More than 30 years after the kidnapping that shook the nation, the name Polly Klaas is being mentioned again - this time in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly was abducted during a sleepover in Petaluma, California, in 1993 and later found murdered, says the ongoing search for the 84-year-old Tucson woman feels painfully familiar.
"It's triggering," Klaas said during a CNN interview this week. "There are so many similarities between what happened in our case and what's happening here."
Polly Klaas' kidnapping sparked one of the largest search efforts in California history. Law enforcement agencies worked alongside the FBI, and national media attention intensified as weeks passed without answers. Two months later, Polly's body was discovered in a shallow grave. Her killer, Richard Allen Davis, was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to death.
Klaas said the parallels he sees are not just procedural - but emotional. In both cases, there has been an overwhelming law enforcement presence, intense public scrutiny, and long stretches without new information.
"What it does to you internally is it breaks you down," Klaas said. "It takes you from a rational human being to somebody that is completely overwhelmed by fear and by anger."
Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson home on Feb. 1. Authorities believe she was taken against her will and have released surveillance footage of a masked suspect. The FBI has increased its reward to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest.
For Klaas, the hardest part is the waiting - and the hope families must cling to during uncertain days.
"You have to hold on to it until the end," he said.
As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, Klaas' words serve as a reminder of how deeply such cases affect families - and how long those memories endure.
