The frantic search for Nancy Guthrie has entered its second month with no leads on her abductor, leaving her family in the awful position of having more questions than answers.
Very few have gone through what they are, but those who have offer hope and advice to “Today” host Savannah, sister Annie and brother Camron as they try to find out what has happened to their 84-year-old mom.
The Post spoke with parents of Elizabeth Smart — who was kidnapped for nine excruciating months aged 14 in March 2003 — and Dave Holloway, father of Natalee Holloway who went missing, aged 18, on a graduation trip in 2005. Natalee’s body has never been found, but in 2023 her murderer, Joran van der Sloot, finally admitted killing her.
“Not knowing [if Elizabeth was dead or alive] was the most difficult thing of all. It was like this open wound that will not heal. It’s raw and very difficult and you want it to be over with,” her father, Ed Smart, told The Post.
In a separate interview, Dave said the Guthries’ search awakens old feelings in him.
“The thoughts going through [Savannah’s] mind, I know exactly what she feels,” Dave said, reflecting on what it was like one month into Natalee’s disappearance.
“Whether it’s a parent or brother or sister or your own child, I can tell you this: if it’s a family member and you’re close to them, it will overwhelm you. Every day.
“I guarantee you, [Savannah’s] thinking every day: What happened? Was it this, that or the other?” he said.
Savannah, 54, was spotted back in New York on Wednesday, after weeks in Tucson, Ariz., helping with the search. The family has offered a $1 million reward for Nancy’s return, after she was snatched from her home on the night of Feb. 1 by an unidentified masked intruder.
The case has been one of the most featured stories in the nation by news outlets, which has had both positive and negative effects on the search. Ed — who has written a letter to the Guthries — knows this only too well, saying speculation and conspiracy theories were massive distractions when searching for his Elizabeth.
“I was frustrated with the number of psychics that came into our area during the investigation. Well-meaning, perhaps, and others just wanting the notoriety. But the bottom line is, it takes away from finding our missing person,” he said.
For the Guthries, the 2026 equivalent is ghoulish streamers camping outside Nancy’s home to film content and brawl with one another.
Elizabeth went missing from her Utah bedroom and was held captive for nine months, enduring rape and physical abuse before her kidnappers, Brian David Mitchell and wife Wanda Barzee were eventually caught. Mitchell was sentenced to life while Barzee was released in 2018 after serving 15 years, but re-arrested last May for violating the terms of her sex offender registration.
Elizabeth, 38, now works as an activist and advocate for missing persons and sex abuse victims.
Her mother, Lois Smart — who divorced Ed in 2019 — told The Post she understands how the longer the search goes on, the harder it gets.
“Because of what’s going on in the world, [Nancy’s] not in the news anymore,” Lois said, referring to the US-Israel war in Iran.
“Hopefully it won’t drag on as long as Elizabeth’s,” Lois continued. “It’s a hard situation to be in and they are different. We hope Nancy is found. I really do. And that it’s a good ending.”
Dave said he came to rely on those around him a great deal in the months after Natalee disappeared.
“If it hadn’t been for family, all of us sticking together, that support,” Dave said, choking up. “I had a lot of friends. I wasn’t alone very much during that time. It’s what you’ve got to have.”
But if, like Natalee, the search does remain cold, the family will have to make some tough decisions.
Five years into the search in 2010, Dave was still paying health insurance, life insurance, and child support for Natalee. He found himself nearly bankrupted paying for investigators and trips back and forth to Aruba, where she disappeared, so he had to make the difficult decision to have her legally declared deceased.
He says it was mostly a financial decision, but also helped bring “peace of mind.”
Natalee was officially declared dead in 2012. By then the only suspect in the frame was van der Sloot — who, at that point, was in a Peruvian prison for murdering another woman.
As part of a deal with US federal authorities, he was briefly later extradited to the US in 2023 to answer to wire fraud and extortion charges. There, he confessed to bludgeoning Natalee to death with a cinder block on a beach after she rejected his advances, claiming he disposed of her body in the ocean.
However, despite massive searches involving the FBI, Dutch military, and local authorities, her body has never been found.
“The stress of it will overwhelm you … It’s tough,” Dave added.
