A stalwart of NBC’s Olympics programming will miss the upcoming Milan-Cortina games to deal with a serious family matter.
Earlier today, it was revealed that Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing over the weekend and authorities have been searching for the 84-year-old ever since. Guthrie has been a co-host of NBC’s flagship morning program for fifteen years and was set to partake in the network’s Winter Olympics coverage beginning later this week.
Guthrie did not appear on the Monday edition of Today, and we now know she will not make the trip to Italy, per Page Six. The NBC veteran was scheduled to co-host the Opening Ceremony alongside Terry Gannon and gold-medalist snowboarder Shaun White on Friday. It would be Guthrie’s fourth time contributing coverage to the Opening Ceremony. She was also scheduled to host Today on-location alongside co-host Hoda Kotb for the first week of the Olympics.
Nancy Guthrie went missing over the weekend having last been seen on Saturday evening at her home near Tucson, AZ. Local officials described the case as a “search and rescue mission.” The elder Guthrie has no medical history of diseases like dementia or Alzheimer’s, making the case all the more concerning. Authorities have taken the unusual step of involving homicide detectives the scour Guthrie’s home in search of any evidence to help the case.
Savannah Guthrie issued a statement via her Today co-hosts on Monday morning. “On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support. Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom.”
Awful Announcing has reached out to NBC Sports for comment. This story will be updated.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.