Savannah Guthrie is back on the TODAY show but disappeared mid-episode, leaving many questioning whether she’d gotten an update about Nancy Guthrie. The 84-year-old mother of the NBC show host was reported missing from her home on February 1.
Authorities believe she was taken from her Catalina Foothills home, near Tucson, Arizona, the night before. It has been over two months that Guthrie went missing and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, who are lead on the case, and the FBI are yet to provide any suspects.
Savannah had taken a break from her TODAY show duties and was in Tucson as authorities searched for her mother. However, as time wore on, reports emerged that Savannah would be returning to her life in New York. Prior to rejoining the show, Savannah also went to the NBC office to meet her colleagues.
Notably, she withdrew from the assignment of covering the 2026 Olympics in Milan for NBC after her mother was kidnapped, and chose to remain in Arizona while the search went on.
What to know about Savannah Guthrie on TODAY show
On April 15, the new episode of the TODAY show dropped but Savannah’s actions left many asking whether she was okay. She was initially seated opposite Hollywood actor Anne Hathaway. However, after the commercial break, it was Hoda Kotb speaking to the Oscar winner about her upcoming movie Mother Mary.
The decision to suddenly switch out Savannah for Kotb was not addressed by the show, leading to more speculation among viewers. “Watching The Today Show and Savannah was set to interview Anne Hathaway before commercial break. Went to commercial and came back and Hoda was in. I hope everything is ok bc that was odd,” one said. Another added it was as though Savannah had ‘just been like whisked away and like disappeared.’
Savannah returned to the show on April 6 after a leave of absence. The news of Savannah’s disappearance comes amid reports of a plan being in place if there are major updates while she’s on air. According to The Daily Mail, Savannah would be told she’s ‘needed off set.’ This would be a code for any major breakthrough in Guthrie’s case.
An insider told the publication “We would pull her immediately, mid-segment if we had to. She knows if one of the producers tells her she’s ‘needed off set’ that there’s a development.” The individual added “She would understand that there was news about her mom and we’d take her into an office and tell her, at the same time that another anchor would report it as a breaking story.”
Given that Savannah did suddenly disappear from the show, many speculated as to the cause. However, an official reason has not been provided yet, and there appears to be no notable updates on the Guthrie case front either.
