In a bizarre and heartbreaking turn in the ongoing search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, investigators have revealed an unexpected method to potentially verify whether she is alive or has met a tragic end. Rather than relying on the high-tech Apple Watch she wore—or more accurately, left behind at her Arizona home—authorities turned to something far more intimate: her implanted pacemaker.

Nancy Guthrie vanished from her secluded home in the Catalina Foothills area near Tucson in the early hours of February 1, 2026. Her phone and Apple Watch remained at the residence, but she disappeared along with essential heart medications that could prove fatal if missed for too long. The case quickly escalated into a suspected abduction, drawing in the FBI, a $50,000 reward, and nationwide attention due to her famous daughter.

What makes this investigation stand out is the role of modern medical technology. Many pacemakers today feature remote monitoring systems. These devices regularly transmit heart rhythm data to a home base station or paired app, which then relays information to the patient’s cardiology clinic. In Guthrie’s case, records showed the pacemaker’s connection to her phone app severed abruptly around 2:28 a.m.—a critical timestamp that helped narrow the window of her disappearance.

But here’s the eerie part: if Nancy Guthrie has been harmed and is no longer with us, the pacemaker itself could provide the grim confirmation. Unlike wearable gadgets that stop when removed or batteries die, an implanted pacemaker continues attempting to regulate heart function and log events even after death—until its battery eventually depletes years later. Clinics monitor for ongoing transmissions; a complete cessation of data, with no further electrical impulses or activity recorded, would indicate cardiac arrest or death. Investigators could simply call her cardiologist to query the remote monitoring logs for the latest status. If the device has flatlined in its reporting—no beats, no anomalies, nothing—it paints a devastating picture.

This contrasts sharply with the Apple Watch, which many assumed would hold the key clues. While the watch can detect heart irregularities, falls, or sudden movements, it was left behind and couldn’t track her location post-disappearance. The pacemaker, embedded in her body, offers a passive, ongoing record that doesn’t rely on proximity to a phone or external power once implanted.

The case underscores how everyday health tech is reshaping investigations. Pacemakers don’t track GPS like phones, but their silent data stream can reveal life-or-death truths. For Guthrie’s family and the public, every hour without news heightens the agony—especially knowing her condition makes time a deadly enemy. As searches continue and leads pour in, this unusual reliance on cardiac tech serves as a haunting reminder: sometimes, the most telling evidence comes from inside the body itself, quietly counting beats… or their absence.