May 6, 2026
Kash Patel Accuses Sheriff Of Bungling Nancy Guthrie Investigation
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RSS Feed FBI Director Kash Patel is accusing the Pima County Sheriff’s Department of mishandling the Nancy Guthrie investigation. Patel maintains the FBI was shut out of the first four days of the investigation despite the fact it sent hundreds of agents to the area, and offered to analyze DNA evidence at their labs in Quantico. Sheriff Chris Nanos disputed Patel’s claims in a statement, saying his department began working with the FBI without delay.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, shit is Wednesday, maybe the sixth and FBI Director Cash Battel didn't use these exact words, but for the most part, he said that Arizona authorities are a bunch of Keystone cops who essentially bungled the Nancy Guthrie investigation from the beginning, and with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Robes. Not his exact words, but he didn't leave a whole lot of room for interpretation in what he was saying, and he was saying they screwed up from the jump one hundred.
00:00:35
Speaker 2: Cash Battel went went on a podcast and blasted Sheriff Nanos, the entire Pima County Sheriff's department and said that if the FBI had been let in earlier, that the outcome could have been different. He was essentially saying, they could have found evidence sooner, they could have analyzed DNA better, and if those things had happened, maybe we would know where Nancy Guthrie is.
00:01:00
Speaker 3: So that was the implication for sure.
00:01:01
Speaker 1: And again we say implicated, Robes, he was, this is not one. And we assure you when we'll let you hear and we'll have his exact words, but Robes. This wasn't one of those things where you could leave open. Was he trying to say this or was trying to say that. Look, he was asked about it. This is on Sean Hannity's podcast. He was asked directly about that investigation, and he answered, but Robes. He said, from the beginning, this was the first headlines I saw about it was he said, Sheriff Nano's out there kept the FBI out at the beginning of the investigation, and cash Bettel followed up on it on that.
00:01:34
Speaker 3: That is absolutely correct.
00:01:36
Speaker 2: He one of the first things he said that the FBI was sidelined for four days. They were kept out of the investigation. And then he said, and look when we were finally let in, look what we did. We went in and we got the ring doorbell. And then he went on to praise what the FBI was able to uncover because he personally, he says, called Google authorities to make sure that they could get that image of that Mapes man. And that certainly was the biggest break in the case. But he's saying it could have come even sooner, which could have made a much bigger, much big.
00:02:10
Speaker 3: Sorry, I can't talk a much better difference.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: I can't talk a huge difference, this could aug difference.
00:02:16
Speaker 1: Well, I mean every second counted at the beginning of that investigation. And this guy's flat out saying that it's Sheriff Nano's fault that the FBI and all this expertise were kept out of a case in which those first forty eight hours were important. Robes. This is a pretty striking allegation to be saying, given what that case was, given that we still don't know where Nancy Guthrie is, and now Robes, even before any conclusion of the case, any results you got the top. Aren't these the two top lead investigators in this thing? It was the FBI and it was Nanos, absolutely, and these two are set one blaming the other for screwing this up.
00:02:54
Speaker 2: Yes, and I mean this has got to be devastating. I was thinking, and we'll get into some of the back and forth because it is point and it is concerning. But if you're Nancy Guthrie's family, if you're if you're a Savannah Guthrie, if you're her siblings, and you're listening to this, this is so painful to hear. Now, what could have happened, what should have happened, what didn't happen, And what do you.
00:03:17
Speaker 3: Gain from this? I don't know, but this is painful.
00:03:20
Speaker 2: I'm just hearing it through there through their lens, and this has got to be just beyond beyond ugly.
00:03:26
Speaker 3: This is just devastating.
00:03:27
Speaker 1: Well, it's it's that part when you think about the possibilities if something was actually screwed up at the beginning of the beginning of the investigation. That's devastating enough. But you two guys don't think enough of us to not do this publicly, to not be throwing like, what's the focus this morning, Robes. We didn't lead with a new lead in the investigation. We're talking about these two guys going at it. That that part almost seems that it's a little it's a disservice to the family. That part's asserting it absolutely is.
