TUCSON, Ariz. — A leading expert in no-body homicide prosecutions has identified water and wooded areas as the most probable locations where Nancy Guthrie's body may have been disposed of if she was killed, as the search for the 84-year-old mother of NBC "Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie enters its fifth month.

Tad DiBiase, a veteran prosecutor who has specialized in cases without physical remains for two decades, shared his analysis with journalist Brian Entin. He emphasized that while the case remains highly unusual, standard patterns in such investigations point to specific environments.

"Even given the suspected circumstances of this case...the most common disposal area for a 'no body' murder is in water. Second most is what I call, sort of buried in the woods or left behind in the woods," DiBiase said, referring broadly to outdoor locations.

Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in the Catalina Foothills area north of Tucson on February 1, 2026. Blood evidence matching her DNA was found on the porch, along with signs of a possible struggle. Authorities, including the Pima County Sheriff's Office and the FBI, have treated the case as a suspected abduction and homicide, though no arrests have been announced and her body has not been recovered.

DiBiase stressed the critical importance of thorough searches, both for the chance of locating remains and for building a strong prosecutable case.

"To me, there's two reasons why it's problematic not to do a search," he explained. "One is, because you overlook the opportunity to find the body, which is critical. But two, when you go to trial, you want to be able to say to the jury, here's all the searches we did and we confirm that there's no way that she walked away on her own, there's........

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