US3 min(s) read
Published 10:59 07 May 2026 GMT
Savannah Guthrie, the daughter of missing Nancy Guthrie, abruptly left the Today show mid-air on Wednesday, prompting speculation about an update on her mother’s whereabouts.
Nancy, who is the 84-year-old mother of Today presenter Savannah, has now been missing for three months after reportedly disappearing from her Tucson, Arizona home on February 1.
Investigators are still searching for solid leads in the case, which gained national attention after FBI Director Kash Patel released disturbing Nest camera footage in February.
The video appeared to show a masked person approaching Nancy’s front door with a gun visible in his waistband before trying to disable the camera.
Savannah, who was presenting the show on Wednesday, unexpectedly left just 90 minutes after the broadcast began, with viewers speculating over why she may have left the show prematurely.
Co-host Craig Melvin briefly addressed her absence, telling viewers: “Savannah had to leave a little early. She'll be right back tomorrow, though.”
Savannah previously stepped away from the programme for two months while helping authorities search for her mother.
Reports have since suggested NBC and the Today show may have a private code in place to remove her from the air immediately if there are any major developments in the case.
According to a source, who told Page Six, the Today host had to make an early exit “for some sort of appointment, and her exit had nothing to do with her mom.”
This came after the CW special NewsNation Presents: The Nancy Guthrie Mystery aired, whereby a collection of clinical and forensic psychologists, criminologists, behavior analysts, and attorneys discussed their theses around the elderly lady’s disappearance.
Detectives have been left puzzled by Savannah's mother's inexplicable disappearance, with the TV host even offering a $1 million reward for her safe return.
It was recently reported, per the Daily Mail, that if a major update around her mother breaks while she is on air, a producer would tell her she is "needed off set" - a phrase she has come to understand as an ‘update’.
"We would pull her immediately, mid-segment if we had to," the source told the outlet. "She knows if one of the producers tells her she’s ‘needed off set’ that there’s a development.
"She would understand that there was news about her mom and we’d take her into an office and tell her, at the same time that another anchor would report it as a breaking story."
They emphasized the show would "never in a million years" ask Guthrie to report on Nancy’s disappearance unless she chose to.
"Savannah understands that she has a public who is very invested in Nancy’s story, and understands that we wouldn’t necessarily wait for her to find out before reporting it," the source added.