00:03:58
Speaker 2: When you have cash Betel saying when he was basically saying, and look, this certainly is true that the FBI is the reason why they were able to able to secure that image off the surveillance video. But he said, that's why you have that image because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out. We could have gotten that days before. We could have also maybe gotten more data had we been let in earlier.
00:04:21
Speaker 1: Is that true?
00:04:22
Speaker 3: This is what the director of the FBI is saying.
00:04:26
Speaker 2: And then he went on and this is also devastating to criticize the Sheriff's department's handling of the physical evidence. He says that the FBI offered to send that DNA evidence to.
00:04:39
Speaker 3: The FBI lab.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: He even said they had a plane waiting on the tarmac waiting to take that DNA straight to Quantico to let the FBI analyze it, and instead the sheriff said nope and chose a private lab in Florida.
00:04:57
Speaker 1: There were questions about that at the time that I'm to be honest with you, I never fully understood. But I take them at their word. Whatever the lap they used, it was capable. Okay, fine, But to hear cash Buttel say Robes, there was a you literally just have a plane sitting around with nothing else to do but wait on a DNA sample so they can fly it directly to Quantico to get examined. Okay. I would like to hear a follow up to why that wasn't done.
00:05:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, why wouldn't the PIMA County Sheriff's office have jumped on that opportunity and he look our eyebrows rose on this one when we heard cash Bettel say this. He said, I launched hundreds of agents and intel staff to Phoenix and Tucson just for this case to be on standby, just to do the canvassing. And we said we'll take the DNA. And again it's a state of local matter, so it's their call on where to send the DNA. We have Quantico, the best labs in the world, he said, we would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information. Our lab is just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn't get a chance to do that. I understand everybody's frustration.
00:06:10
Speaker 1: Wow, I don't know how you answer that. Oh well, excuse me, I should say. Now, I don't know how, but we're going to have the response from sheriff Nanos and the Ppa County Sheriff. They do have a response. But hearing that is pretty damning. Ropes.
00:06:24
Speaker 2: I just a I don't understand, if this is all true, why the local sheriff's department wouldn't have trusted and trusted the FBI with this very important information. And then I just don't understand why the FBI couldn't have convinced the sheriff's department to do it.
00:06:43
Speaker 3: I don't know how police look.
00:06:45
Speaker 2: We see this depicted in movies and television shows all the time. The local agencies are sparring with the federal agents because they it's our jurisdiction.
00:06:54
Speaker 3: I guess those turf wars do exist.
00:06:56
Speaker 2: But if that is true, that is incredibly sad to think that maybe perhaps extra information, more important information, information could have been I guess gleaned earlier.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: That's devastating to hear rubs.
00:07:09
Speaker 1: It happens on every and you and I have seen this hundreds of times in our career. Going to some major story and we'll go to that press conference and twenty people are lined up to speak because everybody has some jurisdictional point to make while they're up there. But this as much of a national story as this was, this was a local matter. And yes, Pema County Sheriff Danos was in charge, and that's it. The FBI director doesn't have the right to come in there and say this is what I'm going to do and tell you what to do. He doesn't that's how it work. It doesn't seem like that should be the case. But yes, as a reminder, folks, that is how these things work. And even if you do have Keystone cops, that's not my accusation. But doesn't matter who they are, how much experience they have. They are in charge. They can ask for help and they needed help Roes, but I can. But we have seen robes this jurisdiction, these fights over who's in charge, and it's not just a matter of sometimes who's in charge. If things go right, they want to know who's going to get the credit, and then they want to be careful because things go wrong, who's going to take the blame in this whole group. So, yes, this jurisdictional bull happens on all of these scenes.
00:08:19
Speaker 2: And that's so interesting you say that because taking the credit. That might be why cash Btel sent hundreds of agents, because he wanted to be the you know, the white Knights riding in on their horses, like saving the day. And then now it's very easy to say when we don't know where Nancy Guthrie is, there has been no real new information, they can say we were shut out. We wanted to help. They wouldn't let us, and that seems like what is going on right.
