The manhunt for UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson’s assassin has entered its fourth day. Here is the evidence investigators have amassed thus far.
Although authorities have witnesses, ample street footage and even DNA evidence, the nationwide manhunt for the gunman who fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is fraught with challenges for law enforcement as it stretches into its fourth day.
Since the attack at 6:46 a.m. Wednesday, details have come more clearly into focus. The assailant arrived in New York City on a bus from Atlanta Nov. 24, stayed at an AYH Hostel on the Upper West Side and likely fled the city via the Port Authority bus station.
The FBI has joined local police in the hunt, and a relatively clear photo of the suspect has been distributed so the public can do the same. Here are the breadcrumbs of evidence investigators are following.
1. A backpack discarded in Central Park
NYPD investigators found a backpack in Central Park West on Friday that they believe belonged to the suspect who killed Thompson. A law enforcement source told Fox News Digital it will be taken to a lab in Queens for forensic testing.
Retired FBI agent Scott Duffey explained the backpack will undergo « trace evidence processing. »
« [It’s] a process for hair, fibers [and] DNA », Duffey said Saturday. « If he holds his hand against the strap and tightens the buckle like most of us do, that is where DNA most likely can be found. And zippers. »
2. A water bottle dropped at the scene
After ambushing Thompson outside the Hilton Midtown at 57th Street and 6th Avenue, the gunman took off down an alleyway. Investigators are now testing a water bottle they believe he dropped there for DNA evidence.
Still, Duffey said DNA will only be immediately useful if the killer has already been arrested within the United States and is in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
« If CODIS is not a match, then that DNA means nothing until you have someone in custody [to compare it against] », Duffey said.
A genealogical DNA profile could be set up to run against existing DNA profiles submitted to ancestry websites, but the time-consuming process could take too long to catch a killer at large.
« If there’s a genetic match, it’s going to give you a family profile, but an investigator will [then] need drivers’ licenses, photos, criminal backgrounds », Duffey said.
A genealogical profile, Duffey said, likely won’t come into play unless the other leads go cold.
