The ongoing disappearance of Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, has cast a profound shadow over the Today show family—yet it has also brought co-anchors Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager closer than ever.
“It continues to bond us in ways we can’t even describe or make sense of,” Jones, 48, told Page Six in an interview published Sunday, June 7.
For Jones and Bush Hager, the emotional weight of Nancy’s case hit hard just weeks after their new hour-long show, Today With Jenna & Sheinelle—also called the Fourth Hour of Today—debuted. “In any other situation, it would’ve just been about us and the show,” Jones explained. “But we didn’t have time for that. I didn’t have time to worry about my hair or whether I was being funny. Real life was happening.”
Nancy, 84, vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of February 1, after being last seen by family members the night before. The timing compounded the anchors’ shock—coming just two weeks into their new broadcasting venture.
Bush Hager, 44, reflected on how impossible it was to hide their emotions on live TV. “What’s beautiful about our hour is that you can’t fake it,” she said. “We don’t have the news to fall back on. Our conversations have to be emotional and connected to what we’re actually going through.”
She added, “Every day we were thinking about her. How could we not talk about it? It was what was happening off-camera. We’re not going to act like things are OK if they’re not. We’re bringing ourselves to the audience. It was a really hard time because we adore her so much, and it still is.”
Meanwhile, the investigation continues. On June 4, FBI Director Kash Patel gave a cautious update during a NewsNation interview, noting that federal agents offered assistance immediately after Nancy was reported missing. “We showed up immediately and offered our assistance. We were not let in for four days. And that’s their choice,” Patel said.
Local authorities have pushed back, saying coordination with the FBI began promptly. “A member of the FBI Task Force was notified and present at the scene, working alongside our personnel,” a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said. “The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family. While the FBI Director was not on scene, coordination with the Bureau began without delay.”
Patel reassured the public that the Bureau remains engaged. “We continue to offer assistance,” he said. “I even visited our Tucson office, where we had 150 agents and analysts working on the Nancy Guthrie case to provide intelligence.”
For Jones and Bush Hager, however, the case’s emotional toll transcends the headlines. The pair describe a closeness forged in a crisis—one that will leave a lasting imprint on both their lives and their audience.
