Hoda Kotb’s Today show future revealed as search for Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother enters fifth week

WorldEntertainment
26 Feb 2026 • 10:48 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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Hoda Kotb will continue filling in for Savannah Guthrie on Today as the search for her mother, Nancy Guthrie, stretches into a fifth week.

Guthrie normally hosts the morning talk show alongside Craig Melvin, but has not been on air since the beginning of February following the disappearance of her mother.

According to People, Kotb will be spending another week hosting as the search for Nancy — who was last seen January 31 at her home near Tucson, Arizona — is about to enter its fifth week.

While filling in, Kotb — who left the Today show last year — expressed how much she wanted to help Savannah in her time of need.

“I think there's this helpless feeling. We're all so close with her, and we all want to help her,” she said on her first day filling in for Guthrie. “They say love is patient, love is kind. Put prayers up, that's all we can do.”

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Kotb has also opened up about the messages of support she’s received from viewers hoping for a positive outcome for Savannah’s mother.

“I was walking through the airport yesterday, I was just flying back here. The number of people who came up and said, one thing they kept repeating, which just struck me is, ‘She's like all of our moms. She's like all of our moms. Tell her we're praying. Tell her we're here,’” Kotb recalled recently. “And I think that's so important. It's touched everybody.”

A new report revealed Nancy’s neighbor noticed a “suspicious” man walk by her home two weeks before the 84-year-old was believed to have been abducted.

Aldine Meister, who has lived in Nancy’s affluent neighborhood for nearly 30 years, told Fox News Digital about the man, saying, “He didn’t have your typical walking gear on, and he had his hat pulled really far over his eyes.”

“He was kind of younger, and he just didn’t look like he was going out for a walk,” adding, “He just didn’t fit.”

Nancy’s neighbor couldn’t pinpoint the exact day she saw the mysterious man. She said she alerted the authorities about him after Nancy vanished.

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Recent speculation has emerged as to whether Nancy’s suspected kidnapper showed up at her house before the day she disappeared.

In most photos of the suspect shared by authorities, he is wearing a backpack. ABC News reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the investigation, one of the images, which showed the suspect without a backpack, was taken on another day before the alleged abduction.

But the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement shared Monday night with The Independent, “There is no date or time stamp associated with these images. Therefore, any suggestion that the photographs were taken on different days is purely speculative.”

Authorities are desperate to find Nancy, increasing the reward for valuable information in her case to $200,000 between the FBI and local officials.