Florida lab held the evidence for weeks before it was finally transferred to the FBI.

Retired FBI agent Lance Leising told the New York Post that a DNA strand recovered near where a victim was last seen "would be a high priority for the FBI." Retired agent Jason Pack added that genetic genealogy work – building family trees to identify suspects – requires a level of precision that takes far longer than most people expect, and that every day of delay at an inferior lab compounds into weeks of lost ground.

Pima County Sheriff Nanos Has a Fraud Problem That Predates Nancy Guthrie

While Guthrie's family waits for answers, Nanos has been busy defending his own past.

The Arizona Republic reported in March that Nanos misrepresented his work history on his public resume – and in a sworn deposition.

He claimed he left the El Paso Police Department in 1984. Records show he resigned in lieu of termination in 1982.

That's not a clerical error. That's two years of fabricated employment history submitted to obtain a law enforcement position.

The internal affairs file from El Paso is worse. Over five years, Nanos accumulated 26 disciplinary allegations. They included beating a handcuffed suspect with a flashlight, allegations of excessive force, a shot fired, off-duty gambling, and insubordination. He was suspended eight times.

When the Arizona Republic confronted him, Nanos called it a "hit piece" and suggested they check his high school disciplinary file too.

His own deputies aren't laughing. The Pima County Deputies Organization – representing roughly 300 officers – voted unanimously for his resignation, with their president Sergeant Aaron Cross telling investigators the early days of the Guthrie case were "a sh**show," with detectives failing to communicate to each other which witnesses had already been interviewed. Two members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors have called for his removal or prosecution.

Nanos responded: "For 50 years, every sheriff here has had that. I can't listen to that. That's white noise."

Savannah Guthrie's Mom Has Been Missing 100 Days and the DNA Is Still Being Tested

The search for Nancy Guthrie hit its 100th day Monday with no arrests, no publicly identified suspects, and no confirmed leads.

She was 84 years old when a masked gunman appeared at her doorstep in the early hours of February 1. Her blood was found on the front porch. Her phone and personal belongings remained inside the house.

Her daughter, Today show host Savannah Guthrie, suspended her broadcasting duties and publicly begged for her mother's return. The family has offered a combined $1.2 million reward.

The only significant physical lead is that DNA sample – the one Nanos chose not to send to the world's best forensic lab when he had the chance.

The FBI is now running it through genetic genealogy analysis at Quantico. Patel put it plainly: "Our lab's just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn't get the chance to do that."

If that DNA produces a name, every day it sat in a Florida lab instead of Quantico is a day the suspect had to disappear.

Sources:

• Emily Crane, "Nancy Guthrie case may hang on DNA sample being probed by FBI as search reaches 100 days," New York Post, May 12, 2026.
• Fox News Digital, "Nancy Guthrie Case: Sheriff Nanos Says 'We Are' Closer to Solving 84-Year-Old's Abduction," Fox News, May 8, 2026.
• "Kash Patel, Arizona sheriff clash over handling of investigation into Nancy Guthrie disappearance," CBS News, May 5, 2026.
• "FBI Director Kash Patel criticizes handling of Nancy Guthrie case," The Hill, May 5, 2026.
• "Pima County supervisors move to compel sworn reports from Sheriff Nanos amid 'fraud' allegations," AZPM, March 24, 2026.
• "Pima County Sheriff amends resume following reports of misrepresented work history," AZPM, March 11, 2026.
• "Sheriff Nanos Under Pressure as Sergeant Calls Out Guthrie Investigation," Newsweek, May 8, 2026.