Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today Show on Monday for the first time since her mother, Nancy, was reported missing on February 1st.
The NBC News co-host was wearing a dress in the color yellow, a color that has become symbolic for the Guthrie family and their supporters amid the still ongoing search for the 84-year-old Arizona grandmother, who was last seen by her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, when he dropped her off at her Catalina Foothills home around 9:45 pm local time that Saturday night, January 31st.
"Good morning, welcome to ‘Today’ on this Monday morning. We are so glad you started your week with us, and it is good to be home," Guthrie stated alongside fellow co-host Craig Melvin. Some of Savannah's colleagues on the show also wore yellow, and there were yellow flowers on the set.
BACK ON SCREEN: Savannah Guthrie returns to the "Today" show, two months after her mother was taken from her Tucson, Arizona home. Savannah wore yellow in support of her mother.
— Fox True Crime (@FoxTrueCrime) April 6, 2026
"Good morning, welcome to ‘Today’ on this Monday morning. We are so glad you started your week with… pic.twitter.com/0f41lzyXys
The day before Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today Show set, she released an Easter video message. The messages she and her siblings have released since their mother's abduction have been faith-centered, with the first one talking about how Nancy Guthrie was a strong woman of faith.
Her latest, of course, was no different in that regard. But, though she didn't expressly mention her mom, she revealed that, at various points over the last two months, she had felt "disappointment" with God. She also shared that there had been times when she had questioned if Jesus had experienced the level of pain the Guthrie family had over the disappearance of their mom, over them not having any answers, and not being any closer to finding out what happened.
Ultimately, she answered her own questions and affirmed that she was still a believer in what, in my opinion, was a pretty powerful statement to release on Easter Sunday:
Guthrie explained that she was taught that “Jesus, in his short life, experienced every single emotion that we humans can feel.” However, in her own “season of trial,” Guthrie has “questioned whether Jesus really ever experienced this particular wound that I feel, this grievous and uniquely cruel injury of not knowing, of uncertainty and confusion and answers withheld in those darkest moments.”
The “Today” anchor then said that, after pondering the story of Jesus’ resurrection, she came to realize that maybe he had his own questions for God before his death.
“But after Jesus died, after he breathed his last, what did he actually know on the cross? He cried out, ‘My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?’ That is the anguished cry of someone who does not know the answers,” Guthrie said. “Where did his soul and his spirit go in those days in between? And what was he thinking? Did he think his time in the grave would be a day or two, or 1000 years in the grave? Does his agony seem indefinite to him? That torment of uncertainty, the way indefinite pain can feel eternal. Perhaps he did know this feeling after all.”
Watch:
🚨 Savannah Guthrie shares emotional Easter message while her mother remains missing.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) April 6, 2026
She opens up about her pain and loss, questioning if Jesus felt the same suffering, but still declares, “I still believe.” pic.twitter.com/UzgQKCL6Uh
The video was met with mixed reviews online, with some people taking certain things she said out of context, some of which occurred because there were social media influencers who posted abbreviated versions of the video, complete with several jump cuts, which left out context, including the conclusion Guthrie ended up coming to.
Still, there were others who watched the full video who either didn't think it was appropriate to release on Easter Sunday or were upset that she would ask such questions. Some marveled at the audacity it took to contemplate the idea that her family's suffering might have been worse than what Jesus had gone through.
What I took away from what she said was that it was a deeply human moment many believers (including myself) have had amid events that have happened in our lives that have tested our mettle and faith. Except she chose to share hers with the public.
I've talked before in my Caregiver's Diary series about my similar experience in this department, where I was angry and questioning God after my 79-year-old mom's stage IIIB colon cancer diagnosis in October 2022. A lot of times, I'd go to bed at night, and in the course of saying my prayers, I'd ask God, "Why? Why mom? Why, after all she'd gone through in caring for dad?"
The most giving, loving, and selfless person I will ever know, and for whom I would stop the world from spinning if I could, had been diagnosed with cancer, and in my human moments, which included how challenging things were for her during the course of her chemo treatments, I lashed out and wondered how in the world God could have let this happen.
I answered my own questions in due time and even felt shame in retrospect for asking the questions. But then I would remind myself that humans are imperfect, that God expects these things to happen, and understands it.
I never stopped believing, though. And going by her full message, it doesn't sound like Savannah Guthrie has, either.
Though I've had a taste of what it's like to have family members experience something extraordinarily painful that I have very little control over, I can only imagine what goes through the minds of the Guthrie family and all other families who have experienced the heartbreak and immeasurable pain of having someone they love go missing.
So even if I did find what Savannah Guthrie did on Sunday was wrong, I'd still be inclined to give her some grace.
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