TX - Moriah Wilson, 25, prized cyclist, fatally shot before race, Austin, May 2022

[citizen_sleuth]

I just had a thought as I was reading an article and saw a picture of MW and as I was scrolling by quickly mistakenly thought it was a picture of KA until I scrolled back up and read the caption. What if KA stole MW’s passport? I don’t know if MW had it with her, but if she did, IMO they look similar enough that KA could pass as MW in a cursory glance at airport security, especially given the 15% error rate cited above.

 

[Sundog]

Lots of good ideas. I hope they will check CCTV footage on the AMTRAK platforms for that day. If she’s disguised, it’s going to be very difficult. But I guess she wasn’t disguised yet at the drop off, sooooo…..still very confused about them just finding out or releasing Newark, NJ info after 20 days.

I agree fully with you that she had likely thought about killing MW but didn’t really plan it, nor plan going on the run. As I’ve said, they need a lucky break, a tip for the reward perhaps. But it’s so low, and I wonder why…to ward off false tips?

Here's an interesting article on rewards and tips on fugitives. Sounds like the amount isn't that important in terms of motivation to provide a tip that could lead to arrest. Also, sounds like award amounts even for LE who have been shot by criminals are less than $5,000.

Wonder if MW's family will add to the reward money.

Do Cash Rewards For Crime Tips Work?

Offering rewards to catch criminals may, in rare instances, motivate people to come forward with a tip. However, few people actually claim rewards and there's little evidence that they actually work.

www.npr.org

 

[Sundog]

Yes, in the old days Newark airport was shoddy and people preferred JFK or La Guardia. But since it’s become Newark Liberty International it’s much better. My flights to and from London have always been booked there.

I have to go to NYC at least once a year for business purposes, and I really don't like LaGuardia airport, I fly into Newark Liberty International and really enjoy using that airport. I take a bus from Newark airport to the Port Authority bus stop in NY City and then walk to my destination. It's inexpensive and efficient.

 

[SMK777]

Here's an interesting article on rewards and tips on fugitives. Sounds like the amount isn't that important in terms of motivation to provide a tip that could lead to arrest. Also, sounds like award amounts even for LE who have been shot by criminals is less than $5,000.

Wonder if MW's family will add to the reward money.

Do Cash Rewards For Crime Tips Work?

Offering rewards to catch criminals may, in rare instances, motivate people to come forward with a tip. However, few people actually claim rewards and there's little evidence that they actually work.

www.npr.org

Thanks for this. Very interesting. Clears that up.

 

[Barry]

With the exception of needing a bus from laguardia to a subway line, you can get to the Newark airport all by subway/rail.

 

[SMK777]

I just had a thought as I was reading an article and saw a picture of MW and as I was scrolling by quickly mistakenly thought it was a picture of KA until I scrolled back up and read the caption. What if KA stole MW’s passport? I don’t know if MW had it with her, but if she did, IMO they look similar enough that KA could pass as MW in a cursory glance at airport security, especially given the 15% error rate cited above.

They would need to ask her family if Moriah’s passport was among her personal effects.
And I wonder if the murder victim’s name would garner attention.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

They would need to ask her family if Moriah’s passport was among her personal effects.
And I wonder if the murder victim’s name would garner attention.

Moriah’s first name is Anna, so it might not ring any bells during the 30 second passport check, especially since she would’ve flown out on the 18th which is just a day after the warrant was issued.

 

[RickshawFan]

That’s a possibility, unfortunately.
Additionally, she may have cut and dyed her hair and disguised herself in other various ways making her difficult to spot on camera.

Don't they use facial recognition in airports now, though?

 

[SMK777]

Don't they use facial recognition in airports now, though?

I’m not sure how wide spread that is, maybe. It would certainly be a help to the US Marshals.

 

[Mariposa]

One thing I’m wondering:

They’ve been saying for weeks that they “lost her footprint at La Guardia airport, NYC”.

Now they know she was dropped off 4 days later at New Jersey’s Liberty airport.

What could have led to this sudden knowledge?

I haven’t seen any info on how the US Marshals got the Newark info, but I wonder if one possibility is a friend or acquaintance she was staying with in the NYC area came forward.

Assisting her on May 18 may not be a crime based on the timeline of when she was charged, when it was in the news etc. I think the first significant news coverage was really May 20 or so, and really took off over the weekend of May 21-22. Could be the friend or acquaintance had no idea that KA was on the run as of May 18. Then the question is when did they realize it, it’s plausible someone not paying close attention to the news wouldn’t be aware. It hasn’t really been a huge national story at all (when compared to for example Gabby Petito, etc)

 

[CocoChanel]

Just guessing that at major NY airports like LaGuardia, JFK and Newark, they would have the faciAl recognition first and foremost. We have it at our cruise port and it’s not one of the biggest ones.

 

[SMK777]

Just guessing that at a major NY airports like LaGuardia, JFK and Newark that they would have the faciAl recognition first and foremost. We have at our cruise port and it’s not one of the biggest ones.

Hopefully that will help, then!

 

[SMK777]

I haven’t seen any info on how the US Marshals got the Newark info, but I wonder if one possibility is a friend or acquaintance she was staying with in the NYC area came forward.

