Associated Press September 20, 2023, 10:39 a.m. ET2 Minute Read
MAYWOOD, Ill. (AP) — Police in suburban Chicago are checking the authenticity of Instagram videos that appear to show missing former NFL player Sergio Brown discussing the recent death of his mother, who died in an attack.
Brown, 35, is still missing, Maywood police spokeswoman Carmen Rivera said in an email Tuesday, confirming that police were aware of the videos and were investigating. Rivera did not immediately respond to messages seeking an update on Wednesday.
In a video posted Monday to an Instagram page apparently belonging to Sergio Brown, a man who resembles Brown calls reports of the death of his 73-year-old mother, Myrtle Brown, “fake news.”
“Fake news, fake news, fake news. It must be the FBI,” the man says in the rambling, profanity-filled video in which he says he thought his mother was “on vacation” in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
Authorities are searching for former NFL player Sergio Brown after his 73-year-old mother’s body was found near a creek behind her suburban Chicago home.AP
In another video he posted to his Instagram Story on Tuesday, the man references the movie “Finding Nemo” and repeats the film’s famous line: “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,” the Chicago reported Tribune.
Myrtle Brown’s body was found Saturday near a creek behind her home in Maywood, about 12 miles west of Chicago. Relatives had told police they could not find her or Sergio Brown.
The Cook County coroner’s office classified Myrtle Brown’s death as a homicide on Sunday, saying she was injured in an attack.
Police said Sunday they are trying to find Sergio Brown and are asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact them.
Brown’s brother Nick Brown remembered his mother on social media Sunday, calling her “strong, caring, hardworking, chic, funny.” He asked anyone who knows his brother’s whereabouts to provide information to police.
“I want him to know that I love you and to please come home,” Nick Brown wrote.
Sergio Brown, who graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, played college football for Notre Dame before joining the NFL. From 2010 to 2016, he played defensive back for the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.