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The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it will put up billboard ads in Houston to ask for the public’s help in gaining information on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen Jan. 31, and authorities have said they believe she was abducted from her home.
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Billboards featuring Nancy Guthrie and an FBI phone number are planned to appear in nearby states to aid in the search for the 84-year-old grandmother, the Pima County sheriff said Thursday, utilizing a program that has been successful in previous cases.
The billboards will be posted in other Texas cities, including El Paso, San Antonio, and Dallas, as well as in Albuquerque, San Diego, and Los Angeles, FBI Phoenix Public Affairs Officer Brooke A. Brennan said.
The FBI created the digital billboard program in 2007 after a citizen academy participant offered outdoor advertising as a public service, according to the FBI’s program page.
The program has grown to include 7,300 billboards in 46 states and has “directly led to 57 fugitive captures” and assisted with “numerous other investigations,” according to a 2017 program update from the FBI.
“Because digital billboards can be quickly changed and updated, information about a kidnapped child, a bank robbery, or a matter of public safety can immediately be displayed,” the FBI says on its website. “And messages can be targeted to specific geographic locations, which is important when time is of the essence.”
CNN writers Taylor Romine and Josh Campbell and News’ Nadine El-Bawab and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
