Manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect begins 5th day

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Former NYPD commander sheds light on manhunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO

Joe Cardinale, a former NYPD Commander, details why the suspect left a trail behind and what investigators are doing to find Brian Thompson’s killer.

The nationwide manhunt for the gunman suspected of murdering UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson entered its fifth day Sunday.

Police released the latest photos of the suspect late Saturday night, appearing to show the man in the back of a taxi. Police also recovered a backpack they believe is linked to the killer that contained a jacket and Monopoly money, but no gun. Police believe the gunman fled New York City on a bus shortly after the shooting.

A New York Police Department dive team also trawled a Central Park pond Saturday, near where the backpack was found.

The divers were seen behind an area cordoned off with police tape beside Bethesda Fountain in a body of water known as the Lake near the park’s boathouse.

SHOCKING VIDEO SHOWS UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO BRIAN THOMPSON GUNNED DOWN ON NYC STREET

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  The NYPD released new images of the suspected gunman in the killing of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson. (NYPD)

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  NYPD SCUBA Team thumbnail_img_3437 Members of NYPD’s SCUBA team were seen around 3 p.m. on Saturday beside Bethesda Fountain, a short walk away from where investigators uncovered a backpack believed to belong to the man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Peter Gerber/Fox News Digital)

The NYPD has been searching Central Park since Wednesday.

The NYPD first announced that $10,000 was being offered for information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction. The FBI said late Friday it was offering up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

The day of the shooting, investigators already knew that the assassin fled through Central Park, getting there about four minutes after shooting Thompson. At 6:56 a.m., he exited the park again at 77th Street on the Upper West Side, according to a detailed timeline given by Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny at a press conference Friday.

A map shows the known locations of the suspected killer of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. (Fox News)

He was spotted again on 86th Street, still on the bicycle, two minutes later. At 7:04 a.m., he was seen on foot, then getting into a taxi cab.

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Police believe he is no longer in New York City because footage showed the cab dropping him off at Port Authority bus station, but detectives could not find footage of him leaving again. The station serves routes that could have taken him to New Jersey, north toward Boston or south toward Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

A Peak Designs backpack found by NYPD last in a leaf pile in Central Park, Friday, December 6, 20204. The bag appears to match the description of the one worn by the gunman who killed United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning.   (Obtained by New York Post)

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Retired FBI agent Scott Duffey told Fox News Digital that the backpack will be taken to a lab in Queens for forensic testing, where it will undergo trace evidence processing.

“[It’s] a process for hair, fibers [and] DNA,” Duffey explained 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.”

Fox News’ Landon Mion and Christina Coulter contributed to this report

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.