Elizabeth Smart examines the disappearance of Today host Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, more than three months after the 84-year-old went missing.
Smart, a child abduction survivor turned advocate, offered some surprising insight into Nancy Guthrie’s alleged kidnapping in an interview with CNN on Tuesday, May 5th.
“She definitely could still be alive,” Smart told CNN’s Erin Burnett about the Guthrie matriarch.
The comment came after Barnett brought up the missing Nancy Guthrie and linked it to Smart’s own kidnapping.
“When you went missing, everyone wondered why everyone knew your face, and it was like, ‘Well, it’s been months, and maybe the worst has happened.’ And you come back and here you are,” Barnett said.
“There’s new surveillance footage and everyone’s wondering what happened to Nancy Guthrie. Do you think there’s a chance…because in your mind you’ve been through a period of being missing for so long that you don’t even know if you’re going to make it,” Barnett said. “Do you think there’s a chance she could still have gotten over it?”
“Of course, of course,” Smart replied.
“We’ve had cases that lasted many years longer than mine did, and they came back alive. And we’re talking about years and years and years. So she could definitely still be alive,” Smart said.
She added: “Of course there are alternatives, but until we find them, we have to keep looking.”
Smart pointed out that Nancy “deserves to be taken home anyway.”
Authorities continue a desperate search for Nancy Guthrie, who was reported missing from her Arizona home on February 1st. As the case enters its grueling 100th day, FBI Director Kash Patel criticized Arizona law enforcement’s handling of the case.
Smart’s kidnapping is one of the most publicized incidents in American history. The 14-year-old was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, in June 2002. She spent nine months in “horrible” captivity before being rescued, where she was sexually abused by Brian David Mitchell, a man her family had previously hired for “chores.” Mitchell and his then-wife and co-defendant, Wanda Barzee, were arrested by law enforcement shortly after.
Smart recently opened up about his bodybuilding journey and spoke to CNN about the connection between his fitness journey and his life experiences.
“If my body didn’t show up every time I had a bad day, I would have died,” Smart said. “But it showed up every day, every bad day, every difficult experience I had.”
Contributed by: Taijuan Moorman, KiMi Robinson, David Oliver, USA TODAY
