“The Today” show has shared new details about Savannah Guthrie’s return after she visited the set on Thursday and made an emotional off-camera appearance.
Following the surprise visit, the NBC News program said she thanked colleagues for their love and support and for “caring about my mom as much as I do.”
Guthrie has not been on air since her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was reportedly kidnapped in Tucson, Arizona, around the weekend of January 31.
Her mother, 84, who has a heart condition, has not been seen or heard from since. At present, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI have not released any significant leads publicly.
“I wanted you to know that I’m still standing, and I still have hope, and I’m still me. I don’t know what version of me that will be, but it will be,” Guthrie told the “Today” team during her visit.
It remains unclear when she will return to the program, but during her time on set she said she intends to come back, though she is unsure how it will unfold.
“I have every intention of coming back. I don’t know how to come back, but I don’t know how not to. You’re my family, and I would like to try,” she told the team, according to “Today.”
Her return date has not yet been scheduled. In her absence, Hoda Kotb and Sheinelle Jones—both of whom went to school with Guthrie—have largely stepped in alongside co-anchor Craig Melvin.
During her visit, meteorologist Dylan Dreyer led a prayer with the team, saying, “We’re here holding hands as a family in a place where we don’t understand why this is happening.” She added, “Every day, it’s not too much to ask God for the biggest miracles.”
“It felt like the right moment for all of us,” Dreyer said on Friday’s broadcast. “When I feel helpless, I pray… We asked for that miracle.” She also described it as their “gift” to offer Guthrie love and support in that moment.
“BACK ON SET: Savannah Guthrie returned to the ‘Today’ show studio Thursday for the first time since her mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing in a suspected abduction,” a report noted. A spokesperson said she thanked colleagues during the visit but remains focused on supporting her family.
“I think we needed to see her as much as she needed to see us,” co-anchor Al Roker said, as Carson Daly noted the reunion was unplanned.
“She came into the middle, no speech, spoke from the heart. Said the most perfect words you could ever imagine and looked every one of this family in the eyes,” Daly said. “Yesterday was one of the most special days not just professionally, but personally.”
Laura Jarrett said Guthrie remained unchanged despite the “nightmare” she is facing: “She’s still Savannah. She’s still funny. She was still cracking jokes. She was still sarcastic.”
“Her grace is second to none under pressure,” Daly added.
On her possible return, Jenna Bush Hager said, “Even though it feels like the hardest thing to do, it’s also her home and where she feels so loved, and she is beyond loved here.”
Jones added, “I hugged her, and I’m like, ‘you know you are here, and we love you. Everyone loves you, and whenever you’re ready, we are here.’”
The team also shared that Guthrie spoke about her faith, saying she still believes, adding: “And as my mom would say, ‘Where else would I go?’”