• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

For Savannah Guthrie, a consummate broadcaster at the pinnacle of her profession, her social-media pleas for her mother’s release have been the most important broadcasts of her life.

This was no less true on Tuesday than it had been on her previous two video messages earlier this month. 

In her messages, she FaceTimes with the world. In the third such video, posted Tuesday on social media, Savannah indicated for the first time that she and her family have begun the process of accepting that their beloved mother, Nancy Guthrie, 84, may no longer be alive.

“We also know that [takes a deep breath in] she may be lost,” Savannah said. “She may already be gone, she may have already gone home to the Lord that she loves, and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad, with her beloved brother, Pierce, and with our daddy.”

“If this is what is to be, then we will accept it. But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home,” she said.

In Tuesday’s message, Savannah gave voice to the agony of a family -- her own. “I’m coming on to say it is day 24 since our mom was taken in the dark of night from her bed,” Savannah said.

“And every hour, minute, second and every long night has been agony since then -- of worrying about her and fearing for her, aching for her and most of all just missing her, just missing her,” she said, her voice trailing off to a whisper.

Nancy Guthrie, a devout Christian, was discovered to be missing on February 1 after she failed to show up for a Sunday church service with friends.

Law enforcement officials said from the beginning that she was abducted. Since then, news media reported the existence of at least two ransom notes, but these were reported weeks ago.

In recent days, the search for Nancy Guthrie has come to look like a cold case with no leads, although authorities insist that is not the case. As of yesterday, she was still missing without a trace.

With great eloquence and visible emotion, Savannah Guthrie expressed her family’s gratitude for the prayers of millions. 

“We know that millions of you have been praying, so many people have been praying of every faith and no faith at all, praying for her return and we feel those prayers,” Savannah said.

“Please keep praying without ceasing. We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home. As my sister says, we are blowing on the embers of hope.”

Savannah announced that her family is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to their mother’s recovery.

She also pledged that her family is donating $500,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children “for their work in helping families who are coping with loss.”

“We also know that we are not alone in our loss,” Savannah said. “We know there are millions of families that have the same uncertainty.”

“We are hoping that the attention that has been given to our mom and our family will extend to all families like ours who are in need and need prayers and need support,” she said.

As an experienced journalist, Savannah may have become aware recently of how media interest in the story of her mother’s abduction appears to be ebbing, which is usually the pattern when a hot story begins to grow cold.

She may have posted Tuesday’s message, at least in part, to draw attention back to the story. 

“Someone out there knows something that can bring her home,” Savannah said. “Somebody knows. We are begging you to please come forward now.”