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The ongoing manhunt for a UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murderer had authorities revealing the located item that may have belonged to the suspect and why they believed he fled the city.

(Video: NBC News)

Since the predawn murder of Brian Thompson Wednesday in Midtown Manhattan, fellow healthcare executives have been reeling as investigators sought evidence to track down the individual responsible.

Friday, New York Police Department Chief Detective Joseph Kenny and Commissioner Jessica Tisch provided updates as a bag matching one seen in surveillance videos was located in Central Park.

During a press briefing, Kenny had referred to the backpack as “very distinctive,” noting “It is huge and gray” as police recovered a similar item from the brush in the park.

Peter Dering, founder of Peak Design, had told The New York Times that he’d called the police believing the bag was an older version of the Everyday Backpack sold by his company between 2016 and 2019 after a number of people had sent him images of the suspect released to the public.

“Of course, my instinct would be to do whatever is possible to help track this person down,” he explained to the newspaper as he learned “hundreds” had already told the tip line they believed the bag was Peak Design.

While the bag was said to have been left unopened as it was recovered and transported for forensic testing, according to police who spoke with the New York Post, Kenny, who’d noted that the bike used by the suspect in fleeing the scene of Wednesday’s murder was equipped with GPS, detailed how review of surveillance footage showed the individual leaving the park on the Upper West Side before ditching the bike ahead of entering a cab in the area of West 86th St. and Amsterdam Ave.

From there, he was spotted at a Port Authority Bus Center near West 178th St. and Broadway from where it was believed he left the city as footage did not show him departing the terminal.

Kenny had also recounted the findings after investigators had traced the suspect back to an Upper West Side hostel before the murder where roommates had expressed, “he didn’t speak. He kept his mask on even when he was eating. He would pull the mask down to take a bite.”

Additional footage before the murder of Thompson showed the suspect buying a Kind bar and a bottle of water at a Starbucks nearby and fingerprints recovered had thus far been “of no value, meaning that it is unusable for identification. It could be enhanced later on.”

Previously, it had been reported that the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” had been discovered engraved on the shell casings recovered at the scene of the murder, and while a motive remained unknown, NBC News detailed that other health insurance companies had switched planned meetings to virtual in the wake of the tragedy.

In addition to the $10,000 reward being offered by Crime Stoppers and the NYPD, the FBI announced a $50,000 reward for information to aid in the arrest of the suspect.

Kevin Haggerty
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