'Really feeling the love' - Savannah Guthrie returns to NBC as search for mother goes on

US television presenter Savannah Guthrie has returned to NBC's Today show, telling her co-anchors it was "good to be back", as the search for her mother continues.

It was her first appearance in the studio since 30 January, two days before her 84-year-old mother Nancy was reported missing.

Her co-anchors noted on Monday that many fans were standing outside the studios on a chilly New York morning carrying signs welcoming Guthrie back.

"I'm really feeling the love," she said in response.

Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie, who was last seen on 31 January, was taken against her will from her home near Tucson, Arizona, but they have not shared a possible motive or arrested a suspect.

Before giving his typical weather report, NBC forecaster Al Roker blew her a kiss and said: "It's good to see you my dear."

Guthrie carried on with the news as usual, telling viewers about the Artemis moon mission and the National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament finals.

Last month she said it was "part of my purpose right now" to return to work although she was unsure if she would still be able to do it.

On Easter Sunday, Savannah Guthrie reaffirmed her Christian faith in an Easter video message from a church in New York.

"I still believe. And so I say with conviction, 'Happy Easter,'" she said in her closing message at the end of the Easter Sunday service at Good Shepherd New York.

The NBC presenter, one of the most recognisable figures on morning television in the US, had temporarily stepped away from her anchoring duties after her mother's disappearance.

She also stood down from NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics.

In an interview last month with Today, she said: "I can't not come back. This is my family."

She also raised the possibility that her own fame may have been behind her mother's disappearance, saying that thought was too much to bear.

Nancy Guthrie vanished without her medicines. She was dropped off at her home by relatives on the evening of 31 January and then failed to show up at a friend's house to watch a virtual Sunday service the following morning.

The family announced in February a $1m reward for information leading to her return.