Savannah Guthrie Returns to 'Today' After Mystery Mid-Show Exit

Savannah Guthrie was back behind her desk at TODAY on Thursday, after making headlines on Wednesday for abruptly leaving the broadcast early.

During the May 6 broadcast, Guthrie was filming in the TODAY Plaza with Craig Melvin. About 90 minutes into the taping, Melvin announced that his co-anchor left for the day, about 30 minutes early.

“Savannah had to leave a little early. She will be right back here tomorrow, though,” he shared. No explanation was given for her exit; the early exit comes as the search for Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, enters its fourth month.

Per a Page Sixsource, Guthrie left for “some sort of appointment, and her exit had nothing to do with her mom.”

Guthrie Returns to the Air

On Thursday, Guthrie was back on air alongside Melvin. The pair made no reference to her early exit the previous day.

She also took to social media to give a special someone who was in the audience the prior day a shoutout, after missing them in person.

During Wednesday’s telecast, moments after Melvin announced Guthrie had left, Jenna Bush Hager spoke to a woman identified as Mrs. Nintzel in the Plaza. The woman was one of Guthrie’s high school teachers in Tucson, Arizona.

“Speaking of, this was Savannah’s teacher,” Hager said, as the woman showed off her handmade sign. “Was Savannah a great student?”

“Oh yeah, great student,” she responded.

Though they missed reconnecting in person, Guthrie took to her Instagram Stories on Thursday to share a photo of Nintzel holding up her sign. “thank you for coming,” Guthrie captioned the post, alongside a number of heart emojis.

FBI Kept Out of Guthrie Case: Kash Patel

Guthrie returned to her role as co-anchor on April 6, 2026, after taking a two-month leave of absence following the February 1 report that her mother was missing. With the search for Nancy now in its fourth month, no suspects have been publicly identified in the case.

Earlier this week, FBI director Kash Patel criticized local authorities in Arizona for how they’ve handled the case.

“What we, the FBI, do is say, 'Hey, we’re here to help,'” Patel told Sean Hannity during an episode of Hang Out with Sean Hannity. “What do you need? What can we do? And for four days, we were kept out of the investigation.”

Patel also claimed he “launched hundreds of agents and intel staff to Phoenix and Tucson just for this case, just to be on standby.”

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos responded to Patel’s comments, claiming that “the FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family,” Nanos said.

“We remain committed to a thorough, coordinated, and fact-based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward,” he added in a statement.

Anyone with information on Guthrie’s disappearance is urged to call 88-CRIME or the FBI tip line at 1-800-225-5324. Both the FBI and the Guthrie family are offering more than $1 million in rewards.

“The reward money is still here,” Nanos reminded viewers in a May 1 interview. “It’s there for a reason. We think somebody out there knows something. We know they do. We know that someone out there knows what happened. Call us.”