Savannah Guthrie Makes Her Return to TODAY Following Her Mother’s Disappearance

Savannah Guthrie was visibly emotional as she stepped back into the Today Show studio for the first time following the abduction of her mother, Nancy, over a month ago. Guthrie is determined to make a powerful return to television, according to her studio.

Photos obtained by TMZ captured the host warmly embracing staff and crew members at the Manhattan studio on Thursday morning.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, NBC confirmed that although Savannah intends to resume her on-air role, her visit on Thursday was primarily to express gratitude to her TODAY colleagues.

The reunion was an emotional one, with images showing Savannah wiping away tears as she hugged her co-workers and addressed the studio staff with a heartfelt speech.

The studio emphasized that Savannah’s return was an opportunity to thank her colleagues for their unwavering support during the ongoing distress of her mother’s unresolved disappearance.

‘While she plans to return to the show on air, she remains focused right now supporting her family and working to help bring Nancy home,’ the studio said. 

Savannah’s return to her Today Show set comes 33 days after her mom Nancy, 84, vanished from her home in Tucson, Arizona. 

Investigators released footage of a masked suspect appearing to break into her home and evidence suggested she had been abducted, but no arrests or suspects have been named in the month-long search. 

Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today Show studio for the first time since her mom Nancy was abducted from her home more than a month ago.

Savannah appeared emotional in footage of the reunion, and she was seen embracing co-workers and making a speech to the studio staff

The Today Show star was seen wiping away a tear as she returned to the studio on Thursday

Following Savannah’s return to the NBC studio at Rockefeller Center on Thursday, hosts Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager said on the broadcast that they were pleased to see her back. 

‘We got to see her this morning, and in her perfect way she talked to all of us, hugged every single person in this room, the crew,’ Jenna said. 

‘She said that she has the intention to return to the show. 

‘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. And so, we’re happy that she is home. 

‘I don’t know when she is actually returning to the show, but she was here and that felt so good to get to hug her.’ 

Sheinelle added that she was ‘so proud’ of Savannah as she grapples with her mother’s tragic disappearance, saying: ‘I know the strength that it would’ve taken to even just come in here and to be amongst all of us.’ 

‘I think her coming here just being able to be with us and for us to be able to hug her, I think it’s a step,’ she said. 

‘I don’t know what’s ahead of us, but all I know is it’s a step.’

Savannah’s last appearance on the air was on January 30, two days before her mother was reported missing, and she has spent most of the time since in Arizona to be with her family.  

Before Thursday’s appearance in New York City, Savannah was last seen in public on Monday when she joined her sister Annie and brother-in-law Tommaso Cioni to visit a memorial outside Nancy’s home 

Savannah’s return to her Today Show set on Thursday comes 33 days after her mom Nancy, 84, vanished from her home in Tucson, Arizona

In the course of the investigation, authorities released footage of a masked suspect appearing to break into Nancy’s home and evidence suggested she had been abducted, but no arrests or suspects have been named in the month-long search

Before Thursday’s appearance in New York City, Savannah was last seen in public on Monday when she joined her sister Annie and brother-in-law Tommaso Cioni to visit a memorial outside Nancy’s home. 

The family hugged and laid yellow flowers at the memorial, where well-wishers had camped out for weeks in hopes of Nancy returning home safely. 

Savannah has issued a $1 million reward for information leading to Nancy’s return, but admitted in a video appeal to social media on February 24 that her mom may not be alive. 

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office, which has been leading the search, has come under scrutiny in the course of the investigation, including allegedly stopping Savannah from offering a reward early in the search. 

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has faced allegations that he bungled the investigation, as police insiders told the Daily Mail that he failed to deploy a crucial search-and-rescue aircraft in the initial hours of the manhunt. 

Nanos has also come under criticism for releasing and re-sealing the crime scene several times, and issuing contradictory messages to the public.  

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has faced allegations that he bungled the investigation

As the search runs cold, the FBI announced that the agency would be scaling back its search for Nancy, with agents moving to a new command post more than 100 miles away from Phoenix.

Some agents will also stay behind in Tucson, sources with knowledge of the investigation told ABC News. Agents in Phoenix, meanwhile, will work the case from there.

The move does not indicate investigators are giving up on the search, sources said.