BS BRIEF:
- Kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart is urging the public not to lose hope in the search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, who disappeared 25 weeks ago from her Tucson-area home.
- Smart, who was rescued nine months after her own abduction because members of the public recognized her captors, says the lack of a body means investigators and the public should continue searching for answers. The reward for information in the case has grown to more than $1.2 million.
ELIZABETH SMART SAYS THERE’S STILL HOPE AS SEARCH FOR NANCY GUTHRIE REACHES 25 WEEKS
Nearly six months after Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson-area home, one of America’s most recognizable kidnapping survivors is urging the public not to give up.
Elizabeth Smart, who survived nine months in captivity after being abducted from her Utah home in 2002, says the absence of definitive evidence means there is still reason to believe Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother could be found.
“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,” Smart told E! News.
Smart knows firsthand how quickly public attention can fade—and how one tip can change everything.
At age 14, she was rescued after members of the public recognized her captors from extensive news coverage and contacted police, ending an ordeal that lasted more than nine months.
Elizabeth Smart reacts to the ongoing Nancy Guthrie investigation and urges the public not to give up hope on finding her. pic.twitter.com/748ag9hT9R
— E! News (@enews) July 26, 2026
Now she hopes someone will do the same for Nancy Guthrie.
“If anyone knows anything or seen anything—or the smallest detail that might seem insignificant can make all the difference—just report it.”
Nancy Guthrie disappeared during the early morning hours of February 1 from her home in the Catalina Foothills outside Tucson. Investigators say surveillance footage recovered from her Nest doorbell camera shows a masked individual approaching her home shortly before the camera was disabled. Blood matching Guthrie was later recovered from the porch, prompting authorities to classify the case as an apparent abduction.
Since then, the investigation has generated thousands of tips, extensive forensic work and a nationwide search. The FBI, working alongside the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, has released surveillance images, a physical description of the masked suspect and multiple appeals for public assistance. Authorities have described the suspect as a man approximately 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10 carrying a distinctive Ozark Trail backpack.
The investigation took another unusual turn after several purported ransom messages surfaced. One demanded millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Another claimed Guthrie had died shortly after the kidnapping. Federal investigators have since concluded the messages are not authentic and have cautioned the public against assuming they represent genuine communications from whoever is responsible for Guthrie’s disappearance.
Retired FBI negotiators have also noted that aspects of the alleged ransom demands differed sharply from how legitimate kidnappers typically communicate, including language suggesting there would be “no negotiation”—an unusual approach if the true goal were collecting ransom money.
Despite months passing without a public breakthrough, authorities insist the investigation remains active. The combined reward offered by the FBI, Crime Stoppers and the Guthrie family now exceeds $1.2 million for information leading investigators to Nancy Guthrie or those responsible for her disappearance.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or Tucson Crime Stoppers.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Fox News — Nancy Guthrie update: 25 weeks after abduction, Elizabeth Smart says there’s ‘reason to have hope’
- FBI Phoenix — Reward: Nancy Guthrie
- Reuters — FBI determines Nancy Guthrie kidnapping notes were fake, source says
- E! News — Elizabeth Smart says there is still reason to have hope in Nancy Guthrie case
