Gunman's Fil-Am lover back in US
JOHN REY O. SAAVEDRA
LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas gunman's girlfriend, back in the United States after a weekslong trip abroad, will be at the center of the investigation into the shooting deaths of 59 people as authorities try to determine why a man with no known record of violence or crime would open fire on a concert crowd from a high- rise hotel.
Stephen Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley, 62, who was in the Philippines at the time of the shooting, was met by FBI agents at the airport in Los Angeles late Tuesday night, according to a law enforcement official.
The official wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, who has called Danley a "person of interest" in the attack, said that "we anticipate some information from her shortly," and said he is "absolutely" confident authorities will find out what set off Paddock, a 64-yearold high-stakes gambler and retired accountant who killed himself before police stormed his 32nd-floor room.
Danley first arrived in the Philippines on September 15, according to immigration documents there. She departed on September 22 then returned three days later on a flight from Hong Kong. She was traveling on an Australian passport.
Philippines immigration bureau spokeswoman Antonette Mangrobang said authorities there had been working with US officials.
"From the very beginning, we have been providing them necessary information that would aid their investigation," Mangrobang said.
Paddock transferred $100,000 to the Philippines in the days before the shooting, a US official briefed by law enforcement but not authorized to speak publicly because of the continuing investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Investigators are still trying to trace that money and also looking into a least a dozen financial reports over the past several weeks that said Paddock gambled more than $10,000 per day, the official said.