00:08:46
Speaker 1: Now, Robes, You strangely sounded like you were describing politics. That's all this ends up becoming. At the end of the day. No matter how big of a story, no matter how much the hearts are breaking of the Guthrie family, it was still important in this moment for Cash Betel to blame the pmal count of Shriff for something. Maybe he's frustrated, maybe he's upset. I don't know, but it's just you hate to see that this has been set off.
00:09:13
Speaker 3: Now you do.
00:09:14
Speaker 2: And I just again, this will be interesting too because I see NBC has covered this on the on their website online. But this has got to be tough because this is in the news. Savannah is now on the Today Show, she is reading the news aloud, and just this is one of the biggest stories of the day. Just to know that Cash Battel is airing literally all of law enforcement's dirty laundry regarding her mother's disappearance. I was just thinking how tough these types of news days might be for her, And look, any news is important for her. The main goal is to find Nancy Guthrie. But this infighting and this type of headline is the last thing you want to see.
00:09:53
Speaker 1: But it also doesn't bode well for these agencies having a good working relationship moving forward and trying to solve the damn crime. These two probably don't want to be in a room together at this point. That's in collaboration and in the tit for tat and retaliation. We wouldn't be surprised if Cash Betel said, you know, I am going to reduce the number of agents I have in Pima County moving forward, just cause I'm just saying these little tit for tats, it's not No. One seems to have the whole the main goal as the main goal.
00:10:25
Speaker 2: Which is to find eighty four year old Nancy Guthrie. So when we come back, we're going to tell you what Sheriff Chris Nanos has said. Yes, he released a statement, and I know you won't be surprised to know that he disputes pretty much everything Cash Battel has said. Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We are discussing the headlines that we didn't want to see regarding Nancy Goree. No, there's no new information about where she might be or what happened to her. But we are hearing from the two top law enforcement agents who would be in charge of this investigation. The FBI Director Cash Pattel going after the Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, saying that local agency, the Sheriff's department, did not do what it should have done in those first few days to try and find Nancy Guthrie. Namely, they claim that the local sheriff's department shut out the FBI didn't take up their offer for help, and that is why the investigation stands where it is today. Easy to say, and look, this is what he's claiming right now. So not shockingly, Sheriff Nano's definitely clapped back a bit.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, remind me Robes FORO. I forget this. When Cash Battel first, when the FBI first got involved. You remember his tweets. I saw, I thought he put some stuff out and was taking credit at the time, and one of folks to know he was on top of a note the President put out something on social media. It was that feeling of we're swooping in now and here we come, yes, and we are going to take credit for moving this investigation forward and maybe eventually finding Nancy Guthrie. As you're talking about this now we're going to give Nano's response, But rot that complete turn now? Is that what this really is is shifting blame. Yes, that we want to make We wanted to make sure we were going to be the heroes if it worked out. Now it doesn't seem to be working out. I should make this statement.
00:12:34
Speaker 2: Yes, we want to let y'all know that, Yeah, we did swoop in, we did canvas and blanket the area with our agents and our help and our technology and all of this, and they wouldn't let us help.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember. I thought he had some tweets. I don't know it was going to jog your memory. I thought he's put something out that got attention at the time about his involvement or him.
00:12:52
Speaker 2: He did, and we were kind of like, wow, what the hell FBI director is going.
00:12:56
Speaker 3: He was even saying he was going.
00:12:58
Speaker 1: To tucsone yes, yes, yes.
00:13:00
Speaker 3: And he said he already had a meeting there already.
00:13:01
Speaker 1: Yes, you're remembering, okay, yes, all that stuff.
00:13:04
Speaker 2: Yes, So he was trying to be the face of this and I don't think Sheriff Nanos wanted him to be, and I don't think cash Betel appreciated that very much.
00:13:12
Speaker 3: And here we are now. But here's look.
00:13:15
Speaker 2: The Pima County Sheriff's department put out quite a lengthy statement after cash Matel made his comments. So here is how it begins. 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 the scene, working alongside our personnel. The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family.
00:13:43
Speaker 3: This is my favorite part. While the FBI director was not on the scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.
