RICHMOND — Officers scoured hotels, businesses, rest areas, and truck stops across a large swath of Virginia in the search for a 71-year-old New Jersey woman and her great-granddaughter, who vanished during a holiday road trip to see family.

As of Wednesday, the authorities had found nothing related to Barbara Briley and 5-year-old La’Myra Briley, Virginia State Police spokesman Sergeant Stephan Vick said. They were last seen on Christmas Eve at a gas station in Ruther Glen, about 30 miles north of Richmond. They were on their way to North Carolina to visit relatives.

Officers spent much of Monday searching the Ruther Glen area and then shifted to an area south of Richmond. Authorities learned that Briley’s cellphone, which had been turned off, turned back on for a short period of time early Tuesday and ‘‘pinged,’’ or connected with, a tower near the city of Petersburg before it shut back off, according to Nutter. They weren’t able to triangulate her location but began searching the general area, he said. There’s been no further activity from Briley’s phone since then, he said.

Associated Press