In an interview with Today about the disappearance of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie promised to “never fall apart” for her two children.
“I’m going to do it for my children,” the journalist told Hoda Kotb in an emotional sit-down on Friday, referring to her 11-year-old daughter Vale and 9-year-old son Charles.
Savannah, who shares her young children with husband Michael Feldman, added: “I will not allow anyone who did this to take away the mother of my children.”
The 54-year-old went on to say that when Savannah’s father Charles passed away when the NBC personality was a teenager, Nancy modeled the same strength.
“She told me,” Savannah explained. “I saw her sorrow, I saw her world crumble, but I saw her rise, I saw her love, I saw her faith.
“She taught us all,” the “devastated” and “heartbroken” former lawyer continued, referring to her brother Camron Guthrie and sister Annie Guthrie. “I may not be as good as her, but I’ll definitely do it.”
Savannah and Kotb’s conversation took place nearly two months after her 84-year-old mother was abducted from her Arizona home on January 31st.
Elsewhere in the interview, the TV personality, who was discussing her return to the “Today” show on April 6, sobbed during a segment that aired Thursday as she described how “pained” she was by Nancy’s disappearance.
“I wake up in the middle of the night every night and imagine her terror in the dark, and I can’t think of that,” Savannah said. “But those thoughts need to be thought about, so I’m not going to hide my face.”
She learned that Nancy was missing on February 1st when she received a call from Annie.
“I said, ‘Are you OK?’ And she said, ‘No.’ “She said, ‘Mommy’s missing,'” Savannah recalled. “So I said, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ She said, ‘He’s gone.'”
The NBC personality explained that she and Annie thought her mother might have had “some kind of medical episode during the night,” and described how “the back door was thrown open.”
However, the patriarch’s cell phone and wallet remained at home.
Savannah also condemned “cruel” allegations that her family was involved in Nancy’s disappearance.
She said the speculation “will never make sense,” adding that it is “pain upon pain” while fiercely defending Camron and Annie’s husband, Tommaso Cioni.
Nancy was reported missing on February 1st after failing to attend a church service.
Surveillance footage of a masked and armed man outside Nancy’s front door the night she was kidnapped was later released by the FBI.
Savannah and her siblings accept that their mother may have died, but offer $1 million for her return.
