Learn about Today star Savannah Guthrie's father, who passed away tragically when she was 16

Charles was a successful mining engineer. At one point in time, his family moved to Australia to further his career. Savannah named her son after her father as a personal tribute to him.

Savannah's father passed away suddenly from a massive heart attack in 1988. The TV host got candid about how that loss impacted her family and herself.

She revealed to People: "The loss of my father was shocking and devastating. It cracked open our family and crushed us. 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."

The anchor also provided insight into his personality and added: "My father died when I was 16. I think about him all the time. He was deep and complicated, and he didn't talk to us like little kids. He told us things that I didn't understand at the time but later would remember, long after he died." 

Despite dealing with the grieving process privately alongside her mother when she was younger, she made the decision to open up about her personal healing journey in her book, Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere.

The faith-based author expressed: "What I write about in the book is processing that grief and processing the fact of losing my dad at the age of 16, after years and years. And through faith, starting to try to understand it in a larger sense and in larger terms, and in God's terms."

Savannah turned to the bigger picture for help and added: "It's kind of hard to put it into words, because it's not about a sense of peace, it's just a sense of acceptance and trust that God knows what he's doing and that he does have a plan."

She continued: "In that moment, that plan can be shocking and devastating and earth-shattering. My father's death was all of those things for me and for my family. But over time, with the healing of time, but mostly with the grace of God, you can kind of come to terms and come to understand. And through faith, believe not only that God knows what he's doing, that death is not his plan, but that through faith, we have hope."

The correspondent has a tremendously close relationship with her mother and has publicly shown her adoration for her.

She praised her on the Today show in 2023, saying: "[My mom] is strong. She's like hard, iron, granite strong. We had some hard times when I was a child. We lost my dad suddenly and shockingly. And my mom was so strong, and set aside her own grief in many ways, just to be there and make sure we could all move forward together."

Savannah added: "The greatest gift my mother gave me was faith and belief in God." 

Nancy has made multiple appearances on the Today show since July 2011 and has effortlessly bonded with Savannah's co-workers on-air.

During a news conference held in Arizona, Sheriff Nanos called Nancy's disappearance a "possible kidnapping or abduction." He added that the search for her is a "race against time."

The police shared that a bit of blood was found inside Nancy's house and right outside her front door, which was forcibly broken into.

The sheriff further confirmed: "She is very limited in her mobility, we know she didn't just walk out of there, that we know. There were other things at the scene that indicate that she did not leave on her own. Right now, we don't see this as a search mission as much as we do a crime scene."