Marilou Danley News: Stephen Paddock's Girlfriend Met By Federal Agents in LA Airport
Apart from the gunman's name, Stephen Paddock, in the Las Vegas mass shooting, another identity came to light - that of his girlfriend, a Filipino-Australian woman named Marilou Danley.
Point of Interest
Shortly after the mass shooting that killed 59 and wounded more than 500 people in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, Danley became a person of interest to the authorities for her ties to Paddock after she was identified as the shooter's long-time girlfriend.
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When United States law enforcement officers categorize an individual as a "person of interest," it is because they have found factors that link him or her to a crime incident but without enough probable cause to place him or her under arrest.
However, Danley was dropped from being a person of interest after it was determined that she was not in the United States during the attack.
Arrived at Los Angeles
The latest reports say Danley flew back to the United States and landed at the Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday where she was met by federal agents.
According to the reports, it is yet unknown whether Danley will willingly provide information and undergo an interview regarding the Las Vegas shooting and Paddock, especially since no warrant has been served against her.
Authorities are hoping to get more information from Danley to figure out what motivated Paddock to turn his Mandalay Bay hotel room into an arsenal of at least 19 weapons and target thousands of civilians who were attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival at the time. Paddock reportedly killed himself before police could arrest him.
Who is Marilou Danley?
Before meeting Paddock, Danley originated from the Philippines but is now a citizen of Australia with a residence in Queensland. She was married for 25 years but got divorced in 2015.
Some of Danley's relatives including her former stepdaughter Dionne Waltrip and former husband Geary Danley are now residing in the United States.
The New York Times interviewed Waltrip who described Marilou as "one of the most happy, outgoing, full-of-life people I've ever known" and added that her father and Marilou were "extremely happy" during their marriage.
A former neighbor of Marilou's also said good things about the 62-year-old woman and said she loved to cook for her friends and would host cookouts where she would serve them Filipino food that she prepared.
Reports also indicated that Danley had been in a long-term relationship with Paddock and the pair had been living together prior to Sunday's shooting, which is now regarded as the most fatal incident in modern U.S. history.
Raising another wave of questions is the fact that Paddock wired $100,000 to the Philippines (~5 million in Philippine pesos) days before the attack. However, it is unclear whether the money was meant for Danley or for something else.
An unnamed official from the Philippines' immigration agency confirmed to local reporters that Danley arrived in the country on Sept. 25 from the U.S. after a stop in Hong Kong using her Australian passport.
