Savannah Guthrie Gets Emotional Greeting Well Wishers on ‘Today’ Show Plaza Following Her Return

Savannah Guthrie had an emotional return to TODAY on Monday as she marked her first live show back since the disappearance of her mother, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.

While Savannah offered simply that it was “good to be home” early on in Monday’s broadcast, she couldn’t hide her feelings as she joined her TODAY colleagues in the plaza to greet people who had come out with shirts, signs and yellow ribbons in a show of support for the Guthrie family.

“It’s a special Monday morning for us and for this crowd as well. Special because we’re welcoming back our North Star,” Craig Melvin said as Savannah entered the plaza while holding hands with Jenna Bush Hager.

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Savannah was clearly moved as she took in the crowd, telling them, “These signs are so beautiful. You guys have been so beautiful. I’ve received so many letters, so much kindness to me and my family. We feel it. We feel your prayers, so thank you so much.”

Al Roker then offered Savannah the use of his handkerchief, to which she responded, “This is such a nice pocket square, I don’t want to slobber on it.”

Savannah also shared an emotion-filled hug with an audience member wearing a shirt that read, “Welcome home Savannah.”

Earlier in Monday’s show, Melvin told Savannah that it was “good to have [her] back at home,” as she launched into the day’s stories after saying, “Well, here we go. Ready or not, let’s do the news.”

Savannah’s return to TODAY comes amid the search for her mother, who was last seen by family members on Jan. 31 and reported missing the following day. Police are still investigating Nancy’s disappearance, which they believe to have been an abduction, with the FBI releasing images of an armed and masked suspect seen outside of Nancy’s home in Tucson, Ariz., the night she disappeared.

Last week, Savannah opened up about her mother’s disappearance and decision to return to TODAY in a sit-down interview with friend and colleague Hoda Kotb.

“It’s hard to imagine doing it because it’s such a place of joy and lightness, and I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not,” Savannah told Kotb at the time. “But I can’t not come back, because it’s my family. I think it’s part of my purpose right now.”

“I want to smile. And when I do, it will be real,” she continued. “I will have joy. And my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful. And when it’s not, I’ll say so. And I have been so grateful to have this family. I consider this my family, my greater family.”

Savannah explained that when “times are hard, you want to be with your family,” referencing her TODAY co-stars. “And so I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’ll belong anymore, but I would like to try. I would like to try,” she said.