Texas woman accused in death of pro cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson fled to NYC, federal officials say
The search continued Wednesday for a woman suspected in the fatal shooting of professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson at an Austin home, and federal officials said the suspect apparently traveled to New York days after the killing.
Wilson, 25, was found dead May 11. Austin police issued a murder warrant for Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, last week.
Investigators believe Armstrong was at the Austin International Bergstrom Airport on May 14 at approximately 12:30 p.m., officials said. She boarded a flight to Houston, and then boarded a connecting flight to New York's LaGuardia Airport, the U.S. Marshals Service said Wednesday.
Wilson, a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer and Vermont native, had been staying with a friend in Austin on her way to a cycling event in Dallas, police said Wednesday. According to an affidavit, Wilson had previously dated Armstrong's boyfriend, cyclist Colin Strickland, who has cooperated with investigators and is not a suspect.
Police responded to a residence shortly before 10 p.m. local time on May 11, according to Austin Police Department detective Richard Spitler, where they found the person living there giving CPR to Wilson, who was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.
Wilson had earlier in the day been "in the company of Colin Strickland," who dropped her off at the residence around 8:30 p.m., Spitler said Wednesday at a press conference. Spitler said that within two minutes of Wilson being dropped off, another vehicle, later identified as belonging to Armstrong, was seen outside the residence on surveillance video.
Police brought Armstrong in on a misdemeanor warrant issued in Travis County, Spitler said, and questioned her on May 13, but the warrant for her arrest wasn't issued until May 17, police said Wednesday.
When asked on May 13 about the vehicle, Armstrong "continued to remain very still and guarded," then asked to leave and was allowed to do so, the affidavit said. "She would not confirm or deny being in the area of the murder, and quickly terminated the interview," Spitler said. He then revealed that Armstrong was "mistakenly released from custody on the misdemeanor warrant because her date of birth in our report management system did match the date of birth on the warrant."
When asked why the mismatched dates led to Armstrong's release, Spitler said the discrepancy invalidated the warrant.
She has not been seen since and her social media accounts were deleted, the affidavit said.
Armstrong was last seen on surveillance video "wearing a blue denim jacket, black shirt with a pink design on the chest, white jeans, black and white tennis shoes, a black COVID mask, and a possible yoga mat carrier on her shoulders," U.S. Marshals said.
Police recovered two handguns from Armstrong and Strickland's residence on May 12, Spitler said, but did not match one of those handguns to Wilson's murder until the 17th.
Armstrong's father, Michael Armstrong, told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview aired on Tuesday that he doesn't believe that his daughter could have killed Wilson. He said there are many "unanswered questions" about what happened.
"I know her. I know how she thinks and I know what she believes. And I know that she just would not do something like this," Michael Armstrong said.
Wilson's family said she had recently decided to move from San Francisco back to Vermont, and the family said in a statement that she was not in a relationship with anyone at the time of her death.
"There are no words that can express the pain and suffering we are experiencing due to this senseless, tragic loss," the family said in a statement. "Moriah was a talented, kind and caring young woman. Her life was taken from her before she had the opportunity to achieve everything she dreamed of."
Armstrong is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 125 pounds. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-800-336-0102.
