What To Know
- Savannah Guthrie abruptly left the Today show on May 6, but sources say her exit was unrelated to her missing mother, Nancy Guthrie.
- The same day, a NewsNation special aired featuring experts discussing the ongoing investigation.
- Experts profiled the possible suspect as a local prowler with a history of cruel behavior, who may have fled the area after the abduction.
Savannah Guthrie, the daughter of the missing Nancy Guthrie, abruptly exited Wednesday’s (May 6) Today show around 90 minutes into the broadcast, with no explanation.
Her co-host, Craig Melvin, told viewers, “Savannah had to leave a little early. She’ll be right back tomorrow, though.” Indeed, Savannah returned to the NBC morning show today, though she didn’t mention her absence. However, a source told Page Six that Savannah left “for some sort of appointment, and her exit had nothing to do with her mom.”
Savannah’s early Today exit came the same day that The CW aired its NewsNation Presents: The Nancy Guthrie Mystery special, which saw reporter Brian Entin interviewing experts about the ongoing investigation into Nancy’s disappearance.
The 84-year-old Nancy has been missing since February 1, when police believe she was abducted from her home in Tucson, Arizona. While investigators have released doorbell camera footage of a masked suspect and a description of that individual, no suspects have been named.
Entin interviewed a roundtable of law enforcement experts to get their opinions on the profile of a possible suspect. Behavior analyst and attorney Dr. Casey Jordan described the suspect as a “prowler burglar” who “definitely lives locally,” though she noted he is “probably not there anymore” and may have even fled the country.
“I think he was either eliminated by a puppet master or he fled. And I’m not saying he’s Mexican, but it’s the closest border. And that’s where he would go,” she explained, per Hello! “This is a guy who, on the day this came out, quit his job, left town, broke up with his girlfriend, changed his behavior completely.”
Criminal profiler Dr Ann Burgess added, “The only thing I’d add there is to look for anyone that wasn’t working, that was just doing odd jobs kind of thing.”
Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Gary Brucato described the suspect as “somebody with some sort of cruel, sadistic, scheming kind of personality… You do not develop that kind of personality overnight. You tend to have a long history of being that way.”
He also said, “I also think if I had to make an educated guess somewhere in this story, this individual is also dabbling with illicit drugs. It is entirely possible that drugs are on the table.”
