Kash Patel says Nancy Guthrie video may have been lost after FBI was kept out of case for days
TUCSON, ARIZONA: Fresh details have emerged in the investigation into the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie, with FBI Director Kash Patel saying this week that a four-day delay in bringing federal investigators into the case may have cost authorities valuable digital evidence.
Patel said investigators were able to recover only a small portion of Guthrie's Nest doorbell footage before it was erased, raising questions about what may have been lost before the FBI got involved.
Kash Patel says FBI raced to recover Nest camera footage
Nancy Guthrie, the mother of 'Today' host Savannah Guthrie, was taken from her Tucson home in the early hours of February 1, according to authorities.
Patel told Fox News Digital that the FBI worked alongside Google to recover cached footage from Guthrie's Nest doorbell camera.
Because she did not have a cloud subscription and her physical camera was missing, investigators had only a small window before the temporary data disappeared forever.
"We 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," Patel said. "But there was a chance that it was located in their cache just before it was being deleted."
Investigators were ultimately able to recover the video and still images that Patel later released publicly on February 10in hopes that someone would recognize the suspect.
Soon after, FBI experts developed a rough physical description of the masked man seen in the footage.
He was described as standing between 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a medium build and carrying a black Ozark Trail backpack.
Investigators believe additional footage may once have existed
Authorities say the masked individual appeared on Guthrie's Nest camera at least twice - once on the day of the alleged abduction and another time roughly three weeks earlier.
However, only a single still image from the earlier visit has been made public.
Patel believes earlier FBI involvement could have allowed investigators to recover even more evidence, including possible footage of the suspect's vehicle, additional video of the masked intruder or other images from the earlier visit to Guthrie's property.
Morgan Wright, CEO and founder of the National Center for Open and Unsolved Cases, agreed that timing likely played a critical role.
"What we do know is that the longer you wait, there's no chance of recovering the video," Wright said. "The earlier you get started, the better your chances. Waiting four days may have been fatal to the recovery of some video that could have been more illuminating."
Wright also suggested that because Google and the FBI successfully recovered part of the cached footage, earlier recordings may once have existed as well.
"If this was recovered from a backend cache, and it was almost deleted, that implies that another video was deleted because they would have been able to recover more than what they did," he said. "Timing is always an issue."
Kash Patel questions delay in federal involvement
Patel has previously maintained that the FBI was prepared to assist from the very beginning of the investigation and said he wanted to deploy a large number of agents immediately.
According to Patel, local authorities did not request the bureau's help until four days after Guthrie disappeared. By the time FBI agents arrived, Patel said the crime scene had already been released.
People had reportedly been allowed to approach Guthrie's front door, where her blood remained on the porch.
The FBI then resecured the property and spent hours examining the home, yard and additional security cameras.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has disputed Patel's characterization of the investigation, saying an FBI task force member was present during the early stages.
Patel, however, noted that the individual was not a federal agent.