Assisting her on May 18 may not be a crime based on the timeline of when she was charged, when it was in the news etc. I think the first significant news coverage was really May 20 or so, and really took off over the weekend of May 21-22. Could be the friend or acquaintance had no idea that KA was on the run as of May 18. Then the question is when did they realize it, it’s plausible someone not paying close attention to the news wouldn’t be aware. It hasn’t really been a huge national story at all (when compared to for example Gabby Petito, etc)

Good observation. Someone who is just now grasping the situation and doesn’t want to be viewed as part of the coverup, in retrospect.

I hope if so, this person can provide more helpful information.

 

[RickshawFan]

I live in NYC and every time I’ve flown internationally (particularly on long-haul flights), I’ve flown out of Newark because they’re a United hub and United is normally the carrier that flies direct to places like India and China.

You're guessing KA chose to fly United if she went abroad?

 

[Spider92]

Too many posts for me to read, but my count, the Marshall's are19 days behind her (or at least their reporting is) and they're 1 for 15 in finding folks on the top 15 most wanted list. I hear Hall and Oates humming in the back of my mind..... "She's Gone....she's gone oh my....."
Sorry to be a negative Nellie.....

 

[SMK777]

Interview with US Marshal - News Nation

New turn in the twisted cyclist love triangle: Murder suspect spotted

Kaitlin Armstrong is considered armed and dangerous. She’s suspected of murdering Moriah Wilson, a rising star in the cycling world, in early May.

www.newsnationnow.com

 

[GDawg89]

If there is no record of her getting on a flight, I think she may have gone to Newark to get transportation to Penn Station or an Amtrak train to go somewhere. She had already been in NYC for 4 days, it seems, from May 14 when she arrived at LaGuardia to May 18 when she was seen being dropped off by someone at Newark airport. I'm going to go with Occam's razor on this case, with the simplest theory being the most probable. I doubt she has a fake passport and has used that to travel. I think she got lucky because she did all this before the arrrest warrant was issued on May 19th, if I've got the timeline right. I think she probably took the train somewhere, where is hard to say, of course. I think she would have gone somewhere that was familiar to her. Maybe she did take a train to Detroit where she grew up and knows the area, and maybe growing up in Detroit area she crossed over into Windsor, Ontario frequently, and if this was before the arrest warrant was issued, maybe she took a train to WIndsor. Just thinking out loud. If she did cross into Canada by train, perhaps there is less likely to be a record. If she didn't go by train into Canada, then perhaps she took a train to upstate New York or somewhere else on the East Coast that she is familiar with.

It may be that LE just have a camera image of a car dropping her off, not the license number, etc. and I think she might have taken an Uber from wherever she was staying near NYC after she landed in LaGuardia. She must have had a purpose in going to NYC. I doubt it was a random destination. Unless she just wanted to be lost in the crowd until she figured out her next steps, and she thought that NYC would be a safe place to do this.

IIRC, CS said the last time he spoke to KA was May 13th. But she flew from Austin to Houston and then to LaGuardia on May 14th. Did she spend the night at their home in Austin on May 13th? Two days after the murder of MW, and after her LE interview?

I am trying to focus on the timeline and what she might have had to do each day/night.

I don't think the killing of MW was pre-planned to the extent of passports, going on the run, taking money out of the bank, etc. It may have been premeditated from an emotional perspective, but I think she had to think fast afterward, and is just lucky that the US Marshall's warrant took so long to be issued.

Maybe KA was dropped off at Newark Liberty, rented a car using a pre-paid credit card as a hold and means of payment upon return to wherever, fake US drivers license in different name... AMOO

 

[SMK777]

Maybe KA was dropped off at Newark Liberty, rented a car using a pre-paid credit card as a hold and means of payment upon return to wherever, fake US drivers license in different name... AMOO

That’s a possibility. The problem is that there are so many possibilities at this point and it’s been 3 weeks. So I believe the US Marshals will need someone who knows exactly what KA’s plan was (a family member or friend) and who’s in contact with her to phone this info in to them.

Otherwise there’s too many different directions to search in: US states, foreign countries, passports, driver’s licenses, trains, planes, cars, boats, disguises —it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. When a fugitive could be in Michigan or Indonesia, how do you even begin?

 

[Cryptic]

One review of Australian security transport agents found that they had a 15% error rate when comparing travelers to their passport photos (which is definitely not a reassuring statistic), so it's also not beyond the realm of possibility that she had a legitimate passport she obtained from someone else who looks marginally like her.

That scenario would seem to be more likely.

KA not only uses a passport of somebody she resembles, the passport has not been reported as stolen, and the owner of the passport then does not trigger any red flags from the big brain mega computer screening for suspicious ticket sales .

There would still be a questions of how she would quickly obtain such a passport quickly.

I am still a "doubting Thomas" when it comes to dark net advertisers boasting that either fraudulent or stolen airport level passports can be quickly obtained.

 

[WingsOverTX]

That’s a possibility. The problem is that there are so many possibilities at this point and it’s been 3 weeks. So I believe the US Marshals will need someone who knows exactly what KA’s plan was (a family member or friend) and who’s in contact with her to phone this info in to them.

Otherwise there’s too many different directions to search in: US states, foreign countries, passports, driver’s licenses, trains, planes, cars, boats, disguises —it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. When a fugitive could be in Michigan or Indonesia, how do you even begin?

Occam's razor?

What if the suggested scenarios described at length & in detail here are just too clever? What if there's no fake ID or passport?

Her time on the run is running out. It's been less than a month, not years.

I could be underestimating her. But wherever she is fits her personal comfort zone, IMO.