00:13:50
Speaker 1: I thought that was a nice touch. That was well done. I don't give them a lot of credit for statements they put out over the past several months, but that one line was fairly brilliant.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: Yes, because it began with Sheriff Nano's reporting to the scene immediately and it ended with the FBI director not being on the scene.
00:14:08
Speaker 1: Okay, we're just acknowledging that maybe he's a little confused.
00:14:11
Speaker 3: Because he wasn't here that could be it.
00:14:13
Speaker 2: The statement goes on to say decisions regarding evidence processing were made on scene based on operational needs. The laboratory utilized by the PMA County.
00:14:23
Speaker 3: Sheriff's Department and the FBI lab.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: In Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outset and continued to collaborate in the analysis of evidence. That seems to fly in the face of what we heard from cash.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: Pttel exactly and precisely, but it left some room for interpretation as well. They have worked together closely in the past. I didn't exactly.
00:14:44
Speaker 2: They're collaborating in the analysis, Okay, yes, and then the statement ended with the sheriff saying that the Sheriff's Department remains committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward.
00:15:04
Speaker 1: I mean that was handled as best as you can. They didn't attack him, but they just kind of defended themselves that they were always most put in a position. I think ropes. They had to say something, and I think that was well said. It didn't seem personal. It just sorry you came after our agency. We put this out to defend ourselves, refute what you said, and move on.
00:15:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, we were there and you weren't. We know what happened, you don't. That was a little bit of the tone as well. And look, Sharck Nanos. Look and he has been criticized before for not working with the FBI, because two weeks into the investigation, he was defending that his office was in fact working with the FBI. He actually put out the statement on February thirteenth, so she was reported missing February first, two weeks later. He's like the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department are connected at the hip in case of blocking evidence from the FBI.
00:15:57
Speaker 3: That's just so far from the truth. So I had forgotten.
00:16:00
Speaker 2: Sheriff Nanos was being accused of not coordinating or cooperating with the FBI from the beginning. So this isn't a new accusation that's been hurled at him. He's been dealing with these accusations, just not directly from the FBI director himself.
00:16:17
Speaker 3: That brought it to a whole new level this week.
00:16:20
Speaker 1: It's the sixth. You probably forgot this, aren't we a week away from his hearing or something there. They're trying to possibly get him out of office there because they think he lied on his resume about his personnel history and history of being suspended when he was at a previous police department. All this stuff has now coming. This guy has been at the center of the investigation, but Robes he's been the headline unfortunately in this investigation.
00:16:50
Speaker 3: Oh, yes, he is embattled. I guess would be a good way.
00:16:55
Speaker 1: Well that is overused often, this is a good time for that year.
00:16:59
Speaker 3: He is currently embattled.
00:17:01
Speaker 2: Yes, the Pima County Board of Supervisors is considering removing him from his position based on him, they say, lying under oath and not being truthful about his past disciplinary actions which led to him being employed by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and ultimately becoming the sheriff himself.
00:17:21
Speaker 1: And he's been out there for what forty years, and one of the council members or whatever there said, he's perpetrated a fraud on my community for forty years. Like people that hate this.
00:17:30
Speaker 2: Guy, Yes, they want him out and there will be I believe it is next week. I'm trying to see, but it is this month. He will be potentially removed from his position. So yes, he is. He's been going through it. The spotlight has been on him. The outcome has not been what anybody wanted. We still don't know where Nancy Guthrie is. We still don't know who took her. She's been missing for more than three months. There are no suspects, there are no persons of interest. And these blood samples we're hearing Cash Hotel talk about these mixed blood samples that have someone's blood other than or DNA, other than a close family member. They're apparently going through genetic genealogy scrutiny right now.
00:18:13
Speaker 3: But the lab analyzing that has reported challenges.
00:18:16
Speaker 2: So it's speaking to a cash Btel is saying, should it let us do it? Should have let our labs do it, we would have had more success. But by the way, there's still that reward of one point two million dollars out there, not for an arrest, no for information leading to Nancy's recovery. That is what that money is for, not even to find the person responsible, but no, just to find where she is. And so we will continue to stay on this case. Unfortunately, not the headlines that Guthrie family was hoping for today, but With that, thank you for listening to us.
