Savannah Guthrie clings on to her devastated siblings as her sister Annie cries in emotional video pleading for mother’s return

Investigators were seen carrying a mysterious silver briefcase into Annie Guthrie’s home amid a renewed hunt for evidence in the search for her missing mother.

The search for Nancy stretched past its seventh day on Saturday as police returned to her daughter’s home in Tucson, Arizona, and were seen taking photographs inside the property late at night.

NewsNation reporter Brian Entin shared footage of several law enforcement vehicles arriving at the home late on Saturday night, with one carrying a briefcase and others flashing pictures inside.

Authorities have not said what new evidence they seized from the home, but it comes a day after a car was towed from Nancy’s garage and a camera was taken from her roof that appeared to be missed in previous searches.

He’s choked back tears publicly while saying ‘we’re going to find her’ as he leads the massive operation to bring abducted Nancy Guthrie home alive.

But while his detectives continued to grind through the weekend, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos took time off to watch a college basketball game – as revealed in an exclusive Daily Mail photo.

The sheriff was spotted at the basketball game on Saturday evening, at the same time that Savannah Guthrie shared a heartbreaking video with her siblings pleading for their mother’s return.

The Today Show host addressed her mother’s alleged abductors and said her family had ‘received your message’, and said she ‘will pay’ their ransom demands.

Nanos, whose face has been plastered across national media for the past six days, was seen in a khaki hoody top amid spectators watching number one ranked Arizona Wildcats defeat Oklahoma State 47-84 at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson.

But the decision to take time out for the game has not gone down well with deputies swamped with chasing leads as the clock ticks unmercifully for the 84-year-old mother of NBC Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie.

A broken floodlight once attached to a rear wall of Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home has been removed from the property as federal agents intensify their hunt for the missing 84-year-old amid revelations that a ransom note specifically referenced the fixture.

Drone footage captured Saturday showed the damaged floodlight that had previously hung from exposed wiring at the rear of Guthrie’s Tucson residence was no longer there.

The removal marks the latest physical change at the home since investigators began methodically dismantling and collecting potential evidence in a case authorities have repeatedly described as an abduction.

The significance of the floodlight stems from its appearance in a purported ransom note sent to media outlets earlier this week – a detail federal officials have publicly acknowledged but declined to fully explain.

‘Yeah, the ransom itself. One talked about an Apple Watch and one talked about a floodlight,’ said Heith Janke, special agent in charge of the FBI‘s Phoenix field office, during a press conference.

‘And we’re not going to go into specifics. It’s very important that we keep this investigation moving forward.’

A pair of Pima County Sheriff’s Department trucks returned to Nancy Guthrie’s home around 9.04pm on Saturday night. It was not immediately known why they were there.

Officers were spotted ‘looking at the ground with flashlights,’ according to Fox News Digital.

Savannah Guthrie has released a new video message to her missing mom Nancy’s captors, telling them her family has ‘received your message.’

The Today Show host shared a video on Saturday evening with her sister Annie and brother Camron, saying that they had received communications from her mother’s abductors.

‘We received your message, and we understand,’ Savannah said. ‘We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her.

‘This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.’

Savannah did not offer details over the communication her family received nor the demands that she agreed to pay.

Police are facing mounting criticism over their handling of the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie as detectives have failed to locate a single suspect a week into the investigation.

The brunt of the blame has fallen on the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Chris Nanos, who has come under fire in the week since Nancy disappeared from her home during the early morning hours of Sunday, February 1.

Scrutiny on Nanos began early, when on Monday he told NBC News that Nancy was ‘abducted’, and chillingly detailed that she was ‘taken from her bed’.

But the next day, the sheriff walked back his language and clarified that he was speaking figuratively, and said he had no evidence that Nancy literally ripped from her bed.

He admitted at a press conference: ‘I’m not used to everybody hanging on to my words and then trying to hold me accountable for what I say. But I understand.’

The blunder was followed by another criticized press conference on Thursday, where Nanos summoned reporters only to admit he had no suspects or persons of interest in the case.

‘My guesswork is as good as yours,’ Nanos admitted when he was asked by reporters about potential suspects and motives.

And sources within Nanos’s own department told the Daily Mail this week that the sheriff made a series of critical mistakes in the first hours of the investigation, including failing to deploy a vital search-and-rescue aircraft.

Catalina Foothills Association has resumed neighborhood searches near Nancy’s home as residents are in utter ‘disbelief’ this happened.

Residents are encouraged by the association to comply with law enforcement and to share ‘camera images and allow searches of your properties.’

‘I know we all stand together in our collective disbelief and sadness and greatly appreciate your willingness to speak with law enforcement,’ the association said in a letter to residents.

Former FBI agent, Lance Leising, believes Nancy’s alleged abductors are ‘confident’ they won’t be caught by sending the second ransom note.

‘It’s interesting that they are committed to sending a second one if it’s the same person,’ he told Fox News.

‘Because they are confident they are not going to be found, they are confident they are using anonymizers and changing their IP address and running it through a bunch of different countries, potentially, to avoid being tracked.’

However, he noted neither note gives police anything to confirm the notes are coming from the alleged criminals.

Police were seen entering a Circle K gas station near Nancy’s home to review footage of ‘some guy,’ an employee told Fox News Digital.

The gas station is near Nancy’s home, and the plainclothes officers showed up unannounced, the employee revealed.

‘They just showed up,’ they said. ‘They said they were looking for some guy who got away.’

A Circle K spokesperson told the Daily Mail authorities arrived after receiving a tip regarding a vehicle of interest.

Police have not announced a suspect. Sheriff Chris Nanos said he does not plan on hosting any more press conferences ‘unless we have some real evidence or something to bring up to you,’ he said.

Retired FBI agent Lance Leising said the different IP addresses between the two alleged ransom notes isn’t strange.

‘It is not hard to mask or change your IP address,’ he told AZ Family. ‘A different IP address [on the ransom note] is not surprising at all. You can anonymize that and change that very easily.’

However, both notes used the same anonymizer program, leading Leising to believe it did come from the same person. He also noted, however, that the program used is a very popular one, so there is a chance the notes are not connected.

Authorities are still trying to legitimize the notes.

Leising said police would have to have some kind of proof of life in order to prove the notes are connected to Nancy’s kidnappers.

Ed Smart knows exactly what Savannah Guthrie is going through.

Smart’s 14-year-old daughter Elizabeth was abducted from her bed 23 years ago. She was found alive nine months later.

For the Smart family, who miraculously welcomed their daughter home, the memories are excruciatingly vivid.

‘The not knowing was the worst of all,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘You have three possibilities. The possibility that they could be alive and return home. The possibility that you may never know, which to me is the worst of all, because it just leaves your mind spinning and spinning.

‘And then there is the possibility that she is deceased and of course, that’s very hard and very difficult.’

The FBI will be putting up digital billboards in El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Texas, as well as in California cities, San Diego and Los Angeles.

It will have the FBI number on it and a photo of Nancy.

The practice had worked well in previous cases.

‘Because digital billboards can be quickly changed and updated, information about a kidnapped child, a bank robbery, or a matter of public safety can immediately be displayed,’ the FBI said.

‘And messages can be targeted to specific geographic locations, which is important when time is of the essence.’