Los Angeles/Manila - The girlfriend of a
retiree who killed 58 people and then himself in a shooting
rampage in Las Vegas arrived from the Philippines in Los
Angeles, where FBI agents hoped to question her about the
massacre, law enforcement officials said.
Marilou Danley, who U.S. authorities have described as a
"person of interest" in the investigation, left Manila on
Tuesday evening aboard Philippine Airlines Flight PR 102,
according to Philippines immigration spokeswoman Antonette
Mangrobang.
The non-stop flight arrived as scheduled at about 7:30 p.m.
local time on Tuesday (0230 GMT Wednesday) at Los Angeles
International Airport (LAX), according to the airline tracking
website FlightAware.com and passengers from the flight.
Mangrobang told Reuters by text message there was no
information about whether Danley was traveling with anyone else.
A police official in Manila and a law enforcement official
in the United States, both speaking on condition of anonymity,
told Reuters that Danley left the Philippines unescorted but was
being met by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents in Los
Angeles.
The U.S. source said Danley was not under arrest but that
the FBI hoped she would consent to be interviewed voluntarily.
This undated photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Marilou Danley who is being sought by the LVMPD for questioning. Picture: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP
The police official in Manila said Danley's trip back to the
United States "was coordinated with FBI authorities" and that
she was returning to clear her name of any involvement in the
deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Stephen Paddock, her live-in companion who killed himself
moments before police stormed the Las Vegas hotel suite he had
transformed into a sniper's nest on Sunday night, left no clear
clues about why he staged his attack on an outdoor concert below
the high-rise building.
Law enforcement authorities are hoping to obtain some
answers from Danley, who according to public records and police
shared Paddock's condo in a retirement community in Mesquite,
Nevada, about 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Las Vegas.
The Philippine police official said authorities in Manila
were told that Paddock used identification belonging to Danley,
who has an Australian passport, when checking in to the Las
Vegas hotel.
Investigators are also examining a $100,000 wire transfer
that Paddock sent to an account in the Philippines that appeared
to be intended for Danley, a senior U.S. homeland security
official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The official, who has been briefed regularly on the probe
but spoke on condition of anonymity, said investigators were
working on the assumption that the money was intended as a form
of life insurance payment to Danley.
Philippine Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Attorney Ma. Antonette Mangrobang shows the travel records of Marilou Danley in Manila. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP
The official said U.S. authorities were eager to question
Danley about whether Paddock encouraged her to leave the United
States before going on his rampage.
Danley arrived in Manila on Sept. 15, more than two weeks
before the mass shooting in Las Vegas, then flew to Hong Kong on
Sept. 22 and returned in Manila on Sept. 25. She was there until
she flew to LAX on Tuesday night, according to a Philippine
immigration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Danley, an Australian citizen aged 62 who is reported to
have been born in the Philippines, was not seen by reporters in
any public area of the LAX arrival terminal.
A flight attendant from the plane declined to comment, as
did an airline manager at the terminal, citing privacy concerns,
when asked if they had seen Danley. One passenger told Reuters
she overheard members of the flight crew saying that one of them
had escorted Danley from the plane.
The New York Times reported Danley has a daughter who lives
in Los Angeles.