Savannah Guthrie Mysteriously Disappears on 'Today' Ahead of Live Interview With A-Lister — Fueling Fears of Major Break in Her Missing Mom Case
Savannah Guthrie disappeared from the 'Today' show, which has led to speculation there could be news soon about her missing mom.
April 16 2026, Published 10:47 a.m. ET
Savannah Guthrie's sudden mid-show disappearance has fueled fan speculation that there might be a major breakthrough in the search for her missing mother, Nancy.
The Today show co-anchor teased an upcoming interview with movie star Anne Hathaway, but when the program returned from a break, Savannah was gone.
Come and Go
Savannah teased an interview with Anne Hathaway before throwing the show to a commercial.
Thursday marks the 75th day since Nancy was snatched from her Tucson home, and the updates have become frustratingly slow.
But hopes changed on Wednesday, after Savannah skipped out on the show. Minutes earlier, the 54-year-old sat on a chair opposite Hathaway, ahead of an interview for her upcoming movie Mother Mary.
"I'm the luckiest girl right here. I’ve got Anne Hathaway right here, 'Mother Mary' herself," Savannah said. "She has a sneak peek at her new movie, and we have talked a little bit about The Devil Wears Prada 2."
Hathaway smiled and teased, "Just a little bit," as the show went to a commercial break. When it came back, Savannah was gone, and co-anchor Hoda Kotb suddenly filled her seat and conducted the interview.
Online Speculation Grows
When the show came back, Hoda Kotb had taken Savannah's place.
No explanation was given for Savannah's absence, leaving many viewers to fill in the blanks for themselves.
"Watching The Today Show and Savannah was set to interview Anne Hathaway before commercial break. Went to commercial and came back and Hoda was in," one person tweeted. "I hope everything is ok bc that was odd. I watch every day and they normally never do that."
Another person commented, "That's strange! Maybe she got a call and was going to leave after the last set?"
A third person noted, "You'd think if she was having a rough day, she would've never started the sit-down with Anne."
While one person reasoned: "Looks like it could have just been a teaser for after the break and Hoda was always going to do the interview."
Savannah returned to the show later for a food segment, but never did address her disappearance.
Savannah' Secret Watch Word
Savannah made her long-awaited return to 'Today' earlier this month.
Savannah returned to Today on Monday, April 6, after having spent the previous two months in Arizona with her family searching for their mom, but to no avail.
With her return, a source told the Daily Mail that producers have a secret phrase to say if there's a call for Savannah involving an update on her mom. According to the source, Savannah would be told that she’s "needed off set.”
"We would pull her immediately, mid-segment if we had to," the insider revealed. "She knows if one of the producers tells her she’s 'needed off set' that there’s a development.
"She would understand that there was news about her mom and we'd take her into an office and tell her, at the same time that another anchor would report it as a breaking story."
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Savannah Goes 'Home'
She was shown love by her co-anchors and fans outside.
But for now, Savannah is focusing on her job, after making her first appearance on the Today show in two months following the abduction.
Sitting behind her desk alongside co-host Craig Melvin, she said, "It's good to be home.”
Placing a protective hand on top of her's, Melvin replied, "It's good to have you home."
Guthrie added, "Well, ready or not, here we go, let's read the news," as the team reported an in-depth piece on the war in Iran.
