Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager are opening up about the continued disappearance of their co-anchor Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, and how the tragic circumstance is ultimately bringing the Today cast closer together.
“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 on Sunday, June 7.
“In any other matrix, it would’ve just been about us and the show,” she told the outlet of the newly-minted Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, also known as the Fourth Hour of Today. “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, is believed to have been taken from her Tucson, Arizona, home in the early hours of February 1 — just two weeks after Jones and Bush Hager’s new show debuted. Nancy was last seen by members of her family on the night of January 31.
Tasked with hosting an hour-long, live morning TV segment, Bush Hager, 44, told the outlet that the pair simply couldn’t “fake it” when it came to the emotional toll of watching their coworker experience the unimaginable.
“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 continued, “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.”
During a Thursday, June 4, interview on NewsNation, FBI Director Kash Patel gave a vague update on the ongoing case, doubling down on claims the federal agency offered local authorities assistance immediately after the Guthrie matriarch was reported missing.
“We showed up immediately and offered our assistance,” Patel claimed. “We were not let in for four days. And that’s their choice.”
The local police force previously denied delaying FBI involvement in a statement to Us in May after Patel made similar remarks that his bureau was initially shut out of the investigation during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s podcast.
“Prima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is aware of FBI Director Kash Patel’s recent interview and statement,” a spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said. “Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight.”
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The spokesperson continued, “A member of the FBI Task Force was also notified and present at that scene, working alongside our personnel. 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.”
On Thursday, Patel told NewsNation that the FBI is continuing to offer its assistance in the ongoing investigation.
“We continue to offer assistance,” he claimed. “I even visited our Tucson office, where we had 150 agents and analysts working on the Nancy Guthrie case to provide intelligence.”
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