What To Know
- Pima County authorities are seeking a career criminal wanted for a recent kidnapping near the area where Nancy Guthrie disappeared.
- While there is no direct evidence linking the cases, a retired detective said investigators will want to question the suspect.
- Nancy has been missing since the early hours of February 1.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating the Nancy Guthrie disappearance, issued an alert this week for a woman wanted in connection with a kidnapping that took place within 7 miles of the missing 84-year-old’s home.
While investigators have not suggested any link between the suspect, 40-year-old career criminal Coral Michelle Smith, and Nancy’s case, a retired police detective said that the crime could still hold clues, especially as it happened so close to the neighborhood where Nancy was allegedly abducted.
“In any major missing person or abduction-type of investigation, the investigators are going to cast a wide net,” retired homicide detective Chris McDonough said on Jesse Weber Live, per NewsNation, noting that law enforcement will be especially interested in those with a “violent kidnapping history.”
Smith is reported to have been involved in a crime that happened on May 29 at the intersection of River Road and La Cholla Boulevard, just under 7 miles from Nancy’s home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona. Pima County officials have asked the local community to “be on the lookout for the woman.
Court records show that Smith has previously been accused of kidnapping, assault, robbery, and disorderly conduct and has served four separate prison sentences. Her most recent prison stint came in 2023 after she was found guilty of aggravated assault with physical injury.
“This would be a very standard protocol to try to find [Smith] and see if they can connect her in any way, shape or form [to Nancy’s case],” McDonough added.
Nancy, the mother of Today‘s Savannah Guthrie , has been missing since February 1, when police believe she was abducted from her home in Tucson. Investigators have released doorbell camera footage of a masked suspect and sent DNA for testing at the FBI lab in Quantico, but no suspects have been named.
If Smith is found and taken into custody, McDonough said investigators would most likely ask her if she has any knowledge about Nancy’s disappearance or activity in the Catalina Foothills area.
“They’re going to ask her about any familiarity around the Guthrie home,” he explained. “What’s the word on the street? She may not be involved in any way, shape or form, but she may have information that may connect something.”