Savannah Guthrie may never return to the Today Show as she continues to grapple with her mother‘s disappearance, insiders say.
The 54-year-old has been off air since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance on February 1 and insiders told Status News that they believe the move will be made permanent.
‘There’s no way Savannah’s coming back,’ an executive told the outlet. ‘I can’t imagine she would even want to.’
This follows news that genetic genealogy will be used to trace any DNA inside Nancy’s home – with one expert confidently stating that ‘he will be identified’ with the new technology and that the suspect ought to be concerned ‘right now.’
Guthrie has not publicly commented on her future as an anchor, a position she has held since 2012.
As insiders at the outlet prepare for her potential retirement, they stress over who to replace her with, as she’s become the face of morning news.
‘If you could pick one person across the span of morning TV that a show would not want to lose, it would be Savannah,’ a different executive told Status News.
‘Savannah was always the glue on that show, and without that, this whole paradigm of our morning anchor team as a family, that connective tissue has just been ripped out.’
Savannah Guthrie may never return to the Today Show, insiders told Status News. She is off the air as she deals with her mother Nancy’s disappearance
Hoda Kotb returned to the show to fill Guthrie’s absence, but the network hasn’t made any permanent moves to replace their long-time host.
The Daily Mail has reached out to NBC for comment.
Other sources said Guthrie had already been moving toward leaving the show after she hosted a network game show based on Wordle.
The executives said Carson Daly, Willie Geist or Laura Jarrett could be potential replacements, Status News reported.
For now, Guthrie remains with her family members in Arizona as they navigate the ongoing investigation into Nancy’s disappearance.
Authorities have turned to genetic genealogy to analyze DNA found at Nancy’s Tucson home, according to NBC News.
‘We believe that we may have some DNA there that may be our suspect, but we won’t know that until that DNA is separated, sorted out, maybe admitted to CODIS, maybe through genetic genealogy,’ Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said.
CODIS, which stands for Combined DNA Index System, is an FBI database that has 19 million offender DNA profiles and more than one million forensic profiles.
Using genetic genealogy has been successful in other cases, such as the University of Idaho killings, where Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life for the quadruple murder.
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Should Savannah Guthrie put family first or return to her influential Today Show role amid crisis?
‘I can’t imagine she would even want to,’ an insider said. Nancy went missing on February 1
Sources said Carson Daly (far left) could be in the running to replace Guthrie (far right) if she were to not return. Currently, Hoda Kotb (second right) has returned to cover for Guthrie
‘If I was the kidnapper, I would be extremely concerned right now,’ DNA expert CeCe Moore told Today. ‘He will be identified.’
As the investigation nears its 20th day, the FBI has a $100,000 reward for information leading to her location. Locally, Crime Stoppers is offering a $102,500 reward for information.
Federal law enforcement is reportedly growing antsy to take over the investigation into the 84-year-old’s disappearance, but they will not be able to until the grandmother’s children, including Guthrie, request it.
‘Over two whole weeks into this, the police have made no leads, no progress,’ a federal source familiar with the case told the New York Post.
Many law enforcement sources told The Post that they believe Sheriff Nanos is to blame for the poorly executed search.
Sergeant Aaron Cross, president of the Pima County Deputies Organization, believes the FBI should have gained control over the investigation within the first few days.
‘We have been treating this as a kidnapping, and the FBI is the premier agency to deal with kidnappings in the world,’ he told the outlet.
‘The FBI has way more resources than that, way more personnel. They should have taken the lead, in my opinion, and the opinion of many. We should have gone through a supporting role.’
Authorities may run DNA through an FBI database that has 19 million offenders and one million forensic files available to crossmatch with, Sheriff Chris Nanos said
Investigators searching the area near Nancy’s house last week
Previously, Nanos had said there were ‘no egos here,’ but many disagreed.
‘This is all about finding Nancy,’ the sheriff said after being questioned about claims his department wasn’t working with federal law enforcement.
‘That’s absolutely crazy. Why would we be reluctant to get all the partners who have great resources and offer them to us?’
