Kidnapping survivor says Nancy Guthrie could still return home

8 May 2026 • 7:08 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Kidnapping survivor says Nancy Guthrie could still return home

  • Elizabeth Smart, a survivor of a teenage abduction, believes that Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, could still be alive more than four months after her disappearance.
  • Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Arizona home on February 1, prompting a nationwide search, but no suspect has been identified, and there is no evidence regarding her current status.
  • Smart, who was abducted at 14 and held captive for nine months, told CNN that cases exist where victims returned alive after many years, stressing the importance of continuing the search.
  • Investigators found DNA evidence, surveillance footage of a masked person, and blood on Guthrie's porch, leading them to believe she was taken from her home in the middle of the night.
  • Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have offered a $1 million reward for any information that leads to the recovery of their mother.

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