00:18:51
Speaker 3: Everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ. Holmes. We will talk to you soon.
00:19:00
Speaker 1: The Cation produced The Cat
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, shit is Wednesday, maybe the sixth and FBI Director Cash Battel didn't use these exact words, but for the most part, he said that Arizona authorities are a bunch of Keystone cops who essentially bungled the Nancy Guthrie investigation from the beginning, and with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Robes. Not his exact words, but he didn't leave a whole lot of room for interpretation in what he was saying, and he was saying they screwed up from the jump one hundred.
00:00:35
Speaker 2: Cash Battel went went on a podcast and blasted Sheriff Nanos, the entire Pima County Sheriff's department and said that if the FBI had been let in earlier, that the outcome could have been different. He was essentially saying, they could have found evidence sooner, they could have analyzed DNA better, and if those things had happened, maybe we would know where Nancy Guthrie is.
00:01:00
Speaker 3: So that was the implication for sure.
00:01:01
Speaker 1: And again we say implicated, Robes, he was, this is not one. And we assure you when we'll let you hear and we'll have his exact words, but Robes. This wasn't one of those things where you could leave open. Was he trying to say this or was trying to say that. Look, he was asked about it. This is on Sean Hannity's podcast. He was asked directly about that investigation, and he answered, but Robes. He said, from the beginning, this was the first headlines I saw about it was he said, Sheriff Nano's out there kept the FBI out at the beginning of the investigation, and cash Bettel followed up on it on that.
00:01:34
Speaker 3: That is absolutely correct.
00:01:36
Speaker 2: He one of the first things he said that the FBI was sidelined for four days. They were kept out of the investigation. And then he said, and look when we were finally let in, look what we did. We went in and we got the ring doorbell. And then he went on to praise what the FBI was able to uncover because he personally, he says, called Google authorities to make sure that they could get that image of that Mapes man. And that certainly was the biggest break in the case. But he's saying it could have come even sooner, which could have made a much bigger, much big.
00:02:10
Speaker 3: Sorry, I can't talk a much better difference.
00:02:12
Speaker 2: I can't talk a huge difference, this could aug difference.
00:02:16
Speaker 1: Well, I mean every second counted at the beginning of that investigation. And this guy's flat out saying that it's Sheriff Nano's fault that the FBI and all this expertise were kept out of a case in which those first forty eight hours were important. Robes. This is a pretty striking allegation to be saying, given what that case was, given that we still don't know where Nancy Guthrie is, and now Robes, even before any conclusion of the case, any results you got the top. Aren't these the two top lead investigators in this thing? It was the FBI and it was Nanos, absolutely, and these two are set one blaming the other for screwing this up.
00:02:54
Speaker 2: Yes, and I mean this has got to be devastating. I was thinking, and we'll get into some of the back and forth because it is point and it is concerning. But if you're Nancy Guthrie's family, if you're if you're a Savannah Guthrie, if you're her siblings, and you're listening to this, this is so painful to hear. Now, what could have happened, what should have happened, what didn't happen, And what do you.
00:03:17
Speaker 3: Gain from this? I don't know, but this is painful.
00:03:20
Speaker 2: I'm just hearing it through there through their lens, and this has got to be just beyond beyond ugly.
00:03:26
Speaker 3: This is just devastating.
00:03:27
Speaker 1: Well, it's it's that part when you think about the possibilities if something was actually screwed up at the beginning of the beginning of the investigation. That's devastating enough. But you two guys don't think enough of us to not do this publicly, to not be throwing like, what's the focus this morning, Robes. We didn't lead with a new lead in the investigation. We're talking about these two guys going at it. That that part almost seems that it's a little it's a disservice to the family. That part's asserting it absolutely is.
00:03:58
Speaker 2: When you have cash Betel saying when he was basically saying, and look, this certainly is true that the FBI is the reason why they were able to able to secure that image off the surveillance video. But he said, that's why you have that image because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out. We could have gotten that days before. We could have also maybe gotten more data had we been let in earlier.
00:04:21
Speaker 1: Is that true?
