When Luigi Mangione cut most of his family members off in 2023, the wealthy family hired a private investigator to look for him, Daily Mail reported citing a friend who was aware of this development. But the friend said the private investigator could not find Mangione.
26-year-old Luigi Mangione was arrested in connection with the killing of 50-year-old Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Mangione’s family said they were shocked over his involvement in this.
But the new information creates confusion over what Mangione was doing in the months leading up to the murder. San Francisco police said Mangione’s mother reported her son missing in San Francisco on November 18 and told police that she had spoken to her son in July this year. When her mother complained to the police, she said she believed that Mangione had been working for TruCar but a TrueCar spokesperson confirmed that Mangione did not work for the company since 2023.
Then why did his family hire a private investigator last year? What had happened then? It is not clear.
Spinal injury changed everything for Mangione
The spinal injury which Mangione received after he had a hard fall while surfing changed his life. At that point, he was staying at a co-living space, apparently shunning his life of opulence. The accident left him bedridden for a week and it never actually cured. Mangione’s childhood friends with whom he was somehow in touch later said they were aware that he was in pain and it created the whole family issue as he started alienating himself.
Mangione underwent surgery that got screws into his lower spine but the pain returned. During this time, Mangione was bouncing between San Francisco and Honolulu — being on and off on social media.
A friend who ran into Mangione two years ago in Baltimore said back then Mangione told him that he was taking a break from some things. Soon after, words broke out that he became estranged from his family.
A solo trip to Asia
Amid long patches of disappearance, Mangione reportedly went to Asia on a solo trip earlier this year, police have found out piecing together whatever trail he left. During his travels, he visited Japan and Thailand and sent voice message to a friend. Some reports claimed he went to Japan for spine treatment.
