As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches past 50 days with no answers, one woman who has spent more than two decades searching for her own missing sister says this is the moment families fear most – when urgency begins to fade and the fight for answers becomes even harder.

Julie Murray, whose sister Maura Murray vanished in New Hampshire in 2004, said what the Guthrie family is experiencing right now is something she recognizes immediately.

“What they’re going through is something you never forget,” Murray said. “You can see it on their faces. You can hear the desperation in their voices.”

Murray said cases often begin with an intense surge of attention, resources, media coverage and public engagement, but that momentum can fade, leaving families to carry the burden.

METAL DETECTOR SCANS FRONT YARD OF SAVANNAH GUTHRIE’S MISSING MOTHER AS SISTER TO GET CAR BACK

“Most families… have to fight to be heard and beg for that level of attention,” she said. “And some families don’t get any at all.”

That attention, she emphasized, can be lifesaving.

“Media pressure saves lives.”

NANCY GUTHRIE’S NEIGHBOR NOTICED ‘ATYPICAL’ PET BEHAVIOR NIGHT OF DISAPPEARANCE, EARLIER DATE: REPORT

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen Feb. 1 after being dropped off at her Tucson, Arizona home. Authorities believe she was taken against her will in the early morning hours.

Surveillance video captured a masked man, described as average height and build, approaching her home carrying a black backpack and what appeared to be a handgun. Investigators say Guthrie’s phone and watch were later recovered inside the home, while her pacemaker last synced with her Apple devices around 2:30 a.m., helping establish a possible timeline.

Despite weeks of investigation, authorities have not announced a suspect. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said Guthrie was likely targeted.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE’S $1M REWARD MIRRORS PAST KIDNAPPING CASES SOLVED BY CASH

The case has drawn national attention, driven in part by emotional public appeals from Guthrie’s daughter, NBC “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie.

“Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony,” Guthrie said in a preview of her first formal interview since her mother’s disappearance.

In the same interview, she described the toll the uncertainty has taken.

NANCY GUTHRIE UPDATE: SEARCH FOR SAVANNAH GUTHRIE’S MISSING MOTHER ENTERS SEVENTH WEEK WITH NO ARRESTS

“I wake up every night in the middle of the night… and in the darkness, I imagine her terror,” she said. “She needs to come home now.”

Authorities are urging anyone with information to contact the FBI tip line.

Murray said the level of attention surrounding the Guthrie case can generate a surge of tips, but not all are actionable.

DID NANCY GUTHRIE’S ABDUCTOR RETURN TO THE CRIME SCENE?

“You’re begging the public for information, but at the same time you’re getting speculation and hearsay,” she said. “Some of those tips you just can’t chase down.”

Her family, she said, still receives tips more than 20 years after her sister vanished, none of which have led to answers.

Each one, however, carries emotional weight.

NANCY GUTHRIE DISAPPEARANCE: SHERIFF SAYS AUTHORITIES LOOKING INTO CAR CAUGHT ON RING CAM, HAVEN’T MADE ID YET

“I call it the hope roller coaster,” Murray said. “You want it to be the one that breaks the case open… and then it doesn’t.”

Retired LAPD Detective Moses Castillo said that emotional toll is already visible in the Guthrie family’s public appeals.

“You can feel every ounce of her pain, her strength, and her desperation,” Castillo said. “That kind of resolve matters. It moves people. It forces attention.”

NANCY GUTHRIE SUSPECT’S DIGITAL ‘BLACKOUT’ MAY BE KEY TO CASE, SAYS EXPERT WHO PROBED KOHBERGER PHONE

He described Savannah Guthrie’s interview as “a call to action” that could help generate new leads.

Murray warned that one of the most difficult turning points in a case comes when investigators exhaust immediate leads.

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X

For Murray’s family, that moment came just weeks after Maura disappeared.

“The worst day wasn’t the day she went missing,” she said. “It was the day we were told they had done all they could.”

SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER

From that point forward, she said, the responsibility shifted to the family to keep pushing for answers—through media coverage, public pressure and independent efforts.

“You can’t let up on the pressure,” she said.

SEND US A TIP HERE

Investigators have said the Guthrie case remains active, but have also warned the public not to assume there is no ongoing threat.

Families also face growing challenges as cases gain visibility, including online speculation and bad actors.

LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST

“Trust becomes a casualty,” Murray said, warning that some individuals attempt to exploit high-profile cases or spread misinformation.

More than two decades later, Murray said her family has come to terms with the likelihood that her sister is no longer alive—but they are still searching for answers.

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB

“There’s no such thing as closure,” she said. “It’s resolution.”

For families like the Guthries, that means continuing to push for answers, while hoping the right tip finally comes in.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance to contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. A combined reward of more than $1 million is being offered for information leading to her return.

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood, Hanna Panreck and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.  

The family of Sheridan Gorman is pushing back on comments from Chicago and Illinois leaders, saying her killing was not a “senseless tragedy” and demanding accountability for what they call systemic failures.

18-year-old Gorman was killed on March 19 at around 1:06 a.m. while she was with friends at a pier on the city’s Rogers Park area. Officials say that Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, allegedly fired one shot at the Loyola University Chicago student, killing her. Medina-Medina was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, and was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Gorman family on Wednesday released a statement criticizing both Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, saying that her death “demands accountability.”

“What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to a ‘senseless tragedy,’ nor can it be explained in general terms about public safety. Sheridan was our daughter. She was 18 years old. She was doing something entirely normal—walking near her campus with friends. She should be here,” the Gorman family said regarding recent comments by Johnson.

