Savannah Guthrie has always had a special bond with her mom Nancy.
A few years before the 84-year-old went missing in Arizona, Savannah, 54, spoke to her “Today” co-host Jenna Bush Hager about how Nancy’s selfless act helped her get to where she is in her career.
“My father died when I was entering my senior year in high school. I then lived at home all through college,” Savannah said on the morning show in 2022. ‘We didn’t have money to afford the dorm. And that was thing one, but the other was that my sister and I really felt like we should stick with my mom and not leave her alone.”
“But when I moved to Butte, Montana, this was it,” Savannah added. “And it was really hard for me to leave her.”
The famous journalist explained that when she got her first news job in Montana at the age of 21, Nancy was Savannah’s biggest supporter.
“And that’s when she said, ‘If you can’t leave me, then I didn’t do my job right, Savannah,’” she recalled. “She just gave me permission to go, you know?”
“She could have held onto me,” Savannah added of her mother. “It wouldn’t have taken very much. If she said, ‘Well, you know, Savannah maybe you could find something a little closer to home…’”
Savannah also recognized that Nancy pushed her to move to Montana not because she wanted her to leave, but because she wanted Savannah to achieve her “dreams” of being a broadcaster.
And that turned out to be an important life lesson for Savannah, who has two children of her own, daughter Vale, 11, and son Charley, 9, with husband Michael Feldman.
“You don’t spoon feed your kids. You teach them how to eat for themselves,” Savannah explained of what she learned from her mom. “It’s like everything. If we’re doing it right, there, they should be self-sufficient. They’re not supposed to be needy. They’re not supposed to need us. And also, we’re not supposed to be the center of their universes.”
Savannah, who was raised in Tucson, Arizona, was only 16 years old when her dad Charles died suddenly of a heart attack.
“The loss of my father was shocking and devastating. It cracked open our family and crushed us,” Savannah shared in an interview with People in 2024. “He was our center. We just idealized him and adored him. He was larger than life, and funny, and charming, and adorable. His loss was so sudden and so shocking.”
While Savannah lost her dad young, her mom has been one of the most important people in her life. Nancy has even made multiple guest appearances on “Today” including as recent as November, when Savannah returned to her hometown.
Nancy was last seen at her home in Catalina Foothills, north of Tucson, at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday and was reported missing the next day, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office.
Homicide detectives have joined the search for Nancy, who’s been described as “not of good physical health” and a “vulnerable adult.”
“We’ve pretty much thrown everything at this as we can,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nano stated at a press conference. “I don’t need to tell you, this is very concerning to us; we don’t typically get the sheriff out on a scene like this but it is very concerning.”
Nanos also said that there’s “grave concern” for Nancy’s wellbeing.
Savannah skipped “Today” on Monday after the news of her mom’s disappearance, but she did release a statement addressing the missing persons case.
“On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support,” Savannah said. “Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom.”
Savannah also thanked law enforcement “for their hard work” and encouraged anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department
