In a high-tech twist to the search for missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, Pima County Sheriff's Department helicopters equipped with "signal sniffers" are now scanning the Arizona desert for the Bluetooth signal from her pacemaker. The aircraft have been conducting slow, methodical grid-pattern passes over Tucson, with one observed flying unusually low near Guthrie's home in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, the small device visibly attached to the helicopter's skid.
Guthrie disappeared on February 1, prompting authorities to explore innovative technological solutions despite acknowledged limitations. Records indicate her pacemaker disconnected from her phone at 2:28 a.m. that same night, coinciding with her Nest camera going dark—a detail investigators deem significant.
Digital evidence analyst Karl Epps highlighted the substantial challenges of detecting the pacemaker's near-field communication signal from the air. "Very unlikely we are able to get a signal from it unless we are right on top of it," Epps said, likening it to everyday devices: "You can liken it to devices that we all have. If you leave your AirPods sitting somewhere and you walk far enough away from them, which isn't too far, they will disconnect, and you will get a message."
Former FBI agent Maureen O'Connell echoed concerns about the technology's range, noting that police are exhausting all options in the case. "With regards to this particular tool, I do know that the pacemaker sends off a very short-distance alert, or whatever, so they're going to have to get really close," O'Connell said.
The aerial operation comes on the heels of a major ground search on February 13, when FBI agents and a SWAT team executed a search warrant at a residence approximately two miles from Guthrie's home in the Catalina Foothills. At least four people were detained and questioned during the raid but were subsequently released, with no arrests made to date.
As the multifaceted search continues over the vast Tucson area, authorities remain hopeful that the combination of advanced detection tools and persistent grid searches will yield clues in the ongoing effort to locate Nancy Guthrie.