00:04:22
Speaker 3: This is what the director of the FBI is saying.
00:04:26
Speaker 2: And then he went on and this is also devastating to criticize the Sheriff's department's handling of the physical evidence. He says that the FBI offered to send that DNA evidence to.
00:04:39
Speaker 3: The FBI lab.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: He even said they had a plane waiting on the tarmac waiting to take that DNA straight to Quantico to let the FBI analyze it, and instead the sheriff said nope and chose a private lab in Florida.
00:04:57
Speaker 1: There were questions about that at the time that I'm to be honest with you, I never fully understood. But I take them at their word. Whatever the lap they used, it was capable. Okay, fine, But to hear cash Buttel say Robes, there was a you literally just have a plane sitting around with nothing else to do but wait on a DNA sample so they can fly it directly to Quantico to get examined. Okay. I would like to hear a follow up to why that wasn't done.
00:05:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, why wouldn't the PIMA County Sheriff's office have jumped on that opportunity and he look our eyebrows rose on this one when we heard cash Bettel say this. He said, I launched hundreds of agents and intel staff to Phoenix and Tucson just for this case to be on standby, just to do the canvassing. And we said we'll take the DNA. And again it's a state of local matter, so it's their call on where to send the DNA. We have Quantico, the best labs in the world, he said, we would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information. Our lab is just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn't get a chance to do that. I understand everybody's frustration.
00:06:10
Speaker 1: Wow, I don't know how you answer that. Oh well, excuse me, I should say. Now, I don't know how, but we're going to have the response from sheriff Nanos and the Ppa County Sheriff. They do have a response. But hearing that is pretty damning. Ropes.
00:06:24
Speaker 2: I just a I don't understand, if this is all true, why the local sheriff's department wouldn't have trusted and trusted the FBI with this very important information. And then I just don't understand why the FBI couldn't have convinced the sheriff's department to do it.
00:06:43
Speaker 3: I don't know how police look.
00:06:45
Speaker 2: We see this depicted in movies and television shows all the time. The local agencies are sparring with the federal agents because they it's our jurisdiction.
00:06:54
Speaker 3: I guess those turf wars do exist.
00:06:56
Speaker 2: But if that is true, that is incredibly sad to think that maybe perhaps extra information, more important information, information could have been I guess gleaned earlier.
00:07:08
Speaker 3: That's devastating to hear rubs.
00:07:09
Speaker 1: It happens on every and you and I have seen this hundreds of times in our career. Going to some major story and we'll go to that press conference and twenty people are lined up to speak because everybody has some jurisdictional point to make while they're up there. But this as much of a national story as this was, this was a local matter. And yes, Pema County Sheriff Danos was in charge, and that's it. The FBI director doesn't have the right to come in there and say this is what I'm going to do and tell you what to do. He doesn't that's how it work. It doesn't seem like that should be the case. But yes, as a reminder, folks, that is how these things work. And even if you do have Keystone cops, that's not my accusation. But doesn't matter who they are, how much experience they have. They are in charge. They can ask for help and they needed help Roes, but I can. But we have seen robes this jurisdiction, these fights over who's in charge, and it's not just a matter of sometimes who's in charge. If things go right, they want to know who's going to get the credit, and then they want to be careful because things go wrong, who's going to take the blame in this whole group. So, yes, this jurisdictional bull happens on all of these scenes.
00:08:19
Speaker 2: And that's so interesting you say that because taking the credit. That might be why cash Btel sent hundreds of agents, because he wanted to be the you know, the white Knights riding in on their horses, like saving the day. And then now it's very easy to say when we don't know where Nancy Guthrie is, there has been no real new information, they can say we were shut out. We wanted to help. They wouldn't let us, and that seems like what is going on right.
00:08:46
Speaker 1: Now, Robes, You strangely sounded like you were describing politics. That's all this ends up becoming. At the end of the day. No matter how big of a story, no matter how much the hearts are breaking of the Guthrie family, it was still important in this moment for Cash Betel to blame the pmal count of Shriff for something. Maybe he's frustrated, maybe he's upset. I don't know, but it's just you hate to see that this has been set off.
00:09:13
Speaker 3: Now you do.
00:09:14
Speaker 2: And I just again, this will be interesting too because I see NBC has covered this on the on their website online. But this has got to be tough because this is in the news. Savannah is now on the Today Show, she is reading the news aloud, and just this is one of the biggest stories of the day. Just to know that Cash Battel is airing literally all of law enforcement's dirty laundry regarding her mother's disappearance. I was just thinking how tough these types of news days might be for her, And look, any news is important for her. The main goal is to find Nancy Guthrie. But this infighting and this type of headline is the last thing you want to see.
00:09:53
Speaker 1: But it also doesn't bode well for these agencies having a good working relationship moving forward and trying to solve the damn crime. These two probably don't want to be in a room together at this point. That's in collaboration and in the tit for tat and retaliation. We wouldn't be surprised if Cash Betel said, you know, I am going to reduce the number of agents I have in Pima County moving forward, just cause I'm just saying these little tit for tats, it's not No. One seems to have the whole the main goal as the main goal.
00:10:25
Speaker 2: Which is to find eighty four year old Nancy Guthrie. So when we come back, we're going to tell you what Sheriff Chris Nanos has said. Yes, he released a statement, and I know you won't be surprised to know that he disputes pretty much everything Cash Battel has said. Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We are discussing the headlines that we didn't want to see regarding Nancy Goree. No, there's no new information about where she might be or what happened to her. But we are hearing from the two top law enforcement agents who would be in charge of this investigation. The FBI Director Cash Pattel going after the Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, saying that local agency, the Sheriff's department, did not do what it should have done in those first few days to try and find Nancy Guthrie. Namely, they claim that the local sheriff's department shut out the FBI didn't take up their offer for help, and that is why the investigation stands where it is today. Easy to say, and look, this is what he's claiming right now. So not shockingly, Sheriff Nano's definitely clapped back a bit.
00:11:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, remind me Robes FORO. I forget this. When Cash Battel first, when the FBI first got involved. You remember his tweets. I saw, I thought he put some stuff out and was taking credit at the time, and one of folks to know he was on top of a note the President put out something on social media. It was that feeling of we're swooping in now and here we come, yes, and we are going to take credit for moving this investigation forward and maybe eventually finding Nancy Guthrie. As you're talking about this now we're going to give Nano's response, But rot that complete turn now? Is that what this really is is shifting blame. Yes, that we want to make We wanted to make sure we were going to be the heroes if it worked out. Now it doesn't seem to be working out. I should make this statement.
00:12:34
Speaker 2: Yes, we want to let y'all know that, Yeah, we did swoop in, we did canvas and blanket the area with our agents and our help and our technology and all of this, and they wouldn't let us help.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember. I thought he had some tweets. I don't know it was going to jog your memory. I thought he's put something out that got attention at the time about his involvement or him.
00:12:52
Speaker 2: He did, and we were kind of like, wow, what the hell FBI director is going.
00:12:56
Speaker 3: He was even saying he was going.
00:12:58
Speaker 1: To tucsone yes, yes, yes.
00:13:00
Speaker 3: And he said he already had a meeting there already.
00:13:01
Speaker 1: Yes, you're remembering, okay, yes, all that stuff.
00:13:04
Speaker 2: Yes, So he was trying to be the face of this and I don't think Sheriff Nanos wanted him to be, and I don't think cash Betel appreciated that very much.
00:13:12
Speaker 3: And here we are now. But here's look.
00:13:15
Speaker 2: The Pima County Sheriff's department put out quite a lengthy statement after cash Matel made his comments. So here is how it begins. 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 the scene, working alongside our personnel. The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family.
00:13:43
Speaker 3: This is my favorite part. While the FBI director was not on the scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.
00:13:50
Speaker 1: I thought that was a nice touch. That was well done. I don't give them a lot of credit for statements they put out over the past several months, but that one line was fairly brilliant.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: Yes, because it began with Sheriff Nano's reporting to the scene immediately and it ended with the FBI director not being on the scene.
