Savannah Guthrie believes there is a good chance her mom Nancy Guthrie was taken as a way “to make a quick buck” because of her own fame, status and wealth.
In her first interview since her mother Nancy’s disappearance, Guthrie shared the story of how she found out her mom, Nancy, was missing.
“It was just chaos and disbelief,” Savannah said.
Savannah and her siblings immediately pushed the sheriff’s office to treat Nancy’s disappearance as a kidnapping, she said. Savannah says her brother, an ex-fighter pilot, identified the situation immediately, believing it to be a ransom play. The family believes the two ransom notes they responded to early in the investigation were “real.”
“Do you think because of me?” Savannah recalled asking her siblings. She says she knew the answer even when she asked the question.
“I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that girl— that lady has money and we could make a quick buck.’ I mean, that would make sense, but I don’t know. But, yeah, that’s probably — it’s just too much to bear,” Savannah said. “To think that I brought this to her bedside — that it’s because of me. And I have to say, ‘I’m so sorry, Mommy. I’m so sorry.’ I’m sorry to my sister and my brother and my kids and my nephew… and my brother-in-law. I’m just, like, so sorry. I’m so sorry. If it is me, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Another chunk of the interview will air shortly; The Hollywood Reporter will update this post accordingly.
Guthrie and Kotb sat down together on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the NBC News morning show rolled a brief, tearful exchange between the two longtime colleagues and friends.
“Someone needs to do the right thing. We are in agony. We are in agony. It is unbearable. And to think of what she went through. I wake up every night in the middle of the night — every night,” Guthrie said. “And in the darkness, I imagine her terror, and it is unthinkable — but those thoughts demand to be thought, and I will not hide my face. But she needs to come home now.”
Guthrie, who co-anchors Today alongside Craig Melvin, has been away from the airwaves since her mom Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early morning hours of Feb. 1. Nancy, who is 84 and has a heart condition, remains missing. There has been no proof of life. The ongoing investigation is a joint effort between the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.
The search for Nancy captivated the nation for weeks. At times, it felt like law enforcement was narrowing in on her captor(s), but the investigation has been at a crawl — possibly even a standstill — for some time now.
Savannah Guthrie is expected to return to the Today show soon, according to a source, but a date has yet to be announced. Any such announcement will not come this week, THR is told; more from the Guthrie/Kotb conversation will roll out on Friday’s show.
The Guthrie family is offering $1 million “for any information that leads to [Nancy’s] recovery.”
More to come.
