“TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie visited the NBC morning show’s set on Thursday, as the investigation into her 84-year-old mother’s disappearance stretched into a 32nd day.
“Savannah Guthrie stopped by the studio this morning to be with and thank her ‘TODAY’ colleagues,” a spokesperson for the show said in a statement.
“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 spokesperson added.
Nancy Guthrie was reported missing Feb. 1 after she didn’t show up at a friend’s home in Tucson, Arizona, to attend an online church service. She was last seen the previous night around 9:45 p.m. after having dinner at her daughter Annie's home.
Authorities have described the case as a possible kidnapping or abduction, but clues have been scarce.
Savannah Guthrie's visit was not televised. She has not appeared on the morning show since her mother disappeared, having spent most of that time with family in the Tucson area.
“TODAY” co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager fought back tears on air as she addressed Savannah Guthrie’s visit to the “TODAY” studio.
“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,” Bush Hager said.
Sheinelle Jones, Bush Hager’s co-host for the third hour of “TODAY,” said “we’re not out of the storm, but there’s a light somewhere even in the midst of the storm."
“I think her coming here and just being able to be with us, and for us to be able to hug her, I think it’s a step,” Jones said.
Jones said she told Savannah Guthrie: “Whenever you are ready, we are here.”
In pictures taken from outside the "TODAY" show studio by an Associated Press photographer, a visibly emotional Savannah Guthrie can be seen wiping tears from her eyes and embracing her colleagues.
The Guthrie family is offering a $1 million reward for information that leads to their mother’s recovery.
In announcing that reward on Feb. 24, Savannah Guthrie said that while her family believes her mother “can come home,” they also “know that she may be lost” and may “already be gone.”
The FBI recovered doorbell camera images of an armed and masked man outside Guthrie’s home on the morning of her disappearance. Investigators have since described that person as a suspect, but he has not been publicly identified.
The FBI has said it is looking for a male who is 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with an average build. In the doorbell camera images, he was wearing a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.
