Savannah Guthrie will return to NBC\u2019s \u201cToday\u201d show on Monday, the day after Easter, more than two months after the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine doing it because it\u2019s such a place of joy and lightness, and I can\u2019t come back and try to be something that I\u2019m not,\u201d Savannah Guthrie told Hoda Kotb, her former \u201cToday\u201d co-host, on March 27. \u201cBut I can\u2019t not come back, because it\u2019s my family. I think it\u2019s part of my purpose right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s house for a virtual church service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pima County Sheriff\u2019s 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\u2019s house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February, the FBI also released footage of an armed and masked man caught on Nancy Guthrie\u2019s home surveillance camera the night of her disappearance. The bureau\u2019s Phoenix field office said the man was 5\u20199\u201d to 5\u201910\u201d tall, of average build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the surveillance footage, he is wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack, the FBI noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amid the search for her mother, the longtime NBC anchor visited the \u201cToday\u201d set on March 5. She told Kotb that she did so to show her gratitude to those who sent her their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI really wanted to come and see everybody,\u201d an emotional Savannah Guthrie said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll the people that you see on TV, and then all the people that you don\u2019t. All the notes and messages that I have received are just so beautiful. I just wanted to be with my family. They\u2019re my family, too,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, authorities are encouraging those with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bureau is also offering up to $100,000 for information leading to Nancy Guthrie\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding the person or people who may have taken her mother, Savannah Guthrie told Kotb, \u201cI will not let them take my joy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey will not take my sister\u2019s joy,\u201d she continued. \u201cThey will not take my brother\u2019s joy. They will not take our love. They will not take our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n