Written By Sherri Snelling

May is a time we think of our moms (Mother’s Day). And, since May is also Older Americans Month, we may think about our moms growing older and how do we plan to keep them safe, especially if living at home alone. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 43% of women over age 75 live alone.

So it was with much shock and concern when the news headlines from a couple of months ago uncovered that Nancy Guthrie, mom to TV morning show host, Savannah Guthrie, simply disappeared into the night. Nancy, who is 84-years-old, did not have a history of wandering (as we find with those who live with Alzheimer’s who tend to wander at night) and she had a heart condition that prohibited her from walking more than 50 steps at a time, according to her family.

So what happened?

As the daily news coverage shed light on the case, it appeared she may have been targeted for robbery or even a kidnapping. Again, as a vulnerable older woman living alone in a beautiful big house in a nice Phoenix suburb, a criminally-minded person may have thought she was an easy mark for robbery. Or, someone may have thought a big payday was ahead by kidnapping and holding her for ransom. After all, she was mom to a daughter who made approximately $15 million a year on TV.

As of this writing, it has been almost 90 days since her disappearance and there are still very little clues leading to a suspect let alone an arrest. In the world of celebrity, security is typically focused on the children, but as we live longer, now older parents are targets too. It gives all of us pause in how we keep all of our family members safe.

What can we learn from this tragic situation?

1. Technology can help. We know Nancy had an Apple watch but she typically took it off at night to charge it (which a lot of users do). It was still by her bedside after her disappearance. One thought may be to charge a smart wearable while getting ready in the morning and therefore sleep with it on where you won’t forget it when you wake up – especially if you are startled awake. Having a smart wearable like Theora Connect makes emergency connection easy by just pushing the SOS button, help would have been notified immediately.

We also know she had a pacemaker linked to her smartphone, which was also left behind. But at least law enforcement could determine the time she moved far enough away that no activity was seen nor data sent on the phone after a certain time. This gave important clues as to the exact time of her disappearance.

Although Nancy had a smart doorbell system, she had not kept up with the subscription so no immediate data was captured (although thankfully tech companies did step in to help the police recover some archived porch footage). Making sure a subscription is up-to-date is important.

• Ensure all doors and windows are locked. Many older adults, especially those who live in warm climes like Nancy, remember an era when unlocked doors and open windows were not a safety risk. But in today’s world, we have to take every precaution to protect ourselves. We don’t know if Nancy left her back door propped open for cooler air or if the perpetrator did that but if the house had safety alarms on all doors and windows, this again would have been an instant alert for emergency responders.

The other thing that can be done is to have a smart wearable with GPS technology, like a Theora Connect watch. You can even set a Safe Zones perimeter at night that is just inside the house – if the perimeter is broken, an alert is sent to the family caregiver. Being able to track her exact location would have been a valuable tool for law enforcement.

• Know your loved one’s circle of friends and activities. In this case, the two adult children who lived nearby were immediately notified by friends when their mom did not show up for faith services on Sunday morning. They did not lose time in getting law enforcement on the case. This is crucial when we don’t live close to our older loved ones. Knowing their routines, their friendship circles and neighbors is as vital for them as for you.

And, again, if your older loved one has a smart wearable with a calendar of reminders or activities, you can have that synch to your phone so you know where they are at any given time. On the Theora Connect watch you can get the Theora Link Pro app that allows you to have their contacts, alerts and activities all synched on your smartphone.

If we have learned anything from this tragic situation it is that we have to be aware of what tools and services our older parents or other loved ones have to help them be safe. Ask yourself these questions:

Does your older loved one have a smart wearable with SOS connectivity and GPS tracking?

Does your older loved one have a smartphone and app that you are synched with (alerts, calendars, etc.)?

Does your older loved one have some type of alarm if doors or windows are breached and is the subscription current? We will keep our prayers and hopes alive that Nancy Guthrie will be recovered and returned to her family. And, we will take note that this case raises important safety issues for our older loved ones to spark those family conversations on how to use technology and other devices to help protect those we love.

Images credited to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (right, Nancy Guthrie Poster) and Wikipedia (Left, Savannah Guthrie)

Written 22 April 2026