The Tragic Toll Savannah Guthrie's Mother's Kidnapping May Have On The Rest Of Her Life

"Today" show host Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing from her Tucson, Arizona home on February 1 and hasn't been seen since. According to NewsNation, Guthrie is now thinking about leaving the show she has been a part of since 2007 over the weight of her fame and the thoughts that it may have played a part in the tragedy.

NewsNation's senior story editor, Paula Froelich, reported on Saturday's "News Nation Prime" that sources told her, "This absolutely came out of the blue, and I think she's really concerned that it was because of her job." Guthrie has had her mother on several "Today" segments over the years, with the two cooking together on Mother's Day in 2016. In November, they were shown together when Savannah returned home to Tucson. 

Guthrie's segments with her mom were lighthearted and meant to be a way for the "Today" audience to get to know the host better. Instead, as Froelich said, it may have given ideas to people "with bad characters." Her sources told her that Guthrie may decide not to return to the NBC morning show because she thinks her mom was probably targeted because of her, and now she worries that her husband, Michael Feldman, and kids may be targets too.  

Savannah Guthrie also has a brother and sister, Camron and Annie, but with their father having passed away when they were young, and Savannah being the famous one in the family, it has led to her being at the forefront of the headlines in the search for her mother. Her siblings have joined in some of the video pleas to the kidnapper, whereas others have focused on Guthrie alone speaking to the camera. Understandably, the "Today" host looks more heartbroken and beyond exhausted as the days go on. NewsNation's Paula Froelich said, "I don't think she can function right now very well."

A motive for Nancy Guthrie's kidnapping is still not known, but the family is said to have received ransom notes. Froelich said: "Savannah is very high profile and her salary is in the millions. This has been printed before. So, unfortunately, people say, 'This is an easy mark.'"

No one could fault Guthrie for not only needing time away from "Today" right now, but for deciding to quit altogether. It would take an incredible feat of strength to ever go back to light segments and smiling for the camera after what she and her family have been through. Let's just hope that someday we get at least one more "Today" moment, this time with Savannah reunited with her mother, returned safely to her home.