The family of the man accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO reported him missing last month, and his mother told police her son could be the person seen in surveillance photos the day before his arrest , law enforcement sources told NBC News.
The family of Luigi Mangione, the man police say killed CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, reported him missing to San Francisco police on Nov. 18, about two weeks before the Dec. 4 ambush, according to a report a missing persons flyer.
Mangione’s mother said she last spoke to her son on July 1 and that he had been working in San Francisco, the flyer said.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with murder in New York in the killing of Thompson, who police say was targeted and may have been motivated by Thompson’s position at the health insurer.
The murder sparked a major manhunt that included the distribution of surveillance photos of a person of interest and a $60,000 reward.
After the killing, a San Francisco police officer believed the images of the person in question were similar to the image of Mangione from the missing person report, multiple law enforcement officials said.
San Francisco police have contacted the FBI about the possible identity of the man in that photo, the FBI said.
A missing poster of Luigi Mangione.
The tip from San Francisco police came on Dec. 6, and police contacted Mangione’s mother two days later, on Sunday, two law enforcement sources familiar with the case told NBC News. She told investigators the man in the image could be Mangione, they said.
The next day, Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after being recognized at a McDonald’s restaurant, officials said.
Mangione’s mother, relatives and his attorney in Pennsylvania did not respond to multiple requests for comment Friday.
New York police have said they have found a weapon that is ballistically consistent with the murder and a handwritten document that references the health insurance industry..
Shell casings found after the shooting had the words “deny,” “delay” and “depose” written on them, said Joseph Kenny, chief of detectives for the NYPD.
After the killing, people online and elsewhere expressed anger about the health insurance industry and the health care system in the United States, in some cases with “wanted” posters of at least two other CEOs. There have also been threats.
Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the umbrella company of UnitedHealthcare, has criticized what he called vitriol and defended his company’s actions in the aftermath of the killing.
In an op-ed in The New York Times published on December 6, Witty wrote that the US health care system “isn’t working as well as it should” but that his company was trying to improve it. UnitedHealth Group is the nation’s largest private health insurer.
Magione was not insured by UnitedHealthcare and neither were his parents, according to UnitedHealth Group. Kenny has said the company may have been targeted because of its size.
Mangione is imprisoned in Pennsylvania, where he faces gun possession, forgery and other charges. He is currently fighting his extradition to New York.
Mangione’s attorney said he will plead not guilty to all charges.
Mangione’s family said in a statement after his arrest that all they know about the incident is what they saw in the news media.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask that people pray for Luigi,” the family said. “We are devastated by this news.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
