The family of a man accused of killing a UnitedHealthcare executive reported him missing last month, and his mother told police her son could be the person seen in surveillance footage the 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, filed a complaint with San Francisco police on Nov. 18, two weeks before Dec. 4 ambush shooting, missing persons report.
Ms. Mangione says she last spoke to her son on July 1 and that he was working in San Francisco, the editor says.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with murder in New York in Thompson’s murder, which police say was targeted and may have been motivated by Thompson’s position with a health insurance company.
The killing prompted a massive manhunt that included the widespread distribution of surveillance photos of the person of interest, and a $60,000 reward.
After the murder, a San Francisco police officer thought that photos of the person of interest were similar to Mangione’s photo from a missing person’s report, multiple police officers said.
San Francisco police contacted the FBI about a possible man in the photo, the FBI said.
The missing poster of Luigi Mangione.
A tip from San Francisco police came in on Dec. 6, and police spoke to Mangione’s mother two days later, on Sunday, law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told NBC News. He told investigators that the man in the photo might be Mangione, they said.
The next day, Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after he was identified at a McDonald’s restaurant, officials said.
Mangione’s mother, relatives and attorney in Pennsylvania did not respond to multiple requests for comment Friday.
New York police said they found a gun that matched the murder, and a handwritten note about health insurance..
Shell casings found after the shooting had the words, “refuse,” “delay” and “get rid” of him, NYPD chief of Detective Joseph Kenny said.
After the killing, people online and elsewhere vented their anger at the health insurance industry and the health care system in the United States, in some cases with “wanted” posters of the two executives. There have also been threats.
Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, which is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, has condemned what he called vitriol after the killing, and defended his company’s actions.
In an op-ed in The New York Times published on Friday, Witty wrote that health care in the US “doesn’t work as well as it should” but that his company was trying to improve it. UnitedHealth Group is the largest independent health insurance company in the country.
Magione was not insured by UnitedHealthcare and neither were his parents, UnitedHealth Group said. Kenny said the company may have been targeted because of its size.
Mangione is in custody in Pennsylvania, where he has been charged with firearms, forgery and other charges. He is currently competing to be transferred to New York.
Mr. Mangione’s attorney said he remains innocent of all charges.
Mr. Mangione’s family spoke after his arrest saying that all they knew about the matter was what they had seen in the newspapers.
“Our family was shocked and deeply saddened by Luigi’s arrest. We pray for Brian Thompson’s family, and we ask that people pray for Luigi,” the family said. “We are tired of these words.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com