Kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart says she still believes Nancy Guthrie could be alive, a message of measured hope in a case that has produced ransom notes, doorbell camera footage of a masked intruder, and no arrests after nearly half a year.
Smart, 38, who was abducted at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City home as a 14-year-old in 2002 and held captive for nine months, told E! News in an interview published Friday that the absence of a confirmed death should keep the search alive. Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie, was taken by force from her home in the Catalina Foothills area of Tucson, Arizona, in the early hours of February 1, Fox News reported.
Smart put it plainly:
"I want to remind people that there isn't a body, so there is still reason to have hope that she is alive and that we shouldn't give up until we find her."
She also pressed anyone with even minor knowledge to come forward. "If anyone knows anything or seen anything, or the smallest detail that might seem insignificant can make all the difference, just report it," Smart said.
Smart's credibility on this point is not abstract. In 2002, a married couple, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, kidnapped her at knifepoint from her family's home. Police rescued her nine months later in Sandy, Utah, roughly 20 miles south, after members of the public recognized Mitchell and Barzee from news coverage and called authorities. The case broke because ordinary people paid attention.
That parallel gives weight to Smart's appeal. Nancy Guthrie's case has now stretched well past the nine months Smart endured, and the public's memory tends to fade. A combined reward of more than $1.2 million, contributed by authorities, Tucson's Crime Stoppers affiliate (88-CRIME), and the Guthrie family, remains on the table for anyone with useful information.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department has said Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home against her will. AP News reported that investigators found signs of forced entry and determined the abduction occurred at night. Guthrie's cellphone, wallet, and car were all left behind, she did not leave on her own. Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed early in the investigation that Guthrie has mobility issues and cannot walk more than 50 yards unassisted, requires daily medication, and is "of sound mind."
The FBI and Google later released home security video recorded by Guthrie's Nest doorbell camera, which had been removed from the property. The footage, as National Review detailed, shows a masked individual carrying a backpack and what appears to be a gun tampering with the camera at 1:47 a.m. on February 1. The video was initially believed lost because Guthrie did not have a Google Nest cloud subscription, but residual data sitting in Google's server pipeline was recovered, a technical break that gave investigators their first visual evidence of the intruder.
Two images from the doorbell camera were also released. The FBI noted it remains unclear whether they show the same person.
The first ransom note in the case raised immediate questions about motive. Ransom demands ranging from $4 million to $6 million in Bitcoin were sent to local Tucson media outlets and to TMZ. Deadlines set in those notes passed without payment and without public consequence. At least one fraudulent ransom demand led to an arrest, but the legitimate notes have not been confirmed authentic by investigators.
A follow-up message, sent from the same IP address as the first ransom note, claimed Nancy Guthrie died accidentally shortly after her abduction and was "buried with nature now," the Washington Examiner reported. CNN and a Tucson television station had knowledge of the note but withheld it at law enforcement's request to protect the investigation.
Investigators have not confirmed the authenticity of either the ransom note or the death claim. DNA testing and other forensic work have been conducted, but results have not been made public. The FBI has continued to weigh whether certain ransom notes are genuine even as others have been exposed as fakes, a murky situation that has frustrated the family and the public alike.
No suspect or person of interest has been publicly identified. No arrest has been made in connection with Guthrie's disappearance.
Savannah Guthrie made an emotional plea on the "Today" show roughly 20 weeks after her mother's abduction, saying her family was living in "agony" and that "somebody knows something." The broadcast, credited to NBC, marked one of the most visible public appeals in the case and drew renewed attention to the investigation's lack of progress.
That plea came about five weeks before Elizabeth Smart's interview. The gap between the two moments, and the fact that Smart felt compelled to speak at all, suggests the case is at risk of slipping from public consciousness. For an 84-year-old woman who requires daily medication, every week matters.
A separate kidnapping alert in Pima County added an unsettling backdrop. The New York Post reported that the Sheriff's Department issued a wanted alert for Coral Michelle Smith, a 40-year-old career criminal sought for a kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon that occurred roughly seven miles from Nancy Guthrie's home on May 29. Smith has an extensive criminal record including multiple kidnapping-related charges, robbery, aggravated assault, and vehicle theft convictions across four separate prison stints. Authorities said they have not established any connection between Smith and the Guthrie case, but the proximity underscored the reality of violent crime in the Tucson area.
President Trump directed all federal law enforcement to be at the Guthrie family's "complete disposal, immediately," a statement that came as the case entered its 20th week without resolution. FBI Phoenix Division Special Agent in Charge Heath Yonke confirmed the bureau was taking every lead seriously, including the ransom letters.
Smart's own story is a reminder that long odds are not the same as no odds. She was held for nine months before strangers recognized her captors and picked up the phone. The break did not come from a sophisticated forensic technique. It came from citizens who paid attention.
Anyone with information on the Nancy Guthrie case can call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Tucson's Crime Stoppers line at 520-88-CRIME.
Twenty-five weeks is a long time. But as Elizabeth Smart knows better than most, it only takes one person who saw something to change everything.
