Savannah Guthrie will return to NBC’s “Today” show on Monday, the day after Easter, more than two months after the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie.
“It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness, and I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not,” Savannah Guthrie told Hoda Kotb, her former “Today” co-host, on March 27. “But I can’t not come back, because it’s my family. I think it’s part of my purpose right now.”
The Guthrie family last saw Nancy Guthrie at her home in Tucson, Ariz., on the night of Jan. 31. They reported her missing the next morning, after she did not show up to a friend’s house for a virtual church service.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI believe that the elder Guthrie, 84, was taken from her home against her will. However, no substantial leads have been made in the case, despite investigators analyzing multiple purported ransom letters, thousands of tips and evidence from Nancy Guthrie’s house.
In February, the FBI also released footage of an armed and masked man caught on Nancy Guthrie’s home surveillance camera the night of her disappearance. The bureau’s Phoenix field office said the man was 5’9” to 5’10” tall, of average build.
In the surveillance footage, he is wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack, the FBI noted.
Amid the search for her mother, the longtime NBC anchor visited the “Today” set on March 5. She told Kotb that she did so to show her gratitude to those who sent her their support.
“I really wanted to come and see everybody,” an emotional Savannah Guthrie said. “I just love this beautiful place that we call home, where we get to come and be every day. And I know how much people have prayed for me and loved me.”
“All the people that you see on TV, and then all the people that you don’t. All the notes and messages that I have received are just so beautiful. I just wanted to be with my family. They’re my family, too,” she added.
As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, authorities are encouraging those with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900, the Pima County crime stoppers at 88-CRIME (520-882-7463) and the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov.
The bureau is also offering up to $100,000 for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s location and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance. The Guthrie family, meanwhile, is offering $1 million for the recovery of Nancy Guthrie.
Regarding the person or people who may have taken her mother, Savannah Guthrie told Kotb, “I will not let them take my joy.”
“They will not take my sister’s joy,” she continued. “They will not take my brother’s joy. They will not take our love. They will not take our faith.”
“But our anguish is real. We need help. We need someone to tell the truth. I have no anger in my heart. I have hope in my heart. I have love. But this family needs peace.”
