Was the AETNA CEO found dead in the aftermath of Brian Thompson's murder? SanFranChronicle fake link explained

Claims of health insurance company Aetna’s CEO passing away have recently gone viral on X. This comes after the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Johnson. Despite many discussing the supposed passing of the Aetna CEO, it is worth noting that the rumors are not true.

X page @HESaBSG took to the social networking site on December 7 to share a link to a Sanfranchronicle article that included a headline that read, “CEO of Aetna Healthcare Group Found Dead in Second Apparent Killing of Health Insurance Executives.” The tweet also read:

“Christ- another one. Be careful what you wish for, people.”

The tweet had amassed over 1.6 million views at the time of writing this article.

The CEO of Aetna, the healthcare company, has certainly not passed away. If one opens the link attached to the tweet, they will be redirected to the Sanfranchronicle website which shows an explicit picture of a man.

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The CEO of Aetna is not dead

The claims that circulated across X first reported Brian Thompson’s fatal shooting outside a Manhattan hotel. The gunman behind the killing was not caught at the time of writing this article. However, surveillance footage has identified the man who is believed to be the suspect.

Meanwhile, many netizens took to the social networking site to warn fellow platform users to not open the website link that was attached by the aforementioned X user. Netizen @fintechzach was one among the many who stated online:

“I clicked on the link. Let’s just say it wasn’t a news article.”

Netizen @heyEXTRA also said in a tweet:

“Don’t click the Aetna link. You're welcome.”

Furthermore, X's Community Notes clarified that the Sanfranchronicle link had nothing to do with the supposed death of the Aetna CEO. They added:

"It is clickbait that takes you to p*rn with a picture of Barry Wood completely naked."

Aetna had not addressed the false claims making the rounds online at the time of writing this article.

Meanwhile, CNN exclusively reported on December 6, that security for healthcare insurance executives is increasing following the killing of Brian Johnson. John J. Miller, the Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst at CNN, said:

“The heads of major health care concerns and their security departments were adding people, security details, precautions, mail screening- across the country.”

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More about Brian Johnson's fatal shooting incident as false death claims of Aetna CEO circulate online

As law enforcement gathered evidence to catch the suspect, senior officials familiar with the case exclusively told NBC News on December 6, that the gunman likely traveled to New York City last month through a Greyhound bus.

Authorities are now trying to find a name that was tied to the bus trip that began in Atlanta. While in New York, the suspect is believed to have stayed in an Upper West Side, Manhattan, hostel.

Police have managed to obtain an unmasked image of the suspect.

As police gathered shell casings from the crime scene, a senior New York City law enforcement official revealed that the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” were written on them. New York Police Department Chief of Detectives, Joseph Kenny, also said in a statement:

“Based on the evidence we have so far, it does appear the victim was specifically targeted. But at this point, we do not know why.”

His wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her husband had been receiving death threats prior to his passing. Brian Johnson originally resided in Maple Grove, Minnesota, but made his way to New York for a work trip.