, who will return on April 6 as co-host of NBC鈥檚 鈥淭oday鈥� show after a nearly two-month absence sparked by the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, said in an interview that aired on Friday that 鈥渏oy will be my protest.鈥�
Guthrie, speaking with colleague Hoda Kotb, said that while it鈥檚 hard to imagine returning to a place of joy and lightness, she wants to try, even as she acknowledged she鈥檚 not sure she can do it or if she鈥檒l belong anymore.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 come back and try to be something that I鈥檓 not. But I can鈥檛 not come back, because it鈥檚 my family,鈥� Guthrie said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 part of my purpose right now. I want to smile and when I do, it will be real and my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful and when it鈥檚 not, I鈥檒l say so.鈥�
was reported missing from her Arizona home on Feb. 1. Authorities believe she was against her will. The FBI of a masked man who was outside Guthrie鈥檚 front door in Tucson on the night she vanished. Authorities have not released new evidence publicly in weeks.
The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of their mother.
Savannah Guthrie, who’s co-hosted NBC鈥檚 morning show , pulled out of covering the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which began just days after her mother’s disappearance.
The vast majority of people who are reported missing are believed to be runaways 鈥� not kidnapped or abducted. Throughout all of 2024, the latest year that the National Crime Information Center published data, over 530,000 missing person records were entered. Roughly 95% of the hundreds of thousands of cases filed in 2024 were believed to be runaways and only 1% were listed as abducted.
Savannah Guthrie, acknowledging her mother is among the many missing, donated to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The organization on Thursday highlighted the cases of three children who disappeared in Arizona 鈥� Jimmy Hendrickson in 1991, Karen Grajeda in 1996 and Jesse Florez in 2001.
鈥淲e encourage everyone to stay alert,鈥� the center said in a statement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 up to the public to keep their eyes open. You never know when the next lead will be the one that brings someone home.鈥�
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that tips are still coming in on Nancy Guthrie but at a declining rate. The FBI says it’s no longer revealing the number of tips it receives daily in the investigation. Portions of Kotb’s interview with Savannah Guthrie were released over this week. In the videos, Guthrie said she and her siblings knew their mother didn’t wander off, given her medical condition, and that doors were propped open at her house. Authorities also discovered blood and a missing camera near the doorstep.
Some media outlets reported receiving ransom notes tied to the case. Guthrie and her siblings responded to two that they believed were real and offered to pay money. Guthrie said her celebrity status might be the reason her mother was taken, but that possibility was 鈥渢oo much to bear.鈥�
She again appealed for information, saying the family can’t be in peace or move forward with healing without knowing what happened to their mother.
鈥淗ow can someone vanish without a trace?鈥� Guthrie asked. 鈥淗ow? Someone knows something. Even if that something is someone鈥檚 been acting strange for the last seven or eight weeks. Even if it鈥檚 just that. Somebody knows. And maybe somebody鈥檚 afraid and I understand that, but our hearts are in agony.”
___ Associated Press writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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