Months before police identified Luigi Mangione as the man they suspect gunned down a top health insurance CEO and then seemingly vanished from Midtown Manhattan, another disappearing act worried his friends and family.
The 26-year-old scion of a wealthy Baltimore family who was a high school valedictorian and an Ivy League graduate, Mangione had maintained an active social media presence for years, posting smiling photos from his travels, sharing his weightlifting routine and discussing health challenges he faced.
He publicly kept track of nearly 300 books he had read or wanted to read, even posting a favorable review of the Unabomber manifesto on a book website.
But then, during the summer, Mangione appeared to stop posting online, prompting worried messages from some of his friends.
“Nobody has heard from you in months, and apparently your family is looking for you,” one user posted on X in October, tagging an account belonging to Mangione. “I don’t know if you are okay,” another posted.
Now, as police rush to piece together Mangione’s potential motive and movements leading up to last week’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, those who know him are left wondering how someone with a promising life could have possibly committed such a brazen crime.
“I can make zero sense of it,” said R.J. Martin, who lived with Mangione at a Hawaii co-living space a few years ago, remembering him as friendly and thoughtful. “It’s unimaginable.”
A former colleague of Mangione who worked with him as a counselor at a Stanford University summer program during his college years described him as outgoing and socially charming.
“I am flabbergasted,” the colleague said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the news. “I never got the impression he would self-destruct.”
Read more about how those who knew Mangione are reacting to the case.