Kidnapping survivor and advocate Elizabeth Smart says she believes Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, could still be found alive, offering a message of continued hope more than six months into one of the country’s most closely watched missing-person investigations.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home in Tucson, Arizona’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood on the night of January 31, and was reported missing the following day. Doorbell camera footage from her home captured images of a masked individual, whom investigators and the public have since referred to as “Porch Guy,” though no suspect has been publicly identified and the case remains unsolved. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has said the investigation remains active, with federal agents continuing to search areas around Guthrie’s neighborhood in the months since her disappearance.
Smart, who survived a nine-month abduction as a 14-year-old in 2002, has repeatedly weighed in on the case in the months since Guthrie went missing, offering a perspective shaped by her own experience being held captive before her eventual rescue. “She could absolutely still be alive,” Smart said, according to RadarOnline, reiterating a message she has delivered in multiple interviews since the spring.
Smart has consistently pointed to other missing-person cases in which victims were recovered alive after periods far longer than her own captivity. In earlier remarks to CNN’s Erin Burnett, Smart said cases exist that “span many more years than mine does,” adding that people have returned alive after being missing for years. She has said that while a darker outcome remains possible, investigators and the public should continue searching until there is definitive information either way.
Central to Smart’s reasoning is the fact that no remains have been found in Guthrie’s case. “I want to remind people that there isn’t a body,” Smart has said, arguing that the absence of that evidence leaves open the possibility that Guthrie remains alive somewhere and has not yet been located.
At the same time, Smart has been careful not to overstate her own certainty about the specifics of the investigation. “I would remind people that we don’t know all the details,” she said, adding that she hopes investigators possess more information than has been made public and that meaningful progress is being made behind the scenes.
Smart’s message has taken on renewed weight as the case has moved well past the point at which many missing-person investigations are typically resolved. Law enforcement officials have historically noted that survival odds in abduction cases tend to drop sharply within the first 24 to 48 hours if a victim is not located, a grim statistical reality Smart has acknowledged publicly even as she has pushed back against treating it as a foregone conclusion in Guthrie’s case, citing her own survival as evidence that early statistics do not always determine a case’s outcome.
Guthrie’s family has continued to make public appeals throughout the investigation. On August 1, marking six months since her mother’s disappearance, Savannah Guthrie shared an emotional message describing the toll the uncertainty has taken on the family. “This is our beautiful mom,” Guthrie wrote, describing how someone had taken her mother “out of her bed in the dead of night” six months earlier. She wrote that the family had lived “every moment, every breath, and every heartbeat in agony and despair” since that night, adding a pledge that the family would “never stop looking for answers” or “looking for the light.”
The Guthrie family has also offered a reward, reported at $1 million, for information leading to Nancy’s safe return or a resolution of the case. Savannah Guthrie has made repeated public pleas since her mother’s disappearance, including appeals directed specifically at whoever may be responsible, urging them to reveal her mother’s location.
The investigation has produced several developments in recent months without resulting in a publicly announced breakthrough. Investigators have reviewed extensive surveillance footage from the area surrounding Guthrie’s home, continued soliciting tips from the public, and revisited physical locations near the property multiple times as the case has progressed. In late July, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department released two ransom notes tied to the case, asking the public for help identifying the writing style, though at least one forensic psychologist has since publicly questioned whether the notes are genuine.
Smart, who has built a career as an advocate for kidnapping survivors and missing people since her own rescue in March 2003, has also used her public platform to appeal directly to anyone who might have relevant information, however small it might seem. She has urged people to report any detail, no matter how insignificant it might appear, saying such information could ultimately make a meaningful difference in locating Guthrie. Smart has also asked the public to extend patience and compassion to the Guthrie family as the investigation continues without resolution.
With the case now well past its six-month mark and no suspect publicly named, Smart’s message has continued to resonate with those following the investigation, offering a note of cautious optimism grounded in her own experience even as the underlying facts of Guthrie’s disappearance remain unresolved.
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