Noor Salman: One Month After Orlando Nightclub Shooting, Wife Of Omar Mateen Still Out Of Public Eye

Noor Salman was intensely in the spotlight in the days after her husband, Omar Mateen, launched an attack in an Orlando nightclub that left 49 people dead.

There were reports indicating that Salman may have been involved in the attack, or at least had knowledge of it, but in the weeks that followed, there have been no updates on Salman from investigators and no reports of her whereabouts after she disappeared from the public view.

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The FBI this week released its initial findings on the attack at Pulse nightclub, saying there was no evidence that Mateen targeted the club because of its gay clientele, the Washington Post reported.

“While there can be no denying the significant impact on the gay community, the investigation hasn’t revealed that he targeted Pulse because it was a gay club,” a U.S. law enforcement official said.

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There had been reports that Omar Mateen may have been secretly gay, with one man even coming forward to claim that he and Mateen had a relationship.

“I know Omar was definitely on Grindr,” 23-year-old Cord Cedeno told the Washington Post. “One of my good friends knew him from Adam4Adam app. There’s no reason to make this kind of thing up. I would never lie about anything like this.”

But the FBI report had no update on whether Noor Salman is the subject of an investigation. Many believed that evidence at the time indicated that Salman could have been involved in the planning of the attack.

There had been intense attention on Noor Salman in the weeks after the shooting, especially amid reports that Omar Mateen added his wife to his life-insurance policy and gave her access to his bank accounts. Video also emerged showing Salman buying ammunition with her husband.

As speculation grew on her potential role, Salman herself disappeared from pubic view. CNN reported (via Business Insider) that her father, Seddique, told reporters that Salman was “no longer here.” Salman had been living with her father at the time of the attack, the report added.

Family members said Salman was no longer in the area, with some indicating that she may have left to a quieter location where she could escape public scrutiny.

The uncertainty about her whereabouts led to speculation that the FBI may have lost track of Noor Salman, and it was fueled by speculation and conspiracy theories. There was even one unverified report from a site called True Pundit that she was located thousands of miles away in Jordan.

But it was never clear if Noor Salman was active in the planning, and some evidence appears to show that Omar’s plans were a surprise to her. Part of this was seen in text messages sent from Omar Mateen to his wife during the rampage itself. NBC News reported that Mateen’s mother called Noor Salman at close to 2 a.m. on Sunday, asking if Noor knew where Mateen was. Salman did not know, and texted a message to Omar asking Mateen where he was.

As NBC News noted, the exchange that followed showed that Salman did not appear aware of his plans.

“Mateen responded: ‘Do you see what’s happening?’

Salman replied ‘No?’ according to the source.

Mateen then responded “I love you, babe.”

Those close to Salman also noted that she may have lacked the intellectual capacity to help Mateen with the attack. A former teacher noted that she had difficulty with certain concepts.

“Noor had difficulty with retention, she had difficulty with conceptualizing, understanding, all challenges to her,” the teacher, identified only as Susan, told MyFox8. “She tried hard. She was very sweet.”

But for all the reports that Noor Salman is missing, it appears she has not tried to escape investigators. Immediately after the shooting, she cooperated with police and reportedly offered to take a polygraph test.

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