“Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie made a rare, direct reference to her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie, during Thursday’s broadcast — seven months into a case that has yielded no arrests.
The moment came as the NBC morning show announced it would send its full cast to Ireland for a series of live broadcasts this fall. Co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager revealed the trip, prompting Ms. Guthrie to share that her mother’s family hailed from County Galway. “I’ve never been to Ireland,” she said, before noting the personal tie to the destination. Her remark was notable for its phrasing: Ms. Guthrie spoke of her mother’s heritage in the past tense, a shift from earlier statements holding out hope for her safe return.
Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing from her Catalina Foothills home outside Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 1, a day after she was last seen. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said at the time that investigators were treating the disappearance as a crime and that she “did not leave on her own.” Homicide investigators were assigned to the case from the outset.
The investigation has since been complicated by two ransom notes sent to local and national media outlets days after Nancy Guthrie went missing. The first demanded millions of dollars in bitcoin; the second told the family that Nancy Guthrie had died, reportedly of a heart-related cause, and that her body was “buried in nature.” Investigators believe both notes came from the same source and consider them credible, though no arrests have been made as the case nears its seventh month. The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information, on top of a $100,000 reward from the FBI.
Ms. Guthrie took a two-month leave from “Today” following her mother’s disappearance before returning to the anchor desk in April. She has continued to make public appeals for information, including an Instagram post last month in which she wrote, “We beg you now to return our mother to us.”
Thursday’s broadcast also included a video message from actor Pierce Brosnan, whose 2025 interview with Ms. Guthrie is credited with helping inspire the Ireland trip. The special live episodes are set to air Oct. 16.
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