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Savannah Guthrie will soon return as co-host of NBC’s Today show after a nearly two-month absence sparked by the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, saying in an interview that “joy will be my protest.”
Hoda Kotb, who is filling in for Guthrie, said Friday after an emotional interview with Guthrie that she is expected back April 6.
Guthrie said it is difficult to imagine returning to a place of joy and lightness, but she wants to try, even as she acknowledged she is unsure whether she can — or whether she will feel she belongs.
“I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not. But I can’t not come back, because it’s my family,” Guthrie said.
“I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile and, when I do, it will be real and my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful, and when it’s not, I’ll say so.”
Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her Arizona home on Feb. 1. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will.
The FBI released surveillance video of a masked man outside Guthrie’s front door in Tucson on the night she vanished. Authorities have not publicly released new evidence in weeks.
The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million US reward for information leading to the recovery of their mother.
Savannah Guthrie, who has co-hosted NBC’s morning show since 2012, also withdrew from coverage of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which began just days after her mother’s disappearance.
Abductions are rare. The vast majority of people reported missing are believed to be runaways — not kidnapped or abducted.
In 2024, the most recent year with data available from the U.S. National Crime Information Center, more than 530,000 missing-person records were entered. About 95 per cent were believed to involve runaways, while about one per cent were classified as abductions.
Guthrie, acknowledging her mother is among the many missing, has donated to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The organization on Thursday highlighted the cases of three children who disappeared in Arizona: Jimmy Hendrickson, who disappeared in 1991; Karen Grajeda, in 1996; and Jesse Florez, in 2001.
“We encourage everyone to stay alert,” the centre said in a statement. “It’s up to the public to keep their eyes open. You never know when the next lead will be the one that brings someone home.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that tips are still coming in about Nancy Guthrie, though at a declining rate.
Portions of Kotb’s interview with Savannah Guthrie were released over several days this week. In the clips, Guthrie said she and her siblings knew their mother didn’t wander off, given her medical condition, and noted that doors at her home were found propped open. Authorities also discovered blood and a missing camera near the doorstep.
Some media outlets reported receiving ransom notes tied to the case. Guthrie and her siblings responded to two that they believed were credible and offered payment.
Guthrie said her celebrity status might be the reason her mother was taken, but that possibility is “too much to bear.”
She again appealed for information, saying the family cannot find peace or begin to heal without knowing what happened to their mother.
“How can someone vanish without a trace?” she asked.
“How? Someone knows something. Even if that something is someone’s been acting strange for the last seven or eight weeks. Even if it’s just that. Somebody knows. And maybe somebody’s afraid and I understand that, but our hearts are in agony.”
