This is a screenshot from two months ago, when Savannah was still on vocal rest after surgery and before her mom was missing
April 1 will mark two months since Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, was presumably kidnapped from her home in Tucson, Arizona. Investigators do not seem to be any closer to finding out what happened to Nancy or who took her. Last week, they asked her neighbors to check their security camera footage from January 11 because they had reason to believe that the Nest Cam footage that the FBI retrieved from Nancy’s home came from that night. On Monday, Today learned that date came from Google, but the company has since “retracted” it. The Guthrie family also issued another plea to the public over the weekend, asking Tuscan residents to do things that could lead to a break in the case, like checking camera footage, reviewing text messages, and recalling observations or conversations.
Earlier this month, Savannah, who has been on a leave of absence from the Today Show during this entire ordeal, visited her Today colleagues off-camera to thank them for their support. She also reassured everyone that she planned to return to work at some point, although she didn’t know when. In the meantime, Hoda Kotb has been filling in for Savannah. It sounds like she may go back to work soon, though. According to Page Six, Savannah is tentatively planning on returning to Today after her children’s spring break is over.
Savannah Guthrie could be back in her chair in just a few weeks.
A source tells Page Six that while plans may change as her mother’s case develops, the host is hoping to return to the “Today” show after her children’s spring break. Most schools are back in session in New York by April 10th.
We are told the journalist wants to spend as much time as possible with her husband Michael Feldman, and daughter Vale, 11, and son Charley, 9, before stepping back into the spotlight.
There are plenty of factors at play with the investigation and her own personal progress.
We have also heard that Hoda Kotb, who has been filling in, has a busy schedule coming up with the launch of her Joy 101 app. She recently held a wellness retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona, on March 13 to 15.
A source assures us that Kotb’s plans aren’t adding pressure: if she’s not available, other anchors are on hand to fill in.
But another source close to the “Today” show tells Page Six, “There is no announcement regarding Savannah’s return date, and Hoda will remain filling in for her.”
If Savannah does indeed return to Today before the investigation is concluded, I wonder if it’ll be full-time or if she’ll split her time between New York and Tucson. I don’t know how accurate Page Six’s source is, but I can understand Savannah wanting to return to work at NBC, especially if she’s getting antsy at the lack of progress in the investigation. Sometimes when people feel helpless, they need the distraction and normalcy of going back to work and their routine. On the other hand, she may not be mentally or emotionally ready yet.
If Page Six is correct and she’s planning to return sometime after April 10, then I also totally understand not wanting to set or confirm a specific date so far out. A lot can happen over the next few weeks. Savannah’s very fortunate that she has such an understanding employer, supportive coworkers, and that she is financially able to go back on her own terms. I love that Hoda came back to cover for her, too. She has her former co-host’s back. Whenever Savannah does return to Today, I’m sure she’ll be welcomed back with open arms and a lot of love from her colleagues and her fans.
Savannah is shown at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party and with Gracie Abrams and Hoda Kotb in June, 2024. Photos credit: IMAGO/RW/Avalon, JPI Studios/Avalon, Getty Images
The whole ordeal of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is so bizarre and has to have been so traumatic on her loved ones. And with no resolution! Not even a really solid theory but no proof. Just a total mystery. That’s why I can’t understand why Savannah wants to return to a job that basically requires her to share personal information with the world. For me, if there’s any chance my fame drew attention to my family, and especially negative attention, I would shut off that pipeline so fast. I get craving the routine and familiarity of work, but there’s a sizable difference between going back to most jobs and what Savannah does. But maybe raking in millions of dollars annually is too nice to give up—how would I know!
I think that last comment was really unfair and overall mean.
So, you’re saying she should go make pizzas at Little Caesar’s instead?
She has a job, and there’s no shame in doing it.
Side note: You sound like you have knowledge that her mother’s abduction is related to Savannah’s job. You should go to the FBI with that information. Oh, wait … you’re just making asinine assumptions.
@Rosie, ITA. At some point, no matter how cruel it may seem, the time comes when someone in a situation like Savannah is needs to return to “normal” life (even though obviously nothing will ever feel “normal” for her again).
I hope that if she does go back, it’s because getting back into her routine is what’s best for her. I feel so unbelievably sorry for her.
I’m with you, Lorelei and Rosie. I am extremely close to my Mom, we bought a duplex together, and she lives downstairs from me and my son. If this happened to her, I would beg for anything to focus on that wasn’t my missing mother, or I would follow her into what is clearly death, after this amount of time. What is she going to do? Stay at home and cry for the rest of her life? I don’t watch any live TV, so I am not a fan of hers because of the show, but I have ACRES of sympathy for this family who has no idea what happened to their mother, and I hope they all have something else to focus on.
I think this case brings sad attention to the fact that most murders in the USA are never solved. We are spoiled by TV shows that get immediate DNA results and podcasts that wrap up a case in a few episodes, but the real-life solve rate in the USA is barely more than half. P.S. it’s no different for Savannah Guthrie to need to return to her job than it would be for me or you to eventually have to go back to work just because she makes more money than we do, other than she will have to suffer her grief more publicly than most people.
The timing here is in line with FMLA as well.
I cannot imagine returning to a job as public as hers and having to grit it out … that poor family.
And as if we needed any more proof that Kash Patel’s FBI is freaking useless, we have it in this case. But hey, at least the FBI director got to pound beers with the USA Hockey team.
As someone who went through a version of this, everyone processes what’s happening differently and in the way that works best for them snd – hopefully – for the people closest to them.
If not going back to work would hasten resolution of what happened to Nancy Guthrie, staying away from her job would make sense. But especially with children of her own watching her navigate this heartbreaking and traumatic experience, it’s hard to imagine her wanting to send them a message that you stop
living your life entirely when big, terrifying things happen.
As others have said, it makes sense for her to go back to her regular life, as hard as I imagine it is right now for her to remember who she was two months ago. I personally cringe at the idea of being in a public role while suffering something so private, but I can’t imagine being in a public role in the best of times, and it’s not about me. I wish her and her family all the best in rebuilding their lives following this nightmare.
This whole situation is baffling. I have tremendous sympathy for the family. I don’t think I’d be able to return to work after this horrible, unsolved mystery with her mother abducted and not one solid lead to pursue the case. There is no closure, no matter how terrible the truth may be. For me, the uncertainty would be unbearable, as it must be for Savannah and her family. I don’t think I could function at work and I would be too distracted to do a good job. But Savannah knows herself and knows what the better option is in such dire circumstances. I can’t even imagine.
I also hope Savannah’s whole family is in therapy because, Oh my God, they need it after what happened.