Nancy Guthrie, Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mom, disappeared over five months ago, and to this day, police still haven’t been able to discern what happened to her. They also haven’t identified a suspect or even disclosed a motive. So, it makes sense that people are hyper-aware of the movements of Savannah, particularly after she returned to the Today show desk.
Guthrie has now missed two days of hosting the show in a row without any explanation, which has people wondering if something has happened in the investigation. Laura Jarrett filled in for Guthrie on Thursday, July 9. Sheinelle Jones did so the day before.
Related: Who are Savannah Guthrie’s siblings?
Savannah took a two-month hiatus to focus on her family after her mother’s disappearance on January 31. She returned to Today in April and has missed a few episodes since, but those have been explained by her being on assignment or working on her upcoming Wordle game show for NBC.
According to a TMZ report, however, Guthrie is just “off for a few days to spend time with her family.” According to the outlet, “her absence has nothing to do with the investigation into the Nancy Guthrie abduction.” People, meanwhile, reports that Guthrie is expected to return to the show on Monday, July 13.
This all comes after the U.S. Sun recently reported that both NBC and Today producers are preparing for Savannah to take a leave of absence to be with her family at some point, particularly as reports have surfaced that the latest ransom notes TMZ received could be real.
“Everyone at NBC is terrified for Savannah. She’s holding it together now, but every new development feels like another punch to the heart,” a source told the outlet. “No one should have to deliver the morning news while living through a nightmare like this.”
The source also said that the “emotional toll is becoming impossible to ignore,” adding that executives understand Savannah may need time away from work to cope with the ongoing investigation. And that’s without going into the time she might need if there’s a break in the investigation, one way or another.
“Executives are quietly preparing for every possibility,” the insider explained. “They hope Savannah keeps working, but they also know she may need to step away without a moment’s notice.”
There’s even reportedly a plan to deal with her absence, if needed: Hoda Kotb. “If Savannah needs her, she’ll be in that chair immediately,” the source said. “There wasn’t a second of hesitation.”
“This isn’t about replacing Savannah. It’s about giving her the space to focus on finding her mother,” they added. “Savannah is determined not to let viewers down, but behind the scenes everyone can see how emotionally drained she is. She’s running on pure courage.”
The reward for information about Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is over $1 million.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stylecaster.com ’