ANGEL PARENTS SLAM ILLINOIS SANCTUARY LAWS AFTER ‘PREVENTABLE’ TRAGEDY IN STUDENT’S DEATH

“Calling this ‘senseless’ is not enough. There must be a clear and honest accounting of what went wrong,” the family added. “We will not allow Sheridan’s life to be reduced to a talking point or a generalization. We expect leadership that is willing to confront hard truths and ensure that what happened to her does not happen again.”

Gorman’s family also responded to Gov. Pritzker’s recent comments on the freshman college student’s death, writing that “calling this a tragedy is not enough.”

“Sheridan’s death cannot be reduced to a general “tragedy,” nor can it be explained away by broad references to failures somewhere else. Sheridan was a daughter, a sister, and a young woman whose life was taken in a way that should never have been possible,” the family said. “We are not interested in political arguments or in watching responsibility shift from one place to another. If there were failures—as the Governor himself has acknowledged—then every one of them must be identified, examined, and addressed directly. The location of those failures matters less than the willingness to confront them honestly.”

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X

“Our daughter is not a policy debate. She is a life that was taken, and that demands accountability,” they added.

Pritzker on Tuesday shifted blame to the Trump administration during an event, according to the Chicago Tribune.

SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER

“This has been a terrible tragedy, and I know that the Gorman family has suffered mightily… There have been real failures. Those failures, of course, extend beyond the borders of Illinois. That’s their national failures, a failure to have comprehensive immigration reform, a failure of the president to follow his own edict to go after the worst of the worst,” Pritzker said. 

Johnson on Tuesday also addressed Gorman’s death, saying that her life was taken due to “senseless violence,” but called out President Trump as well.

SEND US A TIP HERE

“There’s no words that one could express that could properly console a family that lost their baby. And my condolences to the Gorman family,” Johnson said. “You know what the bigger threat to our public safety, it’s illegal weapons that are being trafficked from bordering states that voted for Donald Trump. This president refuses to be held accountable. And he points the finger at everything and everyone else versus doing some real self-reflection on what his responsibility is.”

“We know that this president has not taken this situation in this challenge in our country seriously, because my question would be, isn’t it time for the president of the United States of America in Congress to actually act and pass comprehensive immigration reform?” Johnson continued.

LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST

“There’s no words that one could express that could properly console a family that lost their baby. And my condolences to the Gorman family,” Johnson said. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have kept Americans safe.

“In record time, President Trump has totally secured the border, ended Biden’s border crisis, and deported countless dangerous criminal illegal aliens. Those are real solutions that keep the American people safe. Meanwhile, slobs like Pritzker have constantly defended dangerous criminal illegal aliens and attempted to obstruct the important work of the Trump Administration. Pritzker’s policies make the American people less safe,” Jackson said.

Homes in Yorktown Heights, New York, Gorman’s hometown, were lit up in green on Tuesday night to honor the slain Chicago college student. according to CBS News.

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB

An arrest report obtained by obtained by Fox News Digital shows that Medina-Medina was seen on security video in his apartment building’s lobby waiting for an elevator while unmasked after the alleged shooting. A building engineer told police that he knew the suspect, who had a “very distinct limp and gait.” 

Police said Medina-Medina was wearing a black mask and black clothing as he walked away from the shooting, noting that he had a “distinct limp and slow gait.” He was seen walking from the location of the shooting to Pratt Boulevard at 1:12 a.m. Just a few minutes later, the individual was seen walking northbound through the east alley of Sheridan Road before he entered the back of his apartment complex.

Images of the suspect were sent to a police database, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection identified the suspect as Medina-Medina. He was arrested at his apartment in Rogers Park, according to the arrest report.

Medina-Medina told officials in 2023 that he was living at Leone Beach Park fieldhouse in Rogers Park in 2023, which was being used as a city-sponsored shelter for migrants. The shelter closed in 2024, according to South Side Weekly.

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson and Pritzker’s office.

The Trump administration has made new criminal referrals to the Department of Justice targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James, Fox News has confirmed.

The referrals, submitted by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, allege potential insurance fraud tied to properties linked to James and have been sent to U.S. attorneys in Florida and, reportedly, Illinois for review.

“The Department of Justice can confirm that referrals were received by our U.S. Attorney Offices,” a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News.

One of the referrals obtained by Fox News alleged “suspected homeowners insurance fraud.”

WATCHDOG GROUP HITS LETITIA JAMES WITH BAR COMPLAINT AFTER FEDERAL JUDGE TOSSES CASE

The criminal referral was transmitted to Jason Quinones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, who will determine whether to move forward with a prosecution. His office would then need to seek a grand jury indictment.

The referral comes after bank fraud charges against James were dismissed late last year by a Clinton-appointed judge, and a grand jury in Virginia later refused to re-indict her.

The judge threw out the indictments against James and former FBI Director James Comey after finding they were illegitimate because they were brought by an unqualified U.S. attorney.

FEDERAL JUDGE HITS DOJ FOR ‘INDICT FIRST, INVESTIGATE LATER’ APPROACH IN COURT HEARING

In one of the criminal referrals, Pulte said it appears that James “may have falsified information on her homeowners insurance application” to a Fort Lauderdale-based company, Universal Property Insurance.

The referral cites social media posts from Mike Davis, a longtime attorney and ally to President Donald Trump.

Pulte stated that based on the post from Davis, the New York attorney general “may have made false representations that her property would be unoccupied five months out of the year.”

According to the post, that information may be false, Pulte said.

“The house was, in fact, occupied year-round by her niece,” he continued.

“As such, it appears Ms. James may have defrauded the Florida-based insurance company,” Pulte added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to James’ office and her attorney for comment.