Nancy Guthrie Case Update: Who is Elizabeth Smart? Kidnapping survivor and advocate for sexual assault survivors offers big ray of hope amid ongoing mystery; watch here

Nancy Guthrie Update: More than three months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home, a fresh ray of hope has emerged in the case as kidnapping survivor and advocate of sexual assault survivors Elizabeth Smart said she believes Guthrie could still be alive. Nancy, the 84-year-old mother of NBC’s ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on January 31, 2026, and was reported missing by her family the next day (February 1, 2026) after learning that she didn’t attend church services.

In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday (May 5, 2026), Smart was asked whether she thought Guthrie could have survived the abduction, as she once did. “Absolutely. She could absolutely still be alive,” the 38-year-old said in response.






Citing other missing person cases where victims were found alive years later, Smart said, “We’re talking years and years, so she could absolutely still be alive.” “Of course there is the alternative, but until we know, we have to keep looking,” she added. While exuding hope that Nancy could be found soon, she said that “either way, [Guthrie] deserves to be brought home.”

Who is Elizabeth Smart?

Elizabeth Smart, a kidnapping survivor, is a fierce advocate of sexual assault survivors and the families of missing children. At the age of 14, she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City in 2002. She was subjected to daily rapes and endured physical abuse and starvation, according to PEOPLE. It took nine months, but she reunited with her family after authorities spotted her walking the streets of Utah.

Several years later, she became an advocate for sexual assault survivors and the families of missing children. Smart also spoke about her ordeal like never before in the Netflix documentary “Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart," which was released in January 2026.

At the time of Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping and eventual rescue, her case dominated headlines very much similar to the intense public attention surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance today, even though the 84-year-old has not yet been found.

A few days after the Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) launched an investigation into the abduction case, which was later joined by the FBI, investigators believed that she was taken from her home against her will. Despite hundreds of leads, no suspects have been identified in the case. She was allegedly kidnapped by a masked man in the middle of the night on February 1, 2026.

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