Hoda Kotb returned to the Today show family as the hunt for Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother Nancy enters its sixth day.
Despite officially leaving the NBC program last January, the former co-host, 61, supported Craig Melvin, Carson Daly and Sheinelle Jones on Friday’s episode as investigators continue to search for 84-year-old Nancy, who disappeared over the weekend.
‘First of all, I just want to say this whole thing’s breaking my heart and I’m happy to be sitting here with you,’ Kotb said at the top of the episode.
‘I think there’s this helpless feeling,’ she noted. ‘I mean, we’re all so close to her and we all want to help her.’
Kotb shared examples of how Guthrie has supported the Today show family in times of need and started by referring to her daughter Hope’s medical struggles with type 1 diabetes last year.
She continued: ‘I’m looking at us and I’m thinking, who was first in the hospital room when Hope was sick? Savannah.’
Turning her attention to Daly, 52, and the deaths of his parents in 2017, Kotb said: ‘Who hopped on a plane when your parents? Savannah.’
Kotb then referred to the death of 47-year-old Jones’s husband Uche Ojeh to cancer in 2025 and the death of Melvin’s brother in 2020, adding that Guthrie was there for them.
Hoda Kotb returned to the Today show on Friday as the hunt for Nancy Guthrie continues
She joined her former colleagues Craig Melvin, Carson Daly and Sheinelle Jones on the show
She ended the segment with a message of hope.
‘I was thinking this morning, you know when they say, “Love is patient. Love is kind.” We’ll be patient and put prayers up,’ she said.
Melvin, 46, added: ‘It’s just that feeling of helplessness. And we’re not helpless because it’s prayer and hope.’
Viewers were delighted to see Kotb back on their screens and said that seeing her was comforting.
‘I think we all needed to see Hoda today,’ one commented on the show’s official Instagram page. ‘So much prayer for Momma Nancy to come home safely.’
‘I starting crying the moment I saw Hoda,’ another said. ‘She is a beacon of love and hope.
‘We needed to see her and hear from her. It felt right to have her come home for Savannah and Nancy and the today show family. Thank you Hoda! We love you! Keep praying in earnest and bring sweet Nancy home.’
‘So glad Hoda is back,’ continued a third. ‘This situation is very trying.’
Savannah Guthrie’s mother Nancy, 84, was last seen on Saturday night near her home in Tucson, Arizona
A fourth said: ‘We all needed Hoda! She just has a way of making you feel hopeful when things are really hard. Please bring Nancy home.
‘This is just beyond crazy and sad. Nothing is making sense but for sure I can’t imagine anyone that knows of Savannah isn’t praying for her precious mom.’
Kotb’s return to the Today show comes as NBC Today’s crime expert has suggested Nancy’s kidnapper disconnected her doorbell camera to test if it would prompt a response from police.
Nancy’s doorbell camera was disconnected at 1.47am Sunday, which NBC National Law Enforcement & Intelligence Correspondent Tom Winter says is a ‘critical moment’ in her case.
Software data recorded movement at the home at 2.12am, which police acknowledge could have come from a person or animal. But Nancy did not have an active subscription with the doorbell app so the company was unable to recover any footage.
Nancy was then reported missing after she failed to show up for church services later on Sunday morning
Guthrie and her siblings told their mother’s captors that they were ‘ready to talk’ in a video message Wednesday night
Camron Guthrie pleaded with his mother’s captors on Thursday to reach out to the family directly after the first ransom deadline passed
Then at 2.28am the app on Nancy’s pacemaker was disconnected from her phone, which Winter says is evidence that she was away from her home and phone sometime before then.
‘What’s with that 20-minute time gap?’ he said on the Today Show Friday morning.
‘The camera gets ripped off the doorbell, but then there’s motion seen on the camera outside, you know, 20 minutes later. What’s that about?’
Winter, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, said there is speculation amongst investigators that Nancy’s abductor ‘took the doorbell camera off and waited to see if police arrived’.
‘And then perhaps thinking the coast was clear, goes back to the house. We don’t know,’ he continued. ‘We don’t know the specifics of what camera detected the motion either.’
Today Show host Savannah Guthrie’s brother desperately pleaded with their mother’s captors to ‘reach out’ after the first ransom deadline passed.
Camron Guthrie spoke solemnly in the short video posted to the news anchor’s Instagram page on Thursday, as the search for their mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, stretched into a fifth day.
‘Whoever is out there holding our mother – we want to hear from you,’ Camron began, noting: ‘We haven’t heard anything directly’ as ransom notes demanding millions of dollars for Nancy’s release were only sent to local news stations as well as TMZ.
