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

[TheBestRester]

“Texas police are hunting for a 34-year-old yoga teacher accused of shooting dead the leading U.S. gravel cyclist, dubbed the 'winningest woman in America', because she'd had a brief relationship with her boyfriend.

Kaitlin Armstrong has not been seen since May 13 - two days after the murder of Moriah Wilson, 25 who was found covered in blood at a friend's home in East Austin on May 11.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Armstrong, a yoga teacher, who remains on the run and has deleted all her social media accounts.

Armstrong's boyfriend Colin Strickland, also a professional cyclist, had a brief romantic relationship with Wilson in October when he and his girlfriend of three years were on a break.

He and Armstrong got back together shortly after his fling with Wilson but his girlfriend only found out about the one-week dalliance in January. “


Yoga teacher, 34, 'murders world class cyclist, 25, in jealous rage'

Just saw this article stating that the "Suspect in Cyclists Murder was Dropped Off at the New Jersey Airport" where do you think she's headed?

Suspect in cyclist’s murder dropped off at New Jersey airport, US Marshals say

The U.S. Marshals have upgraded the Armstrong investigation to major case status and are offering up to $5,000 as a reward for information leading to her arrest, the release said.

www.kxan.com

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Aiding and abetting terrorism is a crime everywhere. Evan fake foreign ID would still need to get past airport security- and the data crunching / algorithm super computers. In short, my bet is that fake ID comes in two or three general levels:

- Level 1: Fool an restaurant manager (who might not be inclined to look too closely anyways) that one can work legally. Fool the doorman to let you into the club. The guy at the liquour store etc.

- Level II: Fool the bank into issuing a credit card. This means getting past their fraud algorithms.

- Level III: Fool post 9/11 security and airlines backed by data crunching super computers with very sophisticated algorithms into letting one buy a ticket and.... then board a plane.

Sure, one can probably order level 1 stuff on line from sites in Uzbekistan, Turkey etc. They can also be found at swap meets face to face- providing one does not "freak out" the vendor with cop vibes. Then, one can get past the bouncer who is busy checking IDs- and also checking out the figure fitting spandex of the girl he just let in.

But.... my bet is that level III fake ID cannot be bought on line from Uzbekistan for say, $29.99. Rather, purchasing airport level fake ID could get, well, complicated.

The level III stuff does come from these countries specifically because they can operate out of them with relative impunity. Sure, they also make the low-quality cheap fakes, but they are also the main vendors for the level III high-quality fakes, specifically because their home governments aren’t interested in prosecuting them and foreign governments have no leverage to extradite them, which they sell for $8-10,000. I highly recommending reading the article I linked above as it explains how the fake passport market operates, as well as some other articles about high-quality fake passports:

Revealed: how fake passports allow IS members to enter Europe and US

Seller whose passports have been used by those who illegally crossed Syrian border says: ‘it is not my job to see who is bad’

amp.theguardian.com

Crossing Borders - How Terrorists Use Fake Passports, Visas & Other Identity Documents | PBS - Trail Of A Terrorist | FRONTLINE | PBS

Dark web vendors sell blank British passports and entry to passport database for just £2,000

Fake British passports convincing enough to pass through airport security are being sold on the dark web.

amp.ibtimes.co.uk

Can U.S. border tech detect fake passports?

The Paris terror attacks prompted debate in the United States on a number of policy issues, including passport security.

fcw.com

 

[Cryptic]

How could it happen twice? First at La Guardia, then at Newark Liberty? Both huge metro New York City-area international airports, equipped with multi cameras, TSA agents, security guards, etc. in our post-9/11 society?

I dont think shhe went through security as I think it would take fake ID way beyond the swap meet and inter net site type stuff.

Rather, I am betting that both La Gaurdia and Newark were ruses: Enter airport, get seen. Maybe inquire about ticket purchases to see what they ask for etc.

Then, the ruse: Go to a busy bathroom, change clothing and hair style as much as possible. Leave the airport while giving the impression that one jetted off to somewhere.

 

[SMK777]

Just saw this article stating that the "Suspect in Cyclists Murder was Dropped Off at the New Jersey Airport" where do you think she's headed?

Suspect in cyclist’s murder dropped off at New Jersey airport, US Marshals say

The U.S. Marshals have upgraded the Armstrong investigation to major case status and are offering up to $5,000 as a reward for information leading to her arrest, the release said.

www.kxan.com

The US Marshals don’t have a record of her getting on a flight. Perhaps she’s under a false name. I wish they had surveillance footage.

That airport is sometimes used as a place to link to Penn Station, with AMTRAK trains going to various states across the country. So she might be on a train.

I hope all of this leads to an arrest soon. I have no idea what her destination might be.

 

[SMK777]

I dont think shhe went through security as I think it would take fake ID way beyond the swap meet and inter net site type stuff.

Rather, I am betting that both La Gaurdia and Newark were ruses: Enter airport, get seen. Maybe inquire about ticket purchases to see what they ask for etc.

Then, the ruse: Go to a busy bathroom, change clothing and hair style as much as possible. Leave the airport while giving the impression that one jetted off to somewhere.

I had thought of that, definitely. But there are surveillance cameras pointed at the restrooms (last time I was there). They would see her enter, but never come out. Then they’d have to replay to check for disguises she may have donned. Unless she’s already disguised. But they would know that from the drop off.

I just wish they’d get lucky like they did with Casey and Vicky White.

 

[Cryptic]

The level III stuff does come from these countries specifically because they can operate out of them with relative impunity. Sure, they also make the low-quality cheap fakes, but they are also the main vendors for the level III high-quality fakes, specifically because their home governments aren’t interested in prosecuting them and foreign governments have no leverage to extradite them, which they sell for $8-10,000.

