Savannah Guthrie has missed two days of hosting the Today show without an explanation.
Laura Jarrett filled in for Guthrie, 54, on Thursday, July 9, sitting beside Craig Melvin to anchor the morning show. One day earlier, Sheinelle Jones appeared on the broadcast in Guthrie’s place. No reason was given for either of Guthrie’s absences. (She was previously missing earlier this summer amid pre-production meetings for her upcoming Wordle game show on NBC.)
Savannah returned to Today in April after taking a two-month hiatus to focus on her family following the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie.
Nancy, 84, was reported missing in Arizona after she was last seen on January 31. Amid the months-long investigation, several ransom letters were received by TMZ and local news outlets. The FBI also released photos and video footage of an unidentified subject outside of Nancy’s home as authorities and the Guthrie family offered rewards for information about her whereabouts.
“Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony,” Savannah told Hoda Kotb on the Today show in an emotional interview before her April return. “And to think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night. Every night. And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable.”
Savannah was moved to tears while speaking about her mother’s unsolved abduction case.
“It’s just too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me,” she added at the time. “I have to say, I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry to my sister and my brother and my kids and my nephew and Tommy, my brother-in-law. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. If it is me, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.”
As the search continued, news broke in June that one of the ransom letters received by news outlets made reference to Nancy’s death.
“I don’t have any comment on this story. I’m not involved in our coverage, but I can’t pretend I’m not here. Since I am, I just wanted to take the opportunity to ask people — really, to beg people — to come forward,” Savannah said on Today at the time. “Somebody knows something. This is a news story today that is on your radar, because this is the life my sister lives, that I live, that my brother lives and our extended families live, that our children live every day. We are in agony. We cannot be in peace.”
In a subsequent statement, Savannah opened up about the “unending trauma” that she has suffered throughout the ordeal.
“It is five months of agony and unending trauma for our family,” she told local Arizona news outlet KOLD News 13 on July 1. “There is not a moment that goes by that we aren’t actively trying to find our mom.”
Savannah went on to thank “the people of Tucson for holding her in their hearts, as well as both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office for their tireless work on behalf of our family. Bring her home.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told KOLD that the investigation into Nancy’s disappearance is still active.
“Especially when you throw in genealogy — now, you’ve got … this may not be the bad guy, but this person might be the bad guy’s relative three times over,” he added. “So, that has to be broken down to see if this might be someone of interest to us.”
