The FBI says it will not intervene in an American Samoan investigation into the disappearance of local man unless formally asked by the territory's attorney general.
Wyatt Bowles Jr is feared to have been killed after he went missing in February.
Eight people have been arrested and charged in connection with the case, although his body is yet to be found.
His family has asked for FBI assistance in the case but the FBI says for stronger cooperation the American Samoan attorney general, Fiti Sunia, needs to make a formal request.
