TRUE CRIME NEWSNancy Grace Discusses Shoe Casting Prints as Savannah Guthrie's Mom Remains Missing
A forensic expert explained the high-tech method investigators are using to analyze invisible shoe prints in Nancy Guthrie case.
March 20 2026, Published 12:56 p.m. ET
A forensic expert discussed the use of electrostatic lifts in the baffling search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie.
On an episode of “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,” Joseph Scott Morgan, a death investigator and host of the podcast “Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan,” explained the forensic technique that is typically used to recover "dust prints" or impressions from surfaces where traditional methods like dusting might fail.
An electrostatic lift is a technique used by crime scene investigators to retrieve nearly invisible dust impressions, such as footprints or shoe prints, from flat surfaces like floors or carpets.
An Inside Look at the Shoes
Nancy Guthrie has been missing since February 1.
By applying a high-voltage electrostatic charge to a specialized film, dust particles from a footprint are attracted to the film, creating a detailed mirror image of the print.
Grace discussed how an elite FBI team from Quantico used this method at Nancy's home to search for evidence of the perpetrator's movements.
Forensic analysts believe photos of these prints could help determine the potential suspect's shoe size and approximate height.
'There's Still Hope'
The former prosecutor noted that the prints taken from outside the home didn’t offer any leads in the case.
Recent reports mention the discovery of carpet-covered "smugglers' shoes" in a desert shack near the border; these are designed to mask footprints by camouflaging them with the terrain.
The former prosecutor noted that the prints taken from outside the home didn’t offer any leads in the case.
“We now know that the cast prints that were attempted outdoors likely yielded nothing. Probably because it was a gravel walkway, for any number of reasons. But there’s still hope of electrostatic lifts,” she explained.
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Nancy Guthrie was likely taken from her Arizona home.
Joseph Scott explained the technology they use to raise prints with electrostatic charges.
“We can go back to the lab and have a footprint expert who says you’re going to look for all kinds of little anomalies," he explained. Back to that vacant house — are there any footprints they could have assessed that could be tied back to anything they have found on the floors inside her house?”
Grace added, “If the scene isn’t destroyed.”
Nancy Guthrie might have been 'snatched' from her home, one expert claims.
Joseph Scott has theorized that Nancy was "snatched" from her home in Arizona. He suggested she might have been targeted because she was perceived as a "valuable target" due to her family's public profile and potential wealth.
Nancy reported on surveillance footage seized from an Uber showing the 84-year-old woman riding the day before she vanished, though investigators found nothing of substance in her demeanor.
The FBI and local authorities continue to search for Nancy, with a $1.2 million reward offered for information.
