Elizabeth Smart is weighing in on the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mom Nancy, more than three months after the 84-year-old went missing.
Smart, the child abduction survivor-turned-advocate, shared a surprising take on Nancy Guthrie’s suspected kidnapping during a CNN interview Tuesday, May 5.
“She could absolutely still be alive,” Smart told CNN’s Erin Burnett of the Guthrie matriarch.
The comment came after Burnett brought up the missing Nancy Guthrie and connected it to Smart’s own kidnapping case.
“When you were missing and the reason everyone knows your face, everyone wondered. And then it was, ‘Well, it’s been months, and maybe the worst has happened.’ And you came back, and here you are,” Burnett said.
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Elizabeth Smart speaks onstage at the 43rd annual Gracie Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on May 22, 2018, in Beverly Hills, California.
“There’s new surveillance footage, everyone’s wondering what could have possibly happened with Nancy Guthrie: Do you think there’s any chance … because you have been through a time where maybe in your own mind you didn’t know if you were going to live, to be gone for so long,” Burnett said, “do you think it’s possible that she could still have gotten through it?”
“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Smart replied.
“There are cases that span many more years than mine does, and they came back alive. And we’re talking years and years. So she could absolutely still be alive,” Smart said.
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She added, “Of course there is the alternative, but until we know, we have to keep looking.”
Smart noted that Nancy “deserves, either way, to be brought home.”
Kash Patel skewers Nancy Guthrie case, says FBI ‘kept out’ of probe
Authorities have continued a desperate search for Nancy Guthrie, who was reported missing from her Arizona home on Feb. 1. As the case nears the grim 100-day mark, FBI Director Kash Patel has criticized Arizona law enforcement for its handling of the case.
Smart’s kidnapping case is one of the most publicized in American history. At 14, she was abducted from her Salt Lake City, Utah, home in June 2002. She spent nine “harrowing” months in captivity, where she was sexually abused by Brian David Mitchell – a man her family previously hired to do “odd jobs” – before she was rescued. Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, his then-wife and accomplice, were captured by law enforcement shortly after.
Elizabeth Smart reveals ‘shock’ bodybuilding transformation
Smart has opened up recently about her bodybuilding journey, and she told CNN about her fitness journey’s connection to her life experiences.
“If my body hadn’t showed up for me through every bad day, I’d be dead,” Smart said. “But it showed up for me every bad day, every hard experience I went through, day in and day out.”
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, KiMi Robinson, David Oliver, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elizabeth Smart weighs in on Savannah Guthrie mom Nancy Guthrie’s case
