LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP)—A popular United States (US) television news host whose mother was kidnapped in February said Tuesday she is in “agony” after reports the elderly woman died shortly after being abducted.

Savannah Guthrie, the anchor of a major morning network news programme, pleaded for anyone with information about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, 84, to contact authorities.

“I wanted to just take the opportunity to ask people, to really… to beg people to come forward, somebody knows something,” she told viewers of NBC’s “Today” show.