NYPD SCUBA Team search the lake in Central Park
Investigators search for evidence, possibly related to the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, in New York City's Central Park. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox New Digital)
Scuba divers with the New York Police Department were seen scouring a lake inside Central Park as the manhunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson continues.
Divers were searching for evidence inside the lake throughout Sunday morning. The lake is near where officials found a backpack linked to the suspect. Images and video show divers signaling to one another as the search continued.
Police sources told Fox News the gun used in the murder was not in the backpack, and that is why divers were checking the water around Central Park. Authorities recovered Monopoly money and a jacket inside the bag, sources said.
Police had not announced the recovery of any evidence from the lake as of late Sunday morning.
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Police say the suspect fled the scene of the shooting last week and biked to Central Park before taking a taxi to the Port Authority bus station. His arrival at the bus station has led police to conclude he is no longer in New York City.
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."
NYPD SCUBA team member prepares to exit the lake in Central Park. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
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 manhunt has now spread into multiple states and entered its fifth day on Sunday. The New York City bus station the suspect used serves routes that could have taken him to New Jersey, north toward Boston or south toward Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Members of the NYPD SCUBA team searching the lake in Central Park on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams said the Monopoly money in the backpack is the "killer playing games with the authorities. All part of a cat and mouse game."
"This killer knew they would more likely than not find the backpack, and he is leaving breadcrumbs to let [the] authorities know that he is in control, not them," he said.
Fox News' Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
