Savannah Guthrie Offers $1 Million for Recovery of Mom Nancy, TV Host Acknowledges She May ‘Be Gone’

As the weeks went by following the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother from her Tucson home, Savannah Guthrie’s pleas to her potential kidnappers grew more desperate.

But on Feb. 23, the tone of the Today show cohost’s message changed. Posting a video on Instagram, Savannah asked fans to continue praying for her mom, Nancy, who was taken from her home without her life-saving medication, and expressed faith in her safe return.

“We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home, hope against hope,” said the 54-year-old. Then, for the first time, she acknowledged a tragic possibility. “We also know that she may be lost,” Savannah added. “She may already be gone.”

At the same time, the TV veteran and her siblings, Annie and Camron, offered $1 million for the recovery of their mother. The reward almost immediately prompted hundreds of calls to the FBI tip line. (The agency has been investigating doorbell footage of a masked man, as well as gloves found near the scene, blood spatters and other evidence.) That didn’t surprise former FBI supervisor Jason Pack, who told Today that the higher stakes might cause someone with knowledge of the crime to decide to cash in.

“There are some people who were close to what happened, that know what happened, that now have a decision to make,” he explained. “And that decision was really, really ratcheted up by this reward that Savannah and her family offered.”