Summary
- Savannah Guthrie returned to Today for her first on-camera interview since her 84-year-old mother Nancy was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona home on February 1.
- A tearful Guthrie told former co-host Hoda Kotb she fears her fame and money made her mother a target, saying it’s “too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside.”
- The Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for information, and the FBI tip line (1-800-CALL-FBI) remains active as the search enters its second month.
Nearly two months after her 84-year-old mother Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson, Arizona home, Savannah Guthrie sat down with Hoda Kotb on Today and did what most people in her position would dread — she said the quiet part out loud. The fault, she fears, might be hers.
Guthrie tearfully told Kotb on Thursday (March 26, 2026) that she can’t help but blame herself for her mother’s kidnapping, which was reported on February 1 after Nancy missed her usual Sunday church service.
The interview — airing in multiple parts — is Guthrie’s first on television since the nightmare began. And it did not hold back.
Guthrie recalled the moment she phoned her brother Camron, a former military intelligence officer and fighter pilot, who immediately understood what had happened. “He said, ‘I think she’s been kidnapped for ransom,’ and I said, ‘What?'” she recounted through tears.
That’s when the guilt set in.
“I just — how dumb could I be? — but I didn’t want to believe it. I just said, ‘Do you think, because of me?'” she told Kotb. “And he said, ‘I’m sorry, sweetie, but yeah, maybe.’ But I knew that.”
She told Kotb that it’s “too much to bear to think that I brought this to her bedside, that it’s because of me.”
The theory — that Nancy was targeted precisely because her daughter is a well-known, well-paid television personality — is one investigators haven’t ruled out. Guthrie said she doesn’t know for certain that “it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that lady has money, we can make a quick buck.’ I mean, that would make sense, but we don’t know.”
What followed was one of the most gut-wrenching moments in recent morning television memory.
The Today host delivered a tearful apology to her mother and loved ones, should it be discovered that Nancy was targeted because of her daughter’s high profile and financial status. “I just say, ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy!'” Guthrie said.
She extended that apology further: “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry to my sister and my brother and my kids and my nephew and Tommy, my brother-in-law.”
The guilt clearly doesn’t stop when the sun comes up, either. Guthrie said thoughts of the terror her mother experienced wake her up each night. “I wake up every night in the middle of the night. Every night,” she said through tears. “And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable. But those thoughts demand to be thought.”
Guthrie also addressed the cruel swirl of speculation that briefly pointed fingers at the family itself. “It’s unbearable. And it piles pain upon pain,” she told Kotb. “And there are no words. There are no words. I don’t understand and I’ll never understand.”
Authorities cleared the Guthrie family as suspects on February 16. “No one took better care of my mom than my sister and brother-in-law, and no one protected my mom more than my brother,” she said. “And we love her and she is our shining light. She is our matriarch. She is all we have.”
On the question of ransom notes — several of which surfaced in the weeks after the kidnapping — Guthrie was pointed. “There were a lot of different notes that came, and I think most of them, it’s my understanding, were not real,” she admitted. “But I believe the two notes that we received, that we responded to, I tend to believe that those were real.” As for anyone who sent a fake one: “A person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves, to a family in pain.”
Guthrie’s sister, Annie, was believed to be the last family member to see their mother before her disappearance, having dropped her off at her Tucson home between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. on the night of January 31. Nancy was reported missing the following day after she failed to appear for remote church services.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told NBC Nightly News that investigators believe they know why Nancy Guthrie’s home was targeted. “We believe we know why he did this, and we believe that it was targeted,” Nanos said, while cautioning the public not to assume they’re safe just because the victim is connected to a celebrity.
The FBI joined the search early on, posting a 100,000 reward for information leading to Nancy’s recovery. The Guthrie family has since significantly increased that figure, now offering 1 million for information leading to Nancy’s return.
Guthrie closed the first part of the interview with a plea that was as much grief as it was resolve. “Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony. It is unbearable,” she said. “I will not hide my face. She needs to come home now.”
Anyone with information is urged to call the Pima County Sheriff’s Department tip line at 520-351-4900 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. The interview continues on Friday on Today.
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