Savannah Guthrie returns to ‘TODAY’ amid search for her 84-year-old mother

“TODAY” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie is set to return to NBC’s flagship morning show on Monday, more than two months after her mother passed away.

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Guthrie, who has co-hosted “TODAY” since 2012, left his role in early February after Nancy Guthrie, 84, disappeared from her home near Tucson, Arizona. Authorities described the case as a possible kidnapping or abduction.

Guthrie said during an Easter church service Sunday, “I still believe,” while speaking about how his Christian faith was tested during the search for his mother.

In her first interview since her family’s ordeal began, Guthrie told Hoda Kotb last month that she thought returning to the “TODAY” anchor desk was “part of my purpose right now,” even if it was hard to imagine returning to a workplace she associates with “joy and lightness.”

“I can’t come back and try to be something I’m not. But I can’t not come back because this is my family,” Guthrie said in the interview. “I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll fit in there anymore, but I’d like to try.”

“TODAY” co-anchor Craig Melvin, announcing Guthrie’s return during the show’s March 27 broadcast, said, “This is where she belongs. This is where we all want her to be. We can’t wait to welcome her with open arms here in Studio 1A.”

Nancy Guthrie’s family reported her missing around noon on Feb. 1 after she failed to show up at a friend’s house for virtual church services, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Office. She was last seen the night before around 9:45 p.m. after having dinner at her daughter Annie Guthrie’s house, according to authorities.

The investigation into her disappearance gripped the nation and shone a spotlight on the quiet Catalina Foothills neighborhood of Tucson. Authorities have not identified a suspect or motive, although the FBI released chilling doorbell camera footage showing an armed, masked man outside Nancy Guthrie’s home the morning she was reported missing.

The office described him as a man of medium build, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, carrying a black 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.

Guthrie and his siblings, Camron Guthrie and Annie Guthrie, have provided updates on the case via social media. In heartbreaking videos on Instagram, they thanked members of the public for their prayers and made direct appeals to Nancy Guthrie’s possible kidnapper.

“Someone knows how to find our mother and bring her home,” Guthrie wrote in the caption of a February 24 video post.

The family is offering up to $1 million for information leading to the 84-year-old’s recovery. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for “information leading to the location of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance.”

Kotb, a “TODAY” contributor, replaced Guthrie. During this period, Guthrie withdrew from NBC’s coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics; Mary Carillo stepped in to co-host the opening ceremony alongside Terry Gannon of NBC Sports.

Guthrie visited the set of “TODAY” on March 5. In photos taken from outside the studio by an Associated Press photographer, Guthrie could be seen wiping away tears and hugging his colleagues. The visit was not televised.

“I really wanted to come see everyone. I love this beautiful place that we call home, where we can come and be every day,” Guthrie told Kotb, adding, “When times are tough, you want to be with your family.”