Savannah Guthrie found herself overwhelmed with emotion as she expressed heartfelt apologies to her mother, Nancy, amidst concerns that her own celebrity status might have played a role in her mother’s abduction.
“The thought that my career might have brought this upon her is just unbearable,” Savannah confided to Hoda Kotb during an NBC Today segment on Thursday. “I need to say, I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry.”
Her apology extended beyond her mother, reaching out to her sister, brother, children, nephew, Tommy, and brother-in-law. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” she repeated, her voice filled with emotion.
Savannah also addressed the painful rumors swirling around her brother-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, suggesting his involvement in Nancy’s disappearance. “It’s just unbearable,” she said. “It adds layers to the pain. There are no words to express how deeply this affects us. No one cared for my mom more than my sister and brother-in-law, and no one protected her more than my brother. We love her deeply. She is our guiding light and our matriarch. She’s everything to us.”
The unsettling incident occurred in the early hours of February 1, when Nancy was taken from her Tucson, Arizona home. Surveillance footage revealed a masked individual at her doorstep around the time of her disappearance, leaving her family and the community in a state of distress.
Nancy was taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona in the early hours of February 1 and has been missing ever since, with footage showing a masked figure on her doorstep around the time of her abduction.
Despite the Guthries offering a $1 million reward for information, there has been little movement in the investigation.
No suspect has been identified and announcements of potential clues – including discarded gloves – have not led to further progress.
Little information about the investigation has been publicly released by authorities in recent weeks.
But the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI said Wednesday that investigators continue to examine leads in the case.
The Guthrie family last weekend appealed to neighbors in Arizona to search back through their memories for anything they might have seen that could help the investigation. ‘No detail is too small,’ they said.
Savannah Guthrie offered distressing new details of the moment she realized her 84-year-old mother Nancy had been abducted in an interview with Hoda Kotb on NBC Today
Nancy Guthrie, seen with Savannah, was taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona in the early hours of February 1 and has been missing ever since
The heartbreaking interview – Savannah’s first since her mother was kidnapped on February 1 – saw the Today show co-host unveil the moment she realized 84-year-old Nancy may have been kidnapped for ransom.
She was speaking to her brother Camron, who was in the military and ‘saw right away what this was,’ the TV anchor said.
‘He said “I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom.” I just said “do you think because of me?” And he said, “I’m sorry, sweetie, but, yeah, maybe.” But I knew that,’ Savannah said.
‘We still don’t know, honestly, we don’t know anything. I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought oh that girl, that lady has money, we could make a quick buck.’
Savannah also revealed distressing details from the moment she learned her mother had been taken. She said: ‘My sister called me and I said “Is everything okay?” and she said “No, mom’s missing.”‘
Savannah and her sister Annie were in a ‘panic,’ she recalled. They initially suspected that Nancy had suffered a medical episode in the night, but quickly realized something more sinister had occurred.
‘Her phone was there and her purse was there and all her things, and it just didn’t make any sense,’ Savannah told Kotb. ‘I started calling the hospitals and the police were there and talking to her at the same time and it was just chaos, and disbelief.’
Footage showed a masked figure on her doorstep around the time of her abduction
Savannah, in a portion of the interview that aired Wednesday, said ‘someone needs to do the right thing’ and come forward with information to help the investigation.
‘We are in agony,’ she told Kotb, sharing how she wakes up in the middle of each night thinking about the pain that Nancy suffered.
‘To think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night, every night,’ she said, tears streaming down her face.
‘In the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable, but those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now.’
She added that while it is unbearable to think of the terror her mother must have felt, ‘those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now.’
Both Savannah and Kotb were crying during the brief portion of the interview aired on Wednesday.
Kotb, Savannah’s former co-host, has returned to Today while her former colleague has been away.
Savannah Guthrie has been a co-host of NBC’s morning show since 2012, and is expected to return at some point, although no date has been set as she spends time with her family.
NBC said Wednesday that a full interview with its Today show host will air on the program this morning and Friday.
This is a developing story, check back for updates…
