Savannah Guthrie, the Today show host whose elderly mother has been missing from her Arizona home for more than a month, visited NBC’s studios in New York on Thursday and the network confirmed, for the first time, that she plans to return to her presenting duties.
NBC confirmed the visit to CNN’s Brian Stelter, but gave no timeline for when Guthrie, who has recorded a succession of emotional video appeals for information about her mother, Nancy Guthrie, will be back at work.
“Savannah Guthrie stopped by the studio this morning to be with and thank her Today colleagues. While she plans to return to the show on air, she remains focused right now supporting her family and working to help bring Nancy home,” the network said.
Guthrie’s fellow presenters Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones also discussed her visit during Thursday’s broadcast, saying she had “come back to her home”.
Through tears, Bush Hager said: “We got to see her this morning and in her perfect way she talked to all of us, hugged every single person in this room, and said that she has an intention to return to the show even though it feels like the hardest thing to do.
“It’s also her home and where she feels so loved, and she is beyond loved here. It felt so good to get to hug her.”
The celebrity news website TMZ posted video of what it said was Guthrie’s visit to the studio.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, vanished from her home near Tucson, Arizona, on the night of 31 January, and there have been no sightings of her since. A $1m reward from the Guthrie family for her return provoked no significant leads, and an intensive weeks-long investigation by the FBI and local law enforcement has turned up no solid clues.
DNA samples recovered from the home produced hits only of people who had reason to be there, and analysis of gloves found in the vicinity did not identify any suspects. Meanwhile, a series of ransom notes of questionable authenticity were sent to television stations in Arizona and to TMZ.
In her latest video posted on social media last Tuesday, Savannah Guthrie, 54, said her family “still believe in a miracle”, but acknowledged: “We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone.”
She announced the increase in the reward to $1m, and appealed to anybody who had any information about the case to speak up.
“If you’ve been waiting and you haven’t been sure, let this be your sign to please come forward,” she said.
