NBC host Savannah Guthrie will return to the Today Show on April 6, the news coming as her elderly mother’s disappearance remains under investigation.
Guthrie has not appeared in the studio since January 30 which was two days before her mother, Nancy Guthrie, vanished from her home just outside Tucson, Arizona, Today reported Friday.
“It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness, and 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. I think it’s part of my purpose right now,” Savannah explained.
“I want to smile. And when I do, it will be real. I will have joy. 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. And I have been so grateful to have this family. I consider this my family, my greater family,” she added.
Nancy Guthrie, who is 84 years old, was reported missing from her home around noon February 1 by her family after she was last seen the day before at her residence, and authorities said the investigation into her disappearance had become a criminal case, per Breitbart News.
In a social media post several days into the investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel said the agency and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department had been working with partners to find images of video clips from the elderly woman’s home that might have been lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to possibilities that included the “removal of recording devices.”
“The video was recovered from residual data located in backend systems. Working with our partners — as of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” he wrote.
The images showed a person wearing a mask, jacket, gloves, and carrying a backpack just outside her front door:
“Anyone with information, please contact 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit http://tips.fbi.gov,” Patel concluded.
Developments in the case included Guthrie’s family members being ruled out as suspects and a Tucson couple claiming they found a pair of blood-stained gloves and a rock with dried blood in the desert a mile from the home days after she was reported missing, according to Breitbart News.
“The concerned pair said they left the site alone, so as not to contaminate it, snapped some photos and then informed the Pima County Sheriff’s Department which is investigating the apparent abduction. Concerned about the forecasted rain, they also dialed 911,” the report said, adding, “Investigators interviewed the couple and evidence collection personnel remained at the scene until 2 a.m., according to the local news station.”
The family of Savannah Guthrie has pleaded with neighbors and community members for help as the investigation continues.
In a recent statement, they said, “It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant. We hope people search their memories, especially around the key timelines of Jan. 31 and the early morning hours of Feb. 1, as well as the late evening of Jan. 11.”
“We desperately ask this community for renewed attention to our mom’s case — please consult camera footage, journal notes, text messages, observations or conversations that in retrospect may hold significance. No detail is too small. It may be the key,” the family added.
