Who Is Nancy Guthrie? Everything We Know About Today Show Anchor Savannah's Missing Mom

Savannah Guthrie has been a mainstay on NBC's "Today" show for over a decade, and while we're used to seeing her talk about the news, sadly, now it's her mother who has made news. Savannah's mother, Nancy Guthrie, has been reported missing, with police investigating her disappearance from her Tucson home on January 31 as a crime. Nancy is 84 years old. In a press conference about her disappearance, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed that she is of sound mind. However, Nanos also noted that she does have limited mobility, which is one of the reasons that signals she didn't leave of her own accord. Savannah has asked on Instagram for prayers for her mother as the investigation is ongoing.

Nancy is far more than just a missing woman. Nancy was born in Fort Wright, Kentucky, in 1942. She married Charles Guthrie, and they had three children: Annie, Camron, and Savannah. The family lived in Melbourne, Australia, for a time — one thing you might not know about Savannah is that she was actually born in Australia. When Samantha was 2, they moved to Tucson.

Nancy joined Savannah on a visit to Australia in 2015; it was the first time for both of them to go back since they left. But as much as they loved visiting Melbourne, Nancy loves living in Arizona. "It's so wonderful [here]," Nancy said during a visit with Savannah in November 2025. "Just the air, the quality of life is laid back and gentle." And she joked (via "Today"), "I like to watch the javelina eat my plants."

As idyllic as Nancy Guthrie's Arizona life sounds, she's dealt with her share of hardship. Her husband, Charles Guthrie, died when Savannah was a senior in high school. Savannah has spoken about how she and her sister stayed with their mother in Arizona during that hard time. But when Savannah got a job out of college that was all the way in Montana, Nancy wanted to make sure that her daughter spread her wings, with Savannah revealing on "Today" that her mom told her, "'If you can't leave me, then I didn't do my job right, Savannah." That's a true testament to the kind of loving mother that she is. And our guess is she's a loving grandma to Savannah's two kids.

In 2022, Savannah made a touching tribute for her mother's 80th birthday on the "Today" show. She talked about some of her mother's attributes, saying that Nancy "lived a life of integrity and loyalty. She is a consistent doer of the right thing and the hard thing." Savannah also called her mother "daring and adventurous," noting the time that she flew in an F-16; her son, Camron Guthrie, was an Air Force pilot.

Nancy loves playing mahjong and has been doing so since the 1970s. Nancy played mahjong the night that she went missing; her daughter Annie had joined her for dinner and a game. Nancy was also an avid churchgoer; it was actually someone from Nancy's church who first noticed she was missing. Savannah has said she grew up in the church with her mother and entire family. "We would go three times a week," she revealed on "Today."