SYDNEY: Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock’s “regular companion” was an Australian woman who moved to the United States 20 years ago to work on the casino strip, the government confirmed Tuesday.
Marilou Danley, 62, was initially said to be a “person of interest” but has since been cleared of any involvement in the shocking shooting that left 59 dead and more than 500 injured.
American authorities said she was out of the country at the time retired accountant Paddock, 64, unleashed his reign of terror on concert-goers from a hotel window.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop tweeted: “I understand US authorities have ruled out Australian Marilou Danley as a person of interest.”
She added to reporters that “US authorities were in contact with us about Marilou Danley.”
“There are reports her ID was used for booking the hotel or some such detail. Australia will support the US authorities in their investigation in whatever way we can, but we have not had contact with Marilou Danley directly.”
US reports and officials said she is either in the Philippines or Japan, although neither country was able to confirm her whereabouts.
Australian media said she was on holiday in the Philippines with three girlfriends.
News Corp. Australia newspapers said the Filipino-Australian used to live on the Gold Coast tourist strip and still had a sister there.
“I can’t comment at the moment, I can’t say anything,” her sister Liza Werner told the Sydney Daily Telegraph, which said she was a grandmother.
The newspaper cited friends as saying she resided on the Gold Coast for more than a decade and was married to an Australian man who has since died.
She moved to the US about 20 years ago and reportedly shared a house with Paddock in a new golf course development in the desert just outside Mesquite, Nevada, 80 miles northeast (130 kilometers) of Las Vegas.
It was not clear if they were in a relationship or simply friends, with some reports referring to her as his “regular companion.”
Paddock, a high-stakes gambler with no criminal record, killed himself after mowing down concert-goers with burst of automatic weapon fire from the 32nd story window of a swish Las Vegas hotel.
A motive is yet to be established.
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Vegas shooter’s ‘companion an Australian granny’
Vegas shooter’s ‘companion an Australian granny’
Taiwan says Chinese drone made ‘provocative’ flight over South China Sea island
TAIPEI: A Chinese reconnaissance drone briefly flew over the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea on Saturday, in what Taiwan’s defense ministry called a “provocative and irresponsible” move.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, reports Chinese military activity around it on an almost daily basis, including drones though they very rarely enter Taiwanese airspace.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said the Chinese reconnaissance drone was detected around dawn on Saturday approaching the Pratas Islands and flew in its airspace for eight minutes at an altitude outside the range of anti-aircraft weapons.
“After our side broadcast warnings on international channels, it departed at 0548,” it said in a statement.
“Such highly provocative and irresponsible actions by the People’s Liberation Army seriously undermine regional peace and stability, violated international legal norms, and will inevitably be condemned,” it added.
Taiwan’s armed forces will continue to maintain strict vigilance and monitoring, and will respond in accordance with the routine combat readiness rules, the ministry said.
Calls to China’s defense ministry outside of office hours on a weekend went unanswered.
In 2022, Taiwan’s military for the first time shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace near an islet off the Chinese coast controlled by Taiwan.
Lying roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than 400 km (250 miles) — from mainland Taiwan.
The Pratas, an atoll which is also a Taiwanese national park, are only lightly defended by Taiwan’s military, but lie at a highly strategic location at the top end of the disputed South China Sea.
China also views the Pratas as its own territory.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, reports Chinese military activity around it on an almost daily basis, including drones though they very rarely enter Taiwanese airspace.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said the Chinese reconnaissance drone was detected around dawn on Saturday approaching the Pratas Islands and flew in its airspace for eight minutes at an altitude outside the range of anti-aircraft weapons.
“After our side broadcast warnings on international channels, it departed at 0548,” it said in a statement.
“Such highly provocative and irresponsible actions by the People’s Liberation Army seriously undermine regional peace and stability, violated international legal norms, and will inevitably be condemned,” it added.
Taiwan’s armed forces will continue to maintain strict vigilance and monitoring, and will respond in accordance with the routine combat readiness rules, the ministry said.
Calls to China’s defense ministry outside of office hours on a weekend went unanswered.
In 2022, Taiwan’s military for the first time shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace near an islet off the Chinese coast controlled by Taiwan.
Lying roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than 400 km (250 miles) — from mainland Taiwan.
The Pratas, an atoll which is also a Taiwanese national park, are only lightly defended by Taiwan’s military, but lie at a highly strategic location at the top end of the disputed South China Sea.
China also views the Pratas as its own territory.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
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