Luigi Mangione vanished for months after fleeing US to ‘zen out’ on solo Asia trip before CEO murder: Report

Luigi Mangione reportedly left his co-living space in Hawaii and set off to Asia earlier this year, stopping in places like Japan and Thailand.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s alleged killer Luigi Mangione reportedly vanished for several months after fleeing the US to “zen out” on a solo Asia trip. He then abruptly returned to kill Thompson in the Big Apple.

Luigi Mangione vanished for months after fleeing US to ‘zen out’ on solo Asia trip before CEO murder (Photo by Handout / Pennsylvania State Police Department / AFP)

The New York Times reported that Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, left his co-living space in Hawaii and set off to Asia earlier this year. He stopped in places like Japan and Thailand.

Luigi Mangione’s texts to friends

“I want some time to zen out,” Mangione said in an audio message sent to a friend on April 27 while he was hiking in Japan’s Nara region.

“There’s like these tiny little villages here, on the side of the cliffs — I’ll send a photo. It’s super lush, there’s this beautiful river that cuts through the gorge,” he added. “I think I want to stay here for like a month, and just meditate and just hot spring, and do some writing.”

Mangione sent another message to a friend weeks later, while he was on Mount Omine in Japan. He described the terrain and how women were not permitted to climb it.

“This mountain is peak misogyny,” Mangione wrote to the friend, whom he had met during his travels. “I needed to stop getting distracted by women lol,” he added.

However, shortly after, he began losing touch with family and friends. In June, a friend texted Mangione and asked, “where in the world are you?” However, Mangione did not respond.

Late in summer, Mangione’s family began reaching out to friends, saying they had not heard from him in months. The family even reported him missing on November 18.

However, Mangione was back in New York City weeks later, where he allegedly shot Thompson dead on a sidewalk in Midtown last week. After a manhunt, he was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s. He is facing a slew of charges, including murder and gun possession, and remains jailed without bail.