The family of the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO had reported him missing last month, and his mother told police her son could be the person seen in surveillance photos one day before his arrest, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
The family of Luigi Mangione, the man police believe killed CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, reported him missing to San Francisco police on Nov. 18, around two weeks before the Dec. 4 ambush shooting, a missing persons flyer shows.
Mangione’s mother said she last spoke to her son on July 1 and that he had been working in San Francisco, the flyer says.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with murder in New York in Thompson's killing, which police say was targeted and may have been motivated because of Thompson’s position with the health insurance company.
The killing sparked a large manhunt that included the wide distribution of surveillance photos of a person of interest and a $60,000 reward.
After the killing, a San Francisco police officer thought the images of the person of interest had similarities to the image of Mangione from the missing person report, multiple law enforcement officials said.
San Francisco police contacted the FBI about the possible identity of the man in that photo, the FBI said.
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 matter 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 he was recognized at a McDonald's restaurant, officials have 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 found a gun that has been matched ballistically to the killing, and a handwritten document that refers to the health insurance industry.
Shell casings found after the shooting had the words, "deny,” “delay” and “depose” written on them, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny has said.
After the killing, people online and elsewhere vented their anger at the health insurance industry and 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 which is the overarching company of UnitedHealthcare, has decried what he called vitriol in the wake of the killing, and defended the actions of his company.
In an op-ed in The New York Times published Friday, Witty wrote that the health care system in the U.S. "does not work as well as it should," but that his company was trying to improve it. UnitedHealth Group is the largest private health insurer in the country.
Mangione was not insured by UnitedHealthcare and neither were his parents, UnitedHealth Group said. Kenny has said the company may have been targeted because of its size.
Mangione is jailed in Pennsylvania, where he has been charged with gun, forgery and other charges. He is so far contesting 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 have seen 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."
