Nancy Guthrie Update: Range Rover ‘searched and seized’ in connection with probe — all you need to know

Federal agents have seized a grey Range Rover in connection with the ongoing search for Nancy Guthrie, according to a report by Newsweek. Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing on February 1.

The FBI confiscated and searched the vehicle during a late-night operation in Tucson on Friday, the report stated.

Video from local station KGUN 9 showed FBI agents and Pima County deputies photographing, examining, and covering the SUV in the parking lot of a Culver’s restaurant about two miles from Guthrie’s home, as part of the widening investigation into her disappearance, the report stated.

A photographer at the scene reported that the SUV’s trunk was sealed and the vehicle was thoroughly searched before being seized, according to Newsweek.

Authorities have not revealed who owns the vehicle or its connection to the case.

Officials are worried about Guthrie’s health, as she requires daily medication. She reportedly has a pacemaker and a history of high blood pressure and heart problems, according to sheriff’s dispatcher audio posted on broadcastify.com.

Authorities discovered her blood on the front porch of her Tucson-area home. Alleged ransom notes were sent to news organisations, though two deadlines for payment have already passed.

Investigators have reviewed surveillance footage, sifted through thousands of tips, and submitted DNA and other evidence to laboratories for analysis.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released surveillance footage showing a masked individual wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s home in Tucson on the night she disappeared, as reported by AP.

Video from a porch camera captured a person carrying a backpack and dressed in a ski mask, jacket, gloves and long pants. On Thursday, the FBI identified the individual as a suspect, AP reported.

Authorities described him as a man approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall with a medium build, noting that he was carrying a 25-litre Ozark Trail “Hiker Pack” backpack.

Investigators first stated that no surveillance footage was available because Guthrie did not have an active subscription with the doorbell camera service.

However, digital forensics specialists continued examining the system’s back-end software in an effort to recover any images that may have been deleted, corrupted, or otherwise inaccessible.

Investigators are working to identify who it belongs to.

“Evidence requiring forensic analysis is being sent to the same out-of-state lab that has been used since the beginning of the case,” the department said.

Investigators found several gloves, the nearest about 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) from Guthrie’s home, and submitted them for lab analysis, the sheriff’s department said.

It did not specify what type of gloves.

The sheriff stressed his department is working closely with the FBI.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it has received more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, when Guthrie was reported missing. Meanwhile, the local sheriff’s department reported fielding at least 18,000 calls related to the case.

Authorities have not indicated whether any of the information provided has led to significant progress in the investigation.

The sheriff’s department confirmed the activity was connected to the Guthrie case but did not provide further details.

On Tuesday, sheriff deputies detained a person for questioning during a traffic stop south of Tucson. Authorities didn’t say what led them to stop the man, but confirmed he was released, AP reported.

The same day, deputies and FBI agents conducted a court-authorised search in Rio Rico, about an hour's drive south of the city.

The family’s Instagram videos have shifted in tone from impassioned pleas to whoever may have their mom, saying they want to talk and are even willing to pay a ransom, to bleaker and more desperate requests for the public’s help.

The latest video on Thursday was simply a home video of their mother and a promise to “never give up on her.”

Her daughter, Savannah Guthrie, was raised in Tucson degree from the University of Arizona, and previously worked at a local TV station. She joined the “Today” show in 2011.

In a video, she described her mother as a “loving woman of goodness and light.”

(With inputs from agencies)