What To Know
- Pima County Sheriff’s Department has issued an alert for a kidnapping suspect less than 7 miles from Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson home.
- The suspect is a career criminal who has a history of kidnapping, assault, and robbery charges.
- Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, has been missing since February 1.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating the Nancy Guthrie disappearance, has issued an alert for a kidnapping suspect in a new case just seven miles from the missing 84-year-old’s home.
According to the New York Post, the department has put out a notice against Coral Michelle Smith, a 40-year-old career criminal wanted in connection with a separate kidnapping case. The crime is said to have happened on May 29 at the intersection of River Road and La Cholla Boulevard, under 7 miles from Nancy’s home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona.
Additional details about the incident have not been released publicly, but it’s not believed to be connected to Nancy’s alleged abduction. 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 in Pima County 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.
Coral Michelle Smith; Pima County Sheriff’s Department
There was also a 2019 case involving kidnapping and drug charges, where court records state the victim was under 15 years old. Those charges were later dismissed.
According to local 13 News, Smith has gone by several aliases over the years, including Corral Albright, Coral Albright-Smith, and Under The Sea Smith.
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.
Last week, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos commented on why no arrests have been made yet in Nancy’s case. “This is a very sensitive case. But what really makes it prolonged is we do rely on labs for the digital part of this case, which is very critical,” he told KOLD-TV.
“If I were to say there’s a positive to this, it is that people are working, doing their best to stay within those rules so that they have that understanding that, look, nobody wants to arrest the wrong person,” he added. “We want to make sure that DNA doesn’t just identify a suspect. It also exonerates those who are innocent.”
