\n Savannah Guthrie was supposed to fly to Italy on Monday for NBC\u2019s much-anticipated coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics.\n <\/p>\n
\n But instead, Guthrie spent a heart-wrenching day in Tucson, Arizona, supporting a massive search for her 84-year-old mother, Nancy.\n <\/p>\n
\n The elder Guthrie\u2019s disappearance became national news on Monday as authorities described her home as a \u201ccrime scene\u201d and asked the public for help finding her.\n <\/p>\n
\n NBC mobilized its considerable resources to help one of the network\u2019s biggest and best-loved stars. Guthrie\u2019s co-hosts on the \u201cToday\u201d show shared the Pima County Sheriff\u2019s Department\u2019s tip line phone number, 520-351-4900, all across television and social media.\n <\/p>\n
\n This story \u201chits too close to home for our newsroom,\u201d anchor Tom Llamas said Monday night, leading \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d with the missing person case.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe sheriff there tells me she was taken against her will from her bed in the middle of the night,\u201d Llamas reported. \u201cOur thoughts and prayers are with Savannah and her family right now.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Guthrie, a 19-year veteran of NBC, joined the \u201cToday\u201d show cast in 2011 and was promoted to one of the main co-host chairs just one year later.\n <\/p>\n
\n Over the years she has added other roles, including co-hosting NBC\u2019s coverage of the Olympics opening ceremonies, which she was scheduled to host again this Friday at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, alongside sports commentator Terry Gannon.\n <\/p>\n
\n Guthrie was also slated to anchor NBC\u2019s first night of prime time Olympics coverage because the usual anchor, Mike Tirico, will be in California for the Super Bowl.\n <\/p>\n
\n With that big international trip coming up, Guthrie spent much of last weekend with her husband and two kids.\n <\/p>\n
\n But her plans were shattered when a family member called her and said Nancy was missing.\n <\/p>\n
\n It was \u201cthe worst phone call of her life,\u201d said an NBC producer who knows Savannah personally.\n <\/p>\n
\n Authorities in Pima County, Arizona, said Nancy\u2019s family members searched her home in vain before calling 911 to report her missing around noon local time on Sunday.\n <\/p>\n
\n A source familiar with the matter said Savannah immediately scrambled to fly to Tucson.\n <\/p>\n
\n On Monday morning, Pima County sheriff Chris Nanos said Savannah had been in touch with his office, and \u201cshe has a security team that\u2019s been in touch with us throughout the night.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The NBC host called herself a \u201cdaughter of the desert\u201d in a \u201cToday\u201d show segment about her Tucson roots last fall.\n <\/p>\n
\n In the segment, Savannah and Nancy dined together at a local restaurant \u2014 one of many times the host featured her mom on the morning show.\n <\/p>\n
\n Nancy called Tucson \u201cwonderful\u201d during the segment: \u201cJust the air, the quality of life is laid back and gentle.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI like to watch the javelinas eat my plants,\u201d she added with a laugh, referring to pig-looking animals that are often seen in the area.\n <\/p>\n
\n Savannah\u2019s family history is well known to \u201cToday\u201d show fans. Nancy and her husband Charles lived in Australia, where Charles worked as a mining engineer, when Savannah was born in 1971.\n <\/p>\n
\n The family relocated to Arizona when Savannah was young. Charles died of a heart attack when she was starting senior year of high school.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe lost my dad suddenly and shockingly,\u201d Savannah recalled in a 2023 interview. \u201cAnd my mom was so strong, and set aside her own grief in many ways, just to be there and make sure we could all move forward together.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n On Monday, Savannah issued a statement on behalf of her family, thanking law enforcement and saying \u201cour focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The \u201cToday\u201d show typically relocates to the site of the Olympics for a long stretch of the games. It almost goes without saying that Savannah\u2019s Olympics plans are on hold.\n <\/p>\n
\n An NBC spokesperson had no comment on any changes, but a source familiar with the matter said Guthrie will not host the opening ceremony telecast.\n <\/p>\n
\n Anchors and reporters across the network shared prayers for the Guthries on Monday. Llamas ended Monday\u2019s \u201cNightly News\u201d by saying, \u201cTonight, we\u2019re asking for your help\u201d to find the elder Guthrie.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf you know Savannah then you know her mom \u2014 because she raised her, through some very tough times,\u201d Llamas said. \u201cSavannah has shared that it was her mother who taught her the power of prayer, the types of prayers that make you get on your knees and pray for God\u2019s protection. Savannah and her family need your prayers tonight. They also need your help.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cSavannah,\u201d Llamas said, \u201cwe know how strong you are, we are praying, and we won\u2019t stop until you find her.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Savannah Guthrie was supposed to fly to Italy on Monday for NBC\u2019s much-anticipated coverage of the 2026 Winter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-445872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}