US television host Savannah Guthrie is set to make her return to Today on 6 April, nearly two months after the disappearance of her mother.
In her first interview since Nancy Guthrie went missing, the presenter admitted she felt compelled to come back. She said she “can’t not come back” to the show “because it’s my family”.
“I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore, but I would like to try,” she told NBC’s Today programme.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her residence near Tucson on 1 February. Authorities believe she may have been abducted, although no arrests have been made.
Savannah had stepped away from her duties on the morning show following the incident and also withdrew from NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics.
Speaking about her return, she described it as “part of my purpose right now” and acknowledged the experience has changed her, adding she was “not gonna be the same”.
She also expressed a desire to find joy again, saying, “when I do, it will be real – my joy will be my protest”.
Her co-host Craig Melvin said the programme “cannot wait to welcome her back with open arms”.
Nancy was last seen in the Catalina Foothills area of Tucson on the night of 31 January after being dropped off at home around 21:30 local time.
Alarm was raised when she failed to attend church service days later.
A nationwide search has since produced several clues, including discarded gloves, DNA traces, and suspected ransom notes, but no significant breakthrough.
The Guthrie family has continued to appeal publicly for her safe return, offering a $1m reward on top of an additional $100,000 from the FBI for useful information.
Leading the investigation, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said authorities believe Nancy was deliberately “targeted”, though he declined to reveal the suspected motive.
Savannah also shared her fears that her public profile may have played a role.
“To think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me,” she said. “I’d just say: ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry.”
She added that prior to the incident, her mother had been in “tremendous pain” and struggled with mobility.
“She can’t wander off,” she said.
