They’re searching for Nancy Guthrie’s heartbeat.
Cops are flying over the Tucson desert with a high-tech Bluetooth signal detector, also known as a signal sniffer, in an attempt to locate a signal from Guthrie’s pacemaker.
A Pima County Sheriff’s Department helicopter has been flying in a low, slow grid pattern over the area around Nancy’s home in an attempt to get a ping off the device, Fox News reported.
A helicopter was spotted flying in a similar pattern near her million-dollar house just days after she disappeared — though it’s not clear whether the whirlybird had the detector then, according to Fox.
The search for Savannah Guthrie’s mom has dragged on for two weeks — she was first reported missing Feb. 1 and last seen around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 31.
The 84-year-old’s pacemaker disconnected from the app on her phone just before 2 a.m. on Feb. 1, and her Nest Cam also disconnected around that time.
However, there are proximity limitations when deploying the signal sniffer.
“With regards to this particular tool… I do know that the pacemaker sets off a very short-distance alert… so they’re going to have to get really close,” former FBI special agent Maureen O’Connell told NewsNation Saturday.
Several purported ransom notes have been sent to media outlets demanding bitcoin payments in return for information about Nancy, and authorities are still confirming their validity.
Nearly 18,000 tip line calls had been recieved by Wednesday, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department announnced.
So far, no suspects or persons of interest have been identified as the search enters its third week.
However, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said more law enforcement operations are expected in the coming days.
The FBI has released a description of a suspect seen in a mask and gloves tampering with Nancy’s doorbell camera around the time she went missing.
He is described as a male between 5’9″ and 5’10”, with an average build and seen in the video carrying a 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.
A reward for information leading to Nancy’s discovery or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance was increased from $50,000 to $100,000 this week.
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