The Tragedy Of Today Anchor Savannah Guthrie's Life Is So Sad

Savannah Guthrie is best known as an anchor on NBC's "Today" show. But behind that familiar face lies a life that quietly carried more than its share of heartbreak. Guthrie was born in December 1971 in Melbourne, Australia, where her father, Charles Guthrie, was stationed for work. Her family, including her older sister, Annie Guthrie, and older brother, Charles "Camron" Guthrie, moved to the States, purchasing property in Arizona when Savannah was 2 years old. Prior to her success in the news and entertainment industry, Savannah worked as a lawyer, having earned a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002 after graduating from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism in 1993. After college, Savannah worked at local news stations, focusing on legal reporting before getting her big break. The year was 2008, and Savannah was hired by NBC News to cover Sarah Palin's vice-presidential campaign. She joined "Today" in 2011 and was named a co-host of the popular morning news program the following year. Savannah has been a part of the NBC family ever since.

Savannah's life has been riddled with tragedy, starting when she was just 16. When she was a senior in high school, Savannah's father died of a heart attack. In the years that followed, Savannah would get married, go through a really tough divorce, remarry, struggle with infertility, deal with a variety of scary health issues, and, in 2026, she would learn that her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, had gone missing. Behind the headlines is a life marked by moments that changed her forever.

On February 1, 2026, Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, disappeared from her Arizona home. Authorities believe that Nancy, 84, may have been kidnapped in the middle of the night. Nancy had dinner at her daughter, Annie Guthrie's, home on Saturday, January 31, before being driven back home by family. According to an official timeline of the evening provided by the Pima County Sheriff's Department, Nancy's garage door opened at 9:48 p.m. and closed two minutes later. At 1:47 a.m., the doorbell camera on Nancy's home was disconnected, and at 2:12 a.m., movement was detected by another camera at the home. At 2:28 a.m., Nancy's pacemaker disconnected from her in-home devices. 

The next morning, Nancy was not at church, which prompted her family to check on her. After arriving at Nancy's home around 12 p.m., a family member called 911. After a couple of days without any major leads that the public was made aware of, TMZ reported receiving what appeared to be a ransom note sent to the outlet via email. The note was sent over to investigators who have not publicly confirmed its legitimacy. On February 4, 2026, Savannah and her siblings, Annie Guthrie and Camron Guthrie, posted a video on Instagram in which they spoke directly to their mother's would-be captor (or captors), asking for proof of life, which they didn't receive. On February 6, President Donald Trump suggested that authorities had received additional information that a suspect could be named soon.

When Savannah Guthrie was a senior in high school, her father, Charles Guthrie, died suddenly after suffering a heart attack. "My father died when I was 16. I think about him all the time," Savannah told People in 2024. "The loss of my father was shocking and devastating. It cracked open our family and crushed us," she continued, adding, "He was our center. We just idealized him and adored him. He was larger than life, and funny, and charming, and adorable. His loss was so sudden and so shocking."

Following Charles' death, Savannah and her older sister Annie Guthrie made sure that their mother, Nancy Guthrie, was never alone for too long. In fact, both Savannah and Annie lived at home during their college years. "My sister and I really felt like we should stick with my mom and not leave her alone," Savannah told "Today" in 2022. Nancy has continued living in Arizona despite Savannah's move to New York. Annie, however, stayed close by and, in 2025, purchased a home just a few miles away from her mom.

Savannah Guthrie has had an undeniably successful career, but her time on camera has not always been the most memorable. There was one interview in particular that continues to haunt Guthrie more than a decade after it took place. "I asked Khloé Kardashian, like, 10 seconds before we were going to break about the rumors that her father wasn't her father," Savannah said on "Today" (via People) while chatting with Bravo's Andy Cohen. The interview with Kardashian took place in 2012, when rumors that her father was not Robert Kardashian but OJ Simpson. 

