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Authorities are now banking on the possibility that Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker might provide crucial clues to her location, as the investigation into her disappearance enters its third week.
On Tuesday, February 17, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department shared a case update, indicating they are leveraging a cutting-edge technology to track down the pacemaker of Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother.
“Our investigators are focused on locating this device and are collaborating with its manufacturer along with industry experts to facilitate this search,” the department stated, as reported by People.
In discussions with CBS News, officials mentioned using a “signal sniffer,” a device reportedly developed by former NSA hacker David Kennedy. This approach involves flying helicopters at low altitudes to potentially trigger a response from Nancy’s pacemaker, thereby pinpointing her location.
Tracy Walder, a former CIA and FBI operative, explained to People that this technology remains in the experimental phase, emphasizing that the signal must reach within 30 to 100 feet of the pacemaker to be effective.
“So a helicopter has to hover low and slow in one particular area to look for it. I don’t think that’s practical. They need to know where they are looking,” Walder explained.
Investigators previously discussed the significance of the pacemaker shortly after Nancy’s February 1 disappearance, noting that it was disconnected from the monitoring app on her phone around 2:28 a.m. on the night in question. While it was previously ineffective at locating where Nancy is, it provided an important detail in the timeline of her kidnapping.
So far, one of the best leads that investigators have revealed to the public is a brief video of a masked man tampering with the doorbell camera at Nancy’s Arizona home. In an X post, the FBI described the person as “a male, approximately 5’9” – 5’10” tall, with an average build. In the video, the man is also wearing a black, 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack.