Vegas gunman went to PH twice; ‘I loved him,’ says Filipina girlfriend

Marilou Danley. FACEBOOK

SAN FRANCISCO — Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock traveled at least twice to the Philippines, where his girlfriend was born, an unnamed Filipino official told the Associated Press.

The official said Paddock visited the Philippines in 2013 and 2014, around his birthday, staying for five to six days on both occasions. There were no immediate details available about those trips.

Immigration documents show Marilou Danley had been abroad for weeks and was in the Philippines on Sunday when Paddock opened fire on a crowd, killing 59.

A U.S. law enforcement official says FBI agents met Danley at the airport in Los Angeles late Tuesday night.

Danley issued a full statement delivered by Danley’s lawyer, Matt Lombard, via CNN:

“I am devastated by the deaths and injuries that have occurred and my prayers go out to the victims and their families. I have faith in God and I will continue to pray for everyone who has been harmed or hurt. I am a mother and a grandmother and my heart breaks for all who have lost loved ones.

“I knew Stephen Paddock as a kind, caring quiet man. I loved him and hoped for a quiet future together with him. He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen.

“A little more than two weeks ago, Stephen told me that he’d found a cheap ticket for me to the Philippines and he wanted me to take a trip home to see my family. Like all Filipinos abroad, I was excited to go home and see family and friends.  While there, he wired me money which he said was for me to buy a house for me and my family. I was grateful, but honestly, I was worried, that first the unexpected trip home, and then the money, was a way of breaking up with me. 

“It never occurred to me that he was planning violence against anyone. I have not made a statement until now because I’ve been cooperating with the authorities and I voluntarily flew back to America because I know that the F BI and Las Vegas Police Department wanted to talk to me, and I wanted to talk to them. I will cooperate fully in their investigation.”