She lived in the "Berkdale Apartments" complex in Herndon VA which is less than 5 miles from IAD. On another website, locals have commented that it's not a great area. I live in northern VA but not near Herndon, and I never go there anyway.
To me, the fact her purse and wallet were missing but everything else was in order - that suggests she might have left with someone she knew. Some have opined she was perhaps out walking, but at 12a?? In a neighborhood like that?? Unlikely. I wonder about her cellphone, any records or pings from that. Surely LEO has looked into it..
It just occurred to me. there is a CVS on Elden Street (that was definitely there in 2008 according to Google Street View) which is directly behind her apartment complex... Just a few hundred feet. I don't know what the hours for that store were back then, but there were a lot more 24 hour pharmacies around back then. It closes at midnight now. So that would be a more reasonable walk for her to have taken at that time of night depending on what their opening hours were.
And I will say, I don't see anywhere that states where (or more importantly,
when) that surveillance photo of her is from, but to me, that looks A LOT like THAT CVS. It has the same double door set up with the black outer doors and the white inner doors, as well as the black square carpet pattern. And you can see the green tinsel on the doorframe, which is very on brand for a 2 out of 5 star CVS during the holiday season.
I know the info that was released says she was last seen at "about 11:30pm" leaving work.... at that time of night, one can easily get from the airport to her apartment in 8-10 minutes. I could see a world where Norma drove home and parked, then quickly ran over to CVS with just her wallet, purse, and keys...
ETA: on NAMUS, it says the date of last contact was Dec 1, 2009, but she was last seen leaving work around 11:30pm on November 29, 2009... So which is it?