NEW YORK — This week, Savannah Guthrie made her first appearance on “TODAY” following a lengthy hiatus due to her mother’s disappearance. “We are so glad you started your week with us,” she greeted viewers, adding, “It is good to be home.”

Nancy Guthrie, Savannah’s mother, went missing on January 30. Investigators suspect she was forcibly taken from her residence in Arizona during that night.

Despite a comprehensive search effort involving numerous federal and local law enforcement officers, as well as volunteers, there has been no trace of the 84-year-old mother of three since the report of her disappearance on February 1.

On Easter Sunday, a day prior to her scheduled reappearance on NBC, Savannah shared an emotional video message through her New York church. In the message, she candidly discussed her challenges with maintaining faith and hope amidst the distressing circumstances of her mother’s absence.

Savannah spoke in an emotional video message shared by her church in New York on Easter Sunday, a day before her anticipated return to the NBC show. In the video, she reflected on her struggles with faith and hope in the midst of her mother’s disappearance. 

“We celebrate today the promise of a new life that never ends in death. But standing here today, I have to tell you, there are moments in which that promise seems irretrievably far away, when life itself seems far harder than death,” Guthrie said. “These moments of deep disappointment with God, the feeling of utter abandonment. For most of us, there will come a time in our life when these feelings hold sway.”

Guthrie continued: “Perhaps this is too dark a message to share on Easter morning, but I have long believed that we miss out on fully celebrating resurrection if we do not acknowledge the feelings of loss, pain and, yes, death,. It is the darkness that makes this morning’s light so magnificent, so blindingly beautiful.”

There has been a great deal of speculation whether Guthrie would return to the “TODAY” show. Her co-anchor, Craig Melvin, announced her plans to return during a March 27 broadcast. 

Guthrie spoke with Hoda Kotb in March for her first sit-down interview since her mother’s disappearance, and she reflected on how the return would feel different. 

“I can’t come back and try to be something I’m not. But I can’t not come back because it’s my family,” Guthrie said during the interview. “I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore, but I would like to try.” 

Nancy Guthrie made occasional appearances on “TODAY” over the years, once taking part in a cooking demonstration and surprising her daughter on set.

When Savannah Guthrie returned to her hometown of Tucson in 2025 for a segment recorded for the show, the two visited one of their favorite restaurants and talked about their love of Arizona.

The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of their mother.

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