Today Show host Savannah Guthrie made a heartbreaking plea for fans to keep her beloved mother in their prayers to help ‘bring her home’ after the elderly woman suddenly disappeared.
The frantic search for Nancy Guthrie continued on Tuesday after Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told the Daily Mail that he believes the 84-year-old was snatched from her bed in the middle of the night.
‘We believe in prayer. We believe in voices raised in unison, in love, in hope,’ Savannah wrote on Instagram. ‘We believe in goodness, we believe in humanity. Above all, we believe in Him.’
Nancy Guthrie, a devout mother of three, was reported missing from her $1 million Arizona home on Sunday after she failed to show up for morning mass.
She was last seen at around 9.45pm on Saturday in Tucson’s affluent Catalina Foothills neighborhood.
‘Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant,’ Savannah wrote.
She then asked her social media followers to ‘raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment,’ adding: ‘We need you’ and ‘Bring her home’.
Savannah made the desperate plea as the investigation into Nancy’s disappearance stretched into a third consecutive day.
Today Show host Savannah Guthrie pleaded with the American public for their prayers for her mother, Nancy, who was reported missing on Sunday
The Today Show host wrote ‘we need you’ as she asked her followers for their prayers
Savannah Guthrie issues statement on disappearance of her mother
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Amy Schumer and Alyssa Milano said they are ‘praying hard’ for Nancy’s safe return. Bravo star Andy Cohen who shared his ‘love and prayers’.
Actor Josh Gad added: ‘You have nothing but prayers in this household. I am truly sorry that this is happening.’
Some of Guthrie’s current and former NBC anchors also expressed their sympathy.
Former Today Show co-host Hoda Kotb said she has her ‘non-stop prayers’. Nicole Wallace from MSNOW said she is ‘holding you and your entire family so close’.
Immediately following the report that Nancy was missing, authorities took police dogs around the neighborhood and deployed drones.
They even used the Pima County Sheriff’s Department plane to assist in the search for the elderly woman.
By Monday, though, Sheriff Nanos had said that the search efforts were being ‘shut down’ because Nancy’s disappearance was now being treated as a crime.
He explained at a news conference that Nancy ‘is very limited in her mobility. She did not just walk out of there’.
Nancy, a mother-of-three, was reported missing after a church-goer called the family to report that she was not there
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos announced on Monday that deputies are now investigating Nancy’s disappearance as a crime
‘There are other things at the scene that indicate she did not leave on her own,’ the sheriff continued.
He claimed Nancy left home without taking medication she needs to survive.
Detectives who searched the property also discovered the elderly woman left behind her phone, wallet and car.
Savannah, in the past, has said that ‘the greatest gift my mother gave me was faith and belief in God’. She described her mother on-air as ‘like hard iron, granite-strong’.
‘We had some hard times when I was a child. We lost my dad suddenly and shockingly,’ Savannah said in 2023.
‘And 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,’ she said of herself, her sister, Annie, and brother, Camron.
Authorities give update on search for Savannah Guthrie’s mom
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Just hours before she disappeared, the elderly woman enjoyed a dinner with her eldest daughter, Annie, and spent the evening playing mahjong.
Annie – who once called her mother ‘our bright north star’ – said she did not notice any ‘red flags’ about her mother’s behavior during the dinner, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told US Magazine.
It remains unclear whether Nancy had been targeted because she is Savannah’s mother.
‘We’re not going to dismiss any angles for sure, but right now, immediately we don’t know of anything like that,’ Sheriff Nanos said.
The sheriff added that authorities do not believe the public is in any danger.
The shocking disappearance has left neighbors rattled, with one saying it was strange for Nancy to go missing in such a quiet area.
‘It’s a very safe neighborhood. This is highly unusual, and we are very concerned about her,’ Jeff Lamie told azcentral.
In recent years, Nancy has suffered from mobility issues, leading authorities to believe she may have been taken from her $1million Tucson, Arizona home
Savannah’s sister, Annie (right), enjoyed dinner with their mother, Nancy (center), just hours before she disappeared. The three women are pictured at the Metropolitan Opera in December
Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said the large police presence on Sunday was ‘very unusual’.
He recalled how officers drove up and down the street with their lights flashing overnight, while a helicopter circled overhead.
The neighbor, who spoke with azcentral and requested to not be named, recalled police driving up and down the street with their lights flashing on Sunday night as a helicopter circled overhead.
The police search was a far cry from a normal day in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood where residents walk their dogs and wave good morning to one another.
As questions about Nancy’s whereabouts remained unanswered on Monday, Jenna Bush Hager spoke through tears, addressing the situation.
‘I know her personally. And we want to just report, too, that she takes daily medication and she needs them for survival,’ Bush Hager said.
‘She’s without her medication. We are thinking of our dearest, dearest Savannah and her whole family right now in our prayers.’
Nancy has made regular appearances on the NBC morning show to visit her daughter
Former Today Show co-host Hoda Kotb told Guthrie she has her ‘non-stop prayers.’ The two are pictured on set in October 2024
Savannah Guthrie’s family make appearance on Today
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Host Craig Melvin also conveyed how close to home the story was to the Today team, telling viewers: ‘This is very concerning to us.
‘We don’t typically get involved at a scene like this, but it’s very concerning.’
Both Nancy and Annie have been featured on the show in the past, where the two sisters would speak lovingly about their mother.
‘When I was in my 30s, I really wished to be married and to be a mom, and things just did not happen that fast for me,’ Savannah once said on air.
‘And my mom’s confidence that I would be a mom — even as the years ticked by and ticked by and ticked by — meant so much to me. She said, “Of course you’ll be a mom, and you’re going to be a wonderful mom.”
‘And for her to have that confidence and faith was so meaningful to me. It got me through some really hard times.’
Savannah Guthrie was expected to pull out of her co-hosting assignment for the Winter Olympics on Friday.
She was also noticeably absent from work on Monday as she returned home to Tucson, from where she issued a statement thanking everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages.
‘Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom,’ she said.
‘We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at (520) 351-4900.’
