These Videos Don’t Show ‘Hidden Tunnel’ Under UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Home

In the weeks following the Dec. 4, 2024, fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, social media users shared an unfounded rumor claiming investigators discovered a “hidden tunnel” beneath his home.

For example, on Dec. 12, TikTok user @history0267 posted a video (archived) promoting this claim. The clip had amassed more than 312,000 views as of this writing.

The narrator of the footage began by saying: “Tunnel found in CEO Brian Thompson’s home takes a shocking turn in the case.” They continued by talking about Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect facing federal charges in Thompson’s killing. Other parts of the clip featured mentions of a “hidden tunnel” purportedly “uncovered beneath a carpet in the basement,” tire tracks, “cryptic handwritten codes and symbols” and potential signs of connections to “smuggling operations or criminal networks.”

A second video published to the @nowyouknow926 Instagram account on Dec. 17 presented the same audio narration and script as the TikTok clip but showed different visuals. The footage was captioned: “CEO of United Healthcare #BryanThomson apparently has a underground tunnel in his home.”

One Instagram user asked in the comments: “Are we writing fan fiction now? If not, please provide a source.” The video had garnered more than 1.4 million views at the time of this writing.

However, the truth was that these videos displayed photos of tunnels, tire tracks and other visuals completely unrelated to Thompson. Further, the clips featured elements of artificial intelligence (AI), including fake audio narration, picture selection, editing and scripting.

For the TikTok video, a reverse-image search showed that its tunnel picture — and another photo of an FBI agent — originated from the stock photography website iStockPhoto.com. The clip’s tire tracks picture matched an image hosted on the Dreamstime.com stock photography website. The TikTok account, @history0267, also featured additional videos promoting unfounded rumors about other mysterious findings in tunnels and attics and one post about U.S. fighter jets shooting down UFOs in New Jersey.

The Instagram video presenting other pictures for the same tale showed a tunnel image that California’s KMPH-TV credited to photographer Wilhelmina Santana at the Fox Theatre in the city of Visalia, as well as photos of tire tracks, old writings and an FBI agent that were all hosted on stock image websites.

A Google search produced no evidence of tunnels being discovered under Thompson’s home. Likewise, no credible news outlets had reported on such a story.

We contacted both the FBI and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office by email to ask for comment about this rumor but had not received a response by the time of publication.

For further reading, we previously fact-checked an unfounded claim that U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi ordered Thompson’s murder because he was set to testify against her in a case of insider trading.

Sources