The FBI spoke to Luigi Mangione’s mother the night before her son’s high-profile arrest and told the feds he bore a resemblance to the suspect wanted for killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to law enforcement sources.
Members of the Joint Violent Crimes Task Force questioned Kathleen Mangione late Sunday night after receiving a tip from San Francisco police – four days prior – about a missing person’s report the family had filed with the department in November, the sources said.
Police tipped off the feds after they recognized the 26-year-old’s face in surveillance images put out by the NYPD after Thompson, 50, was gunned down last week – but his mother wasn’t completely confident that was actually her son in the images.
The accused gunman, however, was taken into custody the following morning at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s before the feds could notify the NYPD of the exchange, according to sources.
His mom reported him missing to San Francisco police on Nov. 18. She noted that she hadn’t spoken to her son since July 1 and was unaware of his whereabouts, according to the report.
The alleged assassin had reportedly vanished for several months after fleeing the US to “zen out” on a solo Asia trip before abruptly returning to allegedly kill Thompson.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media by Nino Mangione, a Republican Maryland state legislator on Monday.
“We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Thompson as the CEO walked to the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company was holding its annual investor conference on Dec. 4.
The University of Pennsylvania grad led police on a five-day manhunt that ended when he was taken into custody at the fast-food joint after an employee recognized him and called the police.
He had been carrying four fake IDs, a 3D-printed gun with a homemade silencer, and a handwritten manifesto-type document that mentioned UnitedHealthcare and accused health insurance companies of corporate greed, authorities said.
Mangione is facing murder charges and is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on gun and forgery charges, of which he has pleaded not guilty.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Friday that the accused killer could be extradited from Pennsylvania to the Big Apple as early as Tuesday to face murder charges for the cold-blooded killing.
Mangione had been fighting extradition orders that sought to bring him back to the Empire State.
“Indications are that the defendant may waive, but that waiver is not complete until a court proceeding,” Bragg said during a public safety press conference in Times Square.
“Until that time, we’re going to continue to press forward on parallel paths, and we’ll be ready whether he’s going to waive extradition or contest extradition.”
