Initial reports suggested that Nancy’s kids learned she was missing when she failed to show up for Sunday morning church service.

New details in Nancy Guthrie disappearance reveal how Savannah Guthrie’s family learned mom was missing

Initial reports suggested that Nancy's kids learned she was missing when she failed to show up for Sunday morning church service.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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February 10, 2026 12:09 p.m. ET

Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie in 2015. Credit:

Don Arnold/WireImage

- New details have emerged surrounding the disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's elderly mother, Nancy.

- Initial reports suggested that Nancy's kids learned she was missing when she failed to show up for Sunday morning church service.

- A source tells *Today* that Nancy was set to go over to a friend's house to watch a virtual church service.

As the search continues for Savannah Guthrie's elderly mother, Nancy, new details have emerged about how the family discovered that the 84-year-old was missing.

Initial reports suggested that Nancy planned to attend church on Sunday, Feb. 1, and that, upon noticing her absence, a friend called her children to inform them she was missing from morning service. Now, multiple outlets, including *Today* and PEOPLE, have clarified that Nancy frequently met up with a group of friends in her Arizona neighborhood to watch the virtual service of Savannah's New York church, Good Shepherd.

When Nancy did not show up at her friend's house that Sunday morning, the other attendees alerted her daughter, Annie, who had seen her mother the prior night. By that afternoon, Nancy was reported missing, and the search for her began.

During the Feb. 10 broadcast of *Today*, Good Shepherd New York pastor Michael Rudzena sat down with Hoda Kotb to discuss Nancy's disappearance — and urged viewers to pray for her safe return.

Good Shepherd New York pastor Michael Rudzena sits down with Hoda Kotb.

"Nancy is a strong woman, and she is fiercely loving," Rudzena said. "Over the years, we’ve gotten to know what makes her tick, in some ways, from a faith perspective — the songs that mean something to her, the scriptures that are meaningful for her, which she shares through notes from time to time."

Rudzena went on to explain why he is urging his congregants to hold onto hope, as the search for Nancy continued.

"I think leaving the door open for hope is a way to fight against that sense of fatality or fatalism — the sense that we all feel when bad things are happening," he began. "I think we’re all putting ourselves in the position of knowing the dark experiences can be overwhelming. And when we think of Nancy, our heart goes out to Nancy, and we don’t know what we don’t know. And yet, we know that light shines in dark circumstances, and it’s light that gets us out of them."

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The Good Shepherd church showed support for the Guthrie family by holding a vigil for Nancy on Feb. 4, an event that was attended in person by Savannah's co-anchors and friends, Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. Savannah has been absent from *Today* since Feb. 2, having traveled to Arizona to be with her family amid the ongoing investigation.

Savannah Guthrie/Instagram

Nancy Guthrie was last seen the evening of Jan. 31, after being dropped off at home by family members. The following day, she was declared missing, and a large-scale search was launched. On Feb. 2, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos announced that her disappearance was being investigated as a crime, and her home was being declared a crime scene. Over one week later, no suspects or persons of interest have been identified in the possible abduction investigation.

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On Monday evening, Savannah made an emotional plea for help in the ongoing search, telling followers, "We believe that our mom is still out there. We need your help."

She went on to ask that even those "far from Tucson" reach out "if you see anything, you hear anything, if there's anything at all that seems strange to you, that you report to law enforcement." Guthrie added, "We are at an hour of desperation, and we need your help."

The sheriff’s department and the FBI continue to urge anyone with tips to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

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