Smart, who is now a bodybuilder, was abducted from her home in 2002 and held captive until her rescue 9 months later.

Elizabeth Smart believes Nancy Guthrie ‘could absolutely still be alive’

Smart, who is now a bodybuilder, was abducted from her home in 2002 and held captive until her rescue 9 months later.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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May 7, 2026 1:25 p.m. ET

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Elizabeth Smart; Savannah and Nancy Guthrie. Credit:

CNN; Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

- Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted as a teen and held captive for 9 months, said that Nancy Guthrie "could absolutely still be alive."

- Smart has become a bodybuilder in recent years and won a competition in Salt Lake City in April.

- Guthrie disappeared from her Arizona home in the early hours of Feb. 1.

Elizabeth Smart is weighing in on Nancy Guthrie's disappearance.

While speaking with CNN's Erin Burnett about her bodybuilding career, Smart shared her thoughts on the search for Guthrie, the mother of *Today** *anchor Savannah Guthrie. Nancy disappeared from her Arizona home in the early morning hours of Feb. 1.

Smart, meanwhile, was abducted from her home in 2002 at the age of 14 and was held captive for nine months before she was rescued.

"I want to ask you about one thing, separate from all of this. I was just thinking about it with Nancy Guthrie and being missing," Burnett began. "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."

Smart on 'America's Most Wanted'.

Burnett mentioned the emergence of new surveillance footage and growing interest surrounding what happened. "Do you think there's any chance — and I know, obviously, I'm not forensically or anything, but 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, do you think it's possible that she still could have gotten through it?"

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Smart responded, "Absolutely. Absolutely. She could absolutely still be alive. 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."

She added that there is the "alternative," but "until we know, we have to keep looking. She deserves, either way, to be brought home."

Where are Elizabeth Smart's kidnappers now? Here's what became of Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee

Savannah Guthrie returns to 'Today' after unexpected mid-show exit

In June 2002, Smart was abducted by knifepoint from her Salt Lake City home. During her captivity, she was subjected to near-constant attacks, assaults, rape, and humiliation. She was rescued in March 2003. Smart became an advocate for child safety. In more recent years, she has pivoted to a bodybuilding career.

“I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it,” Smart said in an Instagram caption in April after winning a bodybuilding competition in Salt Lake City.

“My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience, it’s created and nurtured three beautiful children, my body has risen to every single challenge life has presented it with, and carried me through so I refuse to be ashamed of it. I refuse to feel embarrassed about trying something new and am embracing my chance at life to the absolute fullest I can.”

Nancy Guthrie in New York in 2019.

Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Nancy was last seen outside of her Tuscon, Ariz. home on Jan. 31. DNA evidence had been found days after her disappearance, which was declared a crime scene by authorities. Both local authorities and the FBI have been investigating the case.

"Investigators believe she was taken from the home against her will, possibly in the middle of the night. Taken against her will includes possible kidnapping or abduction," a public information officer for Pima County Sheriff's Department told ** on Feb. 2.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI urge those with information to contact them at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

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