00:14:08
Speaker 1: Okay, we're just acknowledging that maybe he's a little confused.
00:14:11
Speaker 3: Because he wasn't here that could be it.
00:14:13
Speaker 2: The statement goes on to say decisions regarding evidence processing were made on scene based on operational needs. The laboratory utilized by the PMA County.
00:14:23
Speaker 3: Sheriff's Department and the FBI lab.
00:14:26
Speaker 2: In Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outset and continued to collaborate in the analysis of evidence. That seems to fly in the face of what we heard from cash.
00:14:36
Speaker 1: Pttel exactly and precisely, but it left some room for interpretation as well. They have worked together closely in the past. I didn't exactly.
00:14:44
Speaker 2: They're collaborating in the analysis, Okay, yes, and then the statement ended with the sheriff saying that the Sheriff's Department remains committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward.
00:15:04
Speaker 1: I mean that was handled as best as you can. They didn't attack him, but they just kind of defended themselves that they were always most put in a position. I think ropes. They had to say something, and I think that was well said. It didn't seem personal. It just sorry you came after our agency. We put this out to defend ourselves, refute what you said, and move on.
00:15:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, we were there and you weren't. We know what happened, you don't. That was a little bit of the tone as well. And look, Sharck Nanos. Look and he has been criticized before for not working with the FBI, because two weeks into the investigation, he was defending that his office was in fact working with the FBI. He actually put out the statement on February thirteenth, so she was reported missing February first, two weeks later. He's like the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department are connected at the hip in case of blocking evidence from the FBI.
00:15:57
Speaker 3: That's just so far from the truth. So I had forgotten.
00:16:00
Speaker 2: Sheriff Nanos was being accused of not coordinating or cooperating with the FBI from the beginning. So this isn't a new accusation that's been hurled at him. He's been dealing with these accusations, just not directly from the FBI director himself.
00:16:17
Speaker 3: That brought it to a whole new level this week.
00:16:20
Speaker 1: It's the sixth. You probably forgot this, aren't we a week away from his hearing or something there. They're trying to possibly get him out of office there because they think he lied on his resume about his personnel history and history of being suspended when he was at a previous police department. All this stuff has now coming. This guy has been at the center of the investigation, but Robes he's been the headline unfortunately in this investigation.
00:16:50
Speaker 3: Oh, yes, he is embattled. I guess would be a good way.
00:16:55
Speaker 1: Well that is overused often, this is a good time for that year.
00:16:59
Speaker 3: He is currently embattled.
00:17:01
Speaker 2: Yes, the Pima County Board of Supervisors is considering removing him from his position based on him, they say, lying under oath and not being truthful about his past disciplinary actions which led to him being employed by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and ultimately becoming the sheriff himself.
00:17:21
Speaker 1: And he's been out there for what forty years, and one of the council members or whatever there said, he's perpetrated a fraud on my community for forty years. Like people that hate this.
00:17:30
Speaker 2: Guy, Yes, they want him out and there will be I believe it is next week. I'm trying to see, but it is this month. He will be potentially removed from his position. So yes, he is. He's been going through it. The spotlight has been on him. The outcome has not been what anybody wanted. We still don't know where Nancy Guthrie is. We still don't know who took her. She's been missing for more than three months. There are no suspects, there are no persons of interest. And these blood samples we're hearing Cash Hotel talk about these mixed blood samples that have someone's blood other than or DNA, other than a close family member. They're apparently going through genetic genealogy scrutiny right now.
00:18:13
Speaker 3: But the lab analyzing that has reported challenges.
00:18:16
Speaker 2: So it's speaking to a cash Btel is saying, should it let us do it? Should have let our labs do it, we would have had more success. But by the way, there's still that reward of one point two million dollars out there, not for an arrest, no for information leading to Nancy's recovery. That is what that money is for, not even to find the person responsible, but no, just to find where she is. And so we will continue to stay on this case. Unfortunately, not the headlines that Guthrie family was hoping for today, but With that, thank you for listening to us.
00:18:51
Speaker 3: Everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ. Holmes. We will talk to you soon.
00:19:00
Speaker 1: The Cation produced The Cat