Sarah Haines has offered support to former colleague Savannah Guthrie as the search for the Today show star’s missing mother Nancy continues.
“The View” co-host spoke exclusively with Page Six about Savannah’s heartbreaking situation at the Anne Klein Women Who Do Awards luncheon held at the Rainbow Room on Wednesday.
“I have a lot of friends on the Today show,” said Haines, who was a four-hour correspondent for the NBC show from 2009 to 2013.
“So, from the moment it happened, I’ve been in contact with them, not primarily to ask for a response, just to say, ‘I’m sending you love, I’m sending you prayers.’
Haynes said she is trying to use social media to spread awareness.
“I’m praying, I’m hoping, and I’m trying to stay on top of what’s going on,” she said.
Although Haynes, 48, and Savannah, 54, no longer work for the same network, she still feels very close to her.
“Even though I’m at ABC now, I grew up at NBC and being there overlapped with Savannah and still feel deeply like family,” she said. “And knowing that that’s happening to her feels so personal to so many people who know her (and know the people around her).”
Haynes hopes Savannah and her loved ones can find “peace” and get the answers they need soon.
“I want it resolved and I want them to find something,” Haynes said. “My heart is breaking and I have no words for how painful it is to see this.”
As for whether Ms Haynes and her colleagues at the ABC were feeling heightened fears for their safety following Nancy’s abduction, she said: “The concerns I have are not new.”
“That’s always a concern for anyone thinking about their place in the world,” Haynes says. “I think it’s too early to evaluate Savannah Guthrie.”
“Having worked with Savannah, I can’t ignore her position and her mother’s position and even think about my own life, myself (and) how it impacts the greater world,” Haynes continued, adding, “I’m just focused on watching this from afar and being brought to my knees in pain.”
Savannah, who joined the Today show as a co-anchor in 2012, has been absent from the show since February 1, when her mother was dragged from her Tucson-area home against her will.
Nancy, 84, was last seen alive on January 31st. She was reported missing the next day and an investigation was conducted by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
Savannah received a ransom note demanding $6 million in Bitcoin in exchange for Nancy’s release. Savannah has said she will pay the ransom, but has asked the alleged kidnappers to provide proof of survival, to no avail.
Amid a desperate search for the Guthrie family matriarch, police have obtained terrifying security footage showing a masked and armed figure outside Nancy’s home on the night she disappeared.
They are following several leads, but law enforcement has not yet identified the suspect.
Last week, Savannah visited the “Today” show family in Studio 1A. Although some sources claimed last month that the anchor would never return to the show, Page Six confirmed there was still a chance she would return.
