UPDATE: Helicopter with “signal sniffer” deployed to track Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker signal
Search crews have added new technology in the effort to locate Nancy. A sheriff’s helicopter is flying with a device capable of trying to locate the faint wireless telemetry emitted from her pacemaker.
Because the transmission is so weak, pilots must move low and methodically across wide stretches of terrain, scanning carefully for anything that might register. Authorities have not confirmed that a signal has been detected.
Hoping this tool brings investigators closer to real answers and, most importantly, brings Nancy home safely.
It has been reported they have been using this device at least as early as last week.
No Arrests Made in Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping Case After Police Swarmed Home Near Abduction Site
Authorities executed a court-ordered search warrant at the residence “based on a lead we received” on Feb. 13, police said
Authorities executed a court-ordered search warrant at the residence “based on a lead we received” on Feb. 13, police said
Nancy Guthrie.Credit : Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
Authorities swarmed a home located two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home/abduction site in the evening of Friday, Feb. 13
No arrests were made in the late-night effort, in which law enforcement executed a search warrant based on a lead
Officials reportedly searched the home of an older woman who lives with her adult son
After authorities were seen swarming a residence near Nancy Guthrie’s home late at night, police said no arrests have been made.
Shortly after police officers and vehicles descended on an area two miles from Nancy’s Tucson, Ariz., home and abduction site in the evening of Friday, Feb. 13, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PCSD) confirmed to PEOPLE only that the heavy law enforcement presence was tied to the 84-year-old’s disappearance.
The following morning, on Saturday, Feb. 14, a PCSD spokesperson revealed that no arrests were made while sharing more details about the late-night effort from law enforcement.
A federal, court-ordered search warrant “based on a lead we received” was executed at a residence near E. Orange Grove Rd. and N. First Ave. in connection with the case, the spokesperson said.
A Pima County Sheriff’s patrol car.Rebecca Noble/Getty
A traffic stop was also conducted and an individual was questioned, but no arrests were made, the PCSD spokesman said, adding, “There are no further details available at this time.”
David Curl, who lives next door to the home searched on Friday, told The New York Times that it belongs to an older woman who lives with her adult son. The “distraught” woman stayed the night at Curl’s home as investigators searched her residence, he told the outlet.
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“She had no idea what they were asking about,” he told the Times of his next-door neighbor. “She had no information about the disappearance or any idea why they were focusing on their house.”
The Times also reported that authorities, including PCSD deputies and FBI personnel, also swarmed a gray Range Rover at a nearby Culver’s parking lot in the evening of Feb. 13. Authorities photographed the car and had it towed away, according to the outlet.
Nancy Guthrie.Savannah Guthrie/Instagram
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Nancy — who is the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie — was last seen at her Tucson home on the night of Jan. 31. Her family reported her missing around noon on Feb. 1.
Authorities executed the search warrant the same day that police announced that DNA evidence not belonging to Nancy or her “close contacts” was found at her home.
“DNA other than Nancy Guthrie’s and those in close contact to her has been collected from the property,” the PSCD said in a statement to PEOPLE on Feb. 13. “Investigators are working to identify who it belongs to. We are not disclosing where that DNA was located.”
Police previously said blood was discovered on the exterior porch of Nancy’s home that matches her DNA, and that gloves and other pieces of evidence tied to the case are undergoing forensic analysis.
The FBI has also released surveillance footage of a masked and “armed” person appearing to tamper with a Nest camera at Nancy’s front door on the morning of her kidnapping.
Nancy Guthrie’s home and abduction site pictured on Feb. 10.Brandon Bell/Getty
Ransom notes tied to Nancy’s disappearance have since been allegedly sent to several media outlets. The FBI has said those are being investigated and that they are not aware of any communication between the alleged kidnapper(s) and the Guthrie family