NBC’s Olympics Coverage Begins With ‘Love and Prayers’ to Savannah Guthrie Amid Her Mom’s Disappearance
Savannah Guthrie was meant to be in Milan, Italy on Friday co-hosting the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. But that all changed over the weekend when her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing. NBC commentators Mary Carillo and Terry Gannon kicked off the network’s Olympics coverage by sending well wishes to Guthrie.
“We’re certainly without a very important and beloved member of our team tonight,” Gannon said of Guthrie right before NBC’s broadcast of the opening ceremony began. “She is dearly missed by everybody.”
“She’s covered so many Olympics, and she loves it,” Carillo added. “Right now, of course, Savannah and her family are in unspeakable, unfathomable pain. We know that in the U.S., her extended family is legion. Savannah, my friend, it’s the same way here.”
Gannon concluded, “We send our love and prayers and all of our positive energy to Savannah tonight.”
NBC announced before the Olympics began that Guthrie would be replaced by Carillo, a veteran sports journalist.
Nancy Guthrie has been missing since Jan. 31, when she was last seen at her Arizona residence. Local police and the FBI have been treating her disappearance as a possible kidnapping, now offering a $50,000 reward for any significant leads on where Nancy could be. They have not yet identified a suspect or person of interest in the case.
On Wednesday, Savannah Guthrie posted a video to Instagram in which she and her siblings pleaded with their mother’s kidnapper.
“She’s 84 years old. Her health, her heart, is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive, and she needs it not to suffer,” Guthrie said. “We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.”
“We’re certainly without a very important and beloved member of our team tonight,” Gannon said of Guthrie right before NBC’s broadcast of the opening ceremony began. “She is dearly missed by everybody.”
“She’s covered so many Olympics, and she loves it,” Carillo added. “Right now, of course, Savannah and her family are in unspeakable, unfathomable pain. We know that in the U.S., her extended family is legion. Savannah, my friend, it’s the same way here.”
Gannon concluded, “We send our love and prayers and all of our positive energy to Savannah tonight.”
NBC announced before the Olympics began that Guthrie would be replaced by Carillo, a veteran sports journalist.
Nancy Guthrie has been missing since Jan. 31, when she was last seen at her Arizona residence. Local police and the FBI have been treating her disappearance as a possible kidnapping, now offering a $50,000 reward for any significant leads on where Nancy could be. They have not yet identified a suspect or person of interest in the case.
On Wednesday, Savannah Guthrie posted a video to Instagram in which she and her siblings pleaded with their mother’s kidnapper.
“She’s 84 years old. Her health, her heart, is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive, and she needs it not to suffer,” Guthrie said. “We, too, have heard the reports about a ransom letter in the media. As a family, we are doing everything that we can. We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated. We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.”