Savannah Guthrie Absent from Today Show for Second Consecutive Day
Savannah Guthrie has been absent from hosting the Today show for two days without any explanation.
Laura Jarrett stepped in for Guthrie, 54, on Thursday, July 9, joining Craig Melvin to anchor the morning broadcast. The day prior, Sheinelle Jones had also filled in for Guthrie. No reason was provided for either of her absences. (Earlier this summer, she was also missing due to pre-production meetings for her upcoming Wordle game show on NBC.)
Savannah made her return to Today in April after a two-month break to focus on her family following her mother, Nancy Guthrie, going missing.
Nancy, 84, was reported missing in Arizona after being last seen on January 31. During the investigation, several ransom letters were sent to TMZ and local news outlets. The FBI also released images and video footage of an unidentified person seen outside Nancy’s home, as authorities and the Guthrie family offered rewards for information regarding her location.
“Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony,” Savannah shared with Hoda Kotb during an emotional segment on the Today show prior to her April return. “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. It is unthinkable.”
During this interview, Savannah was visibly emotional discussing her mother’s unresolved abduction case.
“It’s just too much to bear, thinking that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me,” she expressed at the time. “I have to say, I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry to my sister, my brother, my kids, 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.”
While the search persisted, news appeared in June regarding one of the ransom letters that mentioned 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 stated on Today at that time. “Somebody knows something. This news story is relevant because this is the life my sister lives, that I live, that my brother lives, our extended families live, and our children live every day. We are in agony. We cannot be at peace.”
In a later statement, Savannah discussed the “unending trauma” her family has faced throughout this tragedy.
“It has been five months of agony and ongoing trauma for our family,” she told KOLD News 13 on July 1. “There isn’t a moment that passes without us actively trying to locate our mom.”
Savannah expressed her gratitude to “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 relentless work on behalf of our family. Bring her home.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos informed KOLD that the investigation into Nancy’s disappearance remains active.
“Especially when you factor in genealogy — now, you may not have the bad guy, but this person could be the bad guy’s relative three times over,” he added. “So, that needs to be analyzed to determine if this might be a person of interest to us.”