Savannah said that she was "so embarrassed" to have had to ask Kardashian the question in the first place, but her producers insisted. "She was such a class act. She was like, 'Ah, nothing to it.' We made the break. I asked the question, Khloé was a total class act," Guthrie said. In October 2025, Kardashian expressed not having any hard feelings about the interview. "She's a doll! It takes a big person to take accountability, and I just love her," the reality television star commented on an Instagram post about Guthrie and the interview.

Savannah Guthrie and her husband, Michael Feldman, welcomed their daughter Vale in 2014. After giving birth, Guthrie told her "Today" show colleagues that her daughter "has blue eyes, a little bit of blondish hair and the chubbiest cheeks you've ever seen," adding, "I think we found heaven in this little hospital room in New York City." In the years that followed, Guthrie and Feldman had hopes of giving Vale a sibling, but their dreams were dashed when Guthrie experienced a miscarriage at age 41.

"I stopped even letting myself hope or believe I could [get pregnant], because the years were getting on. It wasn't that I thought it was impossible; I just thought it wasn't likely," Guthrie told Good Housekeeping in 2022. This was the first — and only — time that Guthrie has spoken out about pregnancy loss. She didn't share any additional details about what happened or how far along in her pregnancy she was. However, the miscarriage took an emotional toll on Guthrie, who started doubting that she'd ever be able to carry another child to term.

After having a miscarriage, Savannah Guthrie and her husband decided to turn to IVF treatments in an effort to give their daughter, Vale. In her 2022 interview with Good Housekeeping, Guthrie explained her mindset. "I just thought it wasn't likely," she told the outlet. "I didn't want to get my hopes up. I just tried to tell myself that it would be OK if it didn't happen: 'Maybe it's not meant for me, and that's OK because I've already been blessed so much in my life. I'm not entitled to have a baby too.' Looking back, that mindset was probably a self-defense mechanism," she added.

Guthrie went through two rounds of IVF before finding out that she was pregnant again. In 2016, Guthrie shared the exciting news with her "Today" family, which also came with bad news. Her doctors said that she wouldn't be able to travel to Rio to cover the Summer Olympics because of the Zika Virus — as a pregnant woman, the risk outweighed the reward. On December 8, 2016, Guthrie and Feldman welcomed a son they named Charles "Charley" Max Feldman, after Guthrie's late father. "We are so grateful. Blessings overflow. Along with tears of joy," Guthrie wrote on X (then Twitter) following the baby's arrival.

It's no secret that Savannah Guthrie developed incredibly close relationships with her NBC family, including former "Today" co-anchor Matt Lauer. In 2017, however, Guthrie was left completely shocked when Lauer was accused of sexual assault, specifically "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace." The news was rattling to Lauer's colleagues, many of whom — including Guthrie — considered Lauer a friend. Lauer was effectively fired from "Today." At the time, Guthrie told "Today" viewers that the allegations were "shocking and appalling," per Deadline.

"I honestly don't even know what to say about it," Guthrie said during a live broadcast of "Today." "I know it wasn't easy for our colleague Brooke to come forward then. It is not easy now, and we support her and any women who come forward with claims. And it is just very painful. For all of us at NBC who are at the Today show, it is very, very difficult," she added. Following Lauer's firing, his career never rebounded. It's unknown if he and Guthrie ever spoke again, but in 2024, a source told People magazine that Lauer had reconnected with some old friends seven years after the scandal.

It was another workplace heartbreak for Savannah Guthrie in 2024 when her dear friend Hoda Kotb announced that she'd be leaving "Today." Kotb broke the news to her friends in what was an emotional episode for all. "Obviously, I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have," she said. "I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world," she added. Guthrie and Kotb had co-hosted the first two hours of "Today" together. "There's no way there wasn't going to be tears," Guthrie said when Kotb announced her exit from the program. "Hoda, we love you so much. And when you look around and see these tears, they're love. You are so loved," she added.

"No one is taking the news worse than Savannah Guthrie," Craig Melvin said on air (via X). The cameras then panned to Guthrie, showing her eating her feelings from two plates with a half-empty bottle of wine next to her. Kotb's official last day on "Today" was in January 2025.

Before finding her happily ever after with Michael Feldman, Savannah Guthrie was married to Mark Orchard. The two met in 2005 while they were both covering the Michael Jackson sexual abuse trial for different networks. At the time, Guthrie was working for Court TV, and Orchard was with the BBC. In December that same year, Guthrie and Orchard tied the knot. However, the two split just four years later. Guthrie hasn't cared to speak much about her first marriage and subsequent divorce, but when she has opened up about that time in her life, the memories haven't been happy ones.

In an interview with Monica Lewinsky on the "Reclaiming" podcast, Guthrie talked about her 2024 book, "Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere." During the interview, Guthrie said that her divorce was "the one thing [she] didn't ever want to talk about." She went on to say, "It was horrible and sad, and it broke my heart, and it took me years to recover. And I'm not blaming anyone, but I don't really want to get into it." She went on to say that she set that boundary early with her publisher because she was adamant that she didn't want to write about that painful time in her life.

In 2025, Savannah Guthrie underwent surgery for a hemorrhagic polyp and a vocal nodule, which was scary in and of itself because it directly affected the one thing that Guthrie needs to do her job: Her voice. "What I thought was just normal aging and wear and tear got much more noticeable, and this past year, much worse," Guthrie told her "Today" colleagues in an episode of the program that aired in January 2026. "Sometimes, it was hard to get through a sentence," she admitted. After seeking medical expertise from Dr. Peak Woo, an otolaryngologist at Mount Sinai, Guthrie learned that she had a ruptured blood vessel on one vocal cord that was affecting her voice. 

Guthrie underwent microlaryngeal surgery to fix the issue, with Dr. Woo able to successfully remove the polyp while "preserving the tissue surrounding it." The surgery was a success, and Guthrie has been extremely grateful. After a period of complete vocal rest, Guthrie heard her new voice for the first time. "It sounds so good, I could cry," she said. She is able to return to work, but he has been cautioned not to overuse her voice.

Savannah Guthrie learned the reality of having a boy versus having a girl when her son, Charley, accidentally hit her in the eye with one of his toys when he was 2. Guthrie was simply playing with her toddler, who was holding a toy train in his hand while sitting in his mom's lap. Well, up went the toy, getting Guthrie in her right eye. At first, she didn't think much of it, but the resulting injury was quite serious. During an episode of the "Today" show, Guthrie said that she ended up tearing her retina. 

"I lost my vision in my right eye about 24 hours later, and then it turned out to be kind of serious. They were afraid my retina was detached, so they told me to just take it easy," she explained. She underwent a number of laser treatments in hopes of avoiding surgery. "They're essentially trying to weld back this tear in the retina very carefully, and really trying hard to avoid the retina detaching and avoid having to do a major surgery," she said. Fortunately, Guthrie made a full recovery.

In 2023, Savannah Guthrie opened up about a chronic health issue after being diagnosed with laryngopharyngeal reflux, also known as LPR. "My voice has been getting hoarser and hoarser, and I thought it was old age. I didn't know," Guthrie said on an episode of "Today." Dr. Tara Narula was on hand to share some details about LCR, which is sometimes mistaken for asthma or seasonal allergies. According to the Cleveland Clinic, LCR is a specific type of acid reflux that affects a person's throat and voice. It often doesn't present as typical acid reflux with symptoms like heartburn and indigestion. 

At the time, Guthrie balanced humor with honesty, acknowledging how disruptive the condition had become to her daily routine and on-air work. When Dr. Narula shared some tips on how to ease LCR symptoms, Guthrie wasn't exactly on board. "I don't want to do it. Doc says no caffeine, no alcohol, no chocolate, no fatty foods, no tomatoes, no limes in my cocktail — why am I even alive at this point!? I'll take the hoarse voice," she said. It's unknown if Guthrie's LCR may have caused her hemorrhagic polyp and a vocal nodule.