Kash Patel drops curious response as FBI sources blow up Nancy Guthrie ransom note story

FBI Director Kash Patel declined to comment Wednesday on the ongoing Nancy Guthrie case as a new Reuters report reveals that FBI sources say the ransom notes were fake.

During a press conference in Washington, D.C., Patel refused to discuss the ongoing investigation and said "locals are still in the lead," Fox News reporter Matt Finn wrote on X. "However in the Reuters report, the Pima County Sheriff's office deferred to the FBI on the ransom notes."

"I'm not going to comment on that, we are continuing to assist that investigation, we've always been in an assist role," Patel said. "It's a state matter being led by state authorities."

The Reuters report identified three kidnapping-related notes tied to Guthrie's disappearance.

"The disclosure that the FBI has discounted the veracity of the three notes - two of which were widely reported to have been communications from kidnappers - seemed to raise doubts about investigators' fundamental premise that Nancy Guthrie was abducted for ransom to begin with," Reuters reported.

"A spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff's Department, which is leading the overall investigation, declined to comment, citing its agreement to refer all inquiries regarding ransom notes to the FBI," according to Reuters.