The advertising seems to good to be true....

- We sell high quality fake passports relatively openly and to anyone- no need for vetting or referrals etc.

- The passports are from top level nations (UK, USA, Germany etc).

- The passports are not from say, Uruguay, Moldovia, Belarus, Greece, Solomon Islands or Cypress (places where one maybe able to more easily purchase genuine passports from corrupt officials or suppliers)

- The passports are guaranteed to pass all physical security checks and..... are also guaranteed to pass the data crunching algorithm running super computers on the look out for say, indications of double identities, stolen identities etc.

And of course, there is no way to verify the claims of the vendors. I guess I am a "Doubting Thomas" on this issue.

 

[Cryptic]

I had thought of that, definitely. But there are surveillance cameras pointed at the restrooms (last time I was there). They would see her enter, but never come out. Then they’d have to replay to check for disguises she may have donned. Unless she’s already disguised. But they would know that from the drop off.

Maybe, they lost her after she put on the disguise?

Or, maybe @citizen_sleuth is right- she had easily obtainable high quality, airport level fake id that really worked as advertized. She then flew out on another identity?

Maybe I am putting too much faith in airport security, both human and machine? Then again, it just seems too easy to get that kind of ID.

 

[SMK777]

Maybe, they lost her after she put on the disguise? Or, maybe @citizen_sleuth is right- she had high quality, airport level fake id that really worked as advertized. She then flew out on another identity?

I guess both are possible. She’s either very good at evading capture, or just lucky.

I do think at this point it may take a tip to find her (as with the phone call from the Indiana car wash manager who spotted Casey White).

If someone sees this story online, then sees someone who could be her at a hotel or train station, etc. and calls the tip line, that may be all it takes.

I’d love to know how they found out about the Newark airport drop off after 20 days.

 

[SMK777]

I noticed in the US Marshals Wanted poster shown in this story, the small inset picture of KA is one I don’t know if we’ve seen before.

Kaitlin Armstrong: US Marshals announce reward for suspect in cyclist love triangle slaying

The U.S. Marshals Service announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture of a Texas woman accused of gunning down pro cyclist Moriah "Mo" Wilson.

www.foxnews.com

I answered you wrongly before, apologies— I didn’t see the insert. Yes, that’s definitely a new, and quite flattering, image of KA.

 

[Sundog]

The US Marshals don’t have a record of her getting on a flight. Perhaps she’s under a false name. I wish they had surveillance footage.

That airport is sometimes used as a place to link to Penn Station, with AMTRAK trains going to various states across the country. So she might be on a train.

I hope all of this leads to an arrest soon. I have no idea what her destination might be.

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.

 

[GDawg89]

All good points in your excellent post.

As for quoted above: I sure hope they go to all those hotels and ask desk people to look at her picture closely, and try and remember if she checked in. Her wanted poster should be plastered in the airports and hotels.

Yes sir, one step further, if they can determine if and which hotel she stayed at, there could be something in the memory of hotel computer that could provide a lead, destination, contacts, etc... only problem is it's May 14-18. AMOO

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Maybe, they lost her after she put on the disguise?

Or, maybe @citizen_sleuth is right- she had easily obtainable high quality, airport level fake id that really worked as advertized. She then flew out on another identity?

Maybe I am putting too much faith in airport security, both human and machine? Then again, it just seems too easy to get that kind of ID.

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.

The huge international problem of fake passports

Spotting a forged passport is not easy -- even for security agents.

www.usatoday.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.

Sundog, Amtrak yes, from Newark, probable means to move from Newark, one point to add on entering Canada and correct me anyone if I am wrong, I think the ARRIVECAN paperwork is still required as of May 18, pretty sure her name would have to be in system on Amtrak crossing US border by train.

I do see possibility KA got to area near US/Canada border and then enter by bike, hike or boat through the woods to bypass the passport footprint. Common sense says once this happens, what is she doing if ALONE, hitchhiking? buy a car? camping? hostiles? Prolly a good idea for LE to send the Wanted KA picture to every hostile in Northeast and Canada. AMOO

 

[RickshawFan]

This doesn’t sound promising. Newark is where most of the long-haul international flights leave, but LE states she didn’t purchase a ticket in her own name. I’m not sure how she could get through security without having a ticket in her own name, unless she had a really good fake passport or borrowed a passport from someone who looks similar to her (like a friend or family member), but I don’t see why she would go to Newark if she didn’t have a flight. IMO she’s long gone.

I would actually expect someone to go to JFK, not Newark, for an international flight.

 

[Sundog]

Sundog, Amtrak yes, from Newark, probable means to move from Newark, one point to add on entering Canada and correct me anyone if I am wrong, I think the ARRIVECAN paperwork is still required as of May 18, pretty sure her name would have to be in system on Amtrak crossing US border by train.

I do see possibility KA got to area near US/Canada border and then enter by bike, hike or boat through the woods to bypass the passport footprint. Common sense says once this happens, what is she doing if ALONE, hitchhiking? buy a car? camping? hostiles? Prolly a good idea for LE to send the Wanted KA picture to every hostile in Northeast and Canada. AMOO

I am not familiar with the ARRIVECAN system, but guess there would be some record these days of someone arriving in Canada by train. So if that is the case and LE have no record of her entering Canada, then I don"t think Canada was her destination.

I don't see KA entering Canada by bike, etc. to bypass the border check. I don't know too many middle class 35-year old women who would go to such measures to enter another country by biking and hiking through the woods. Of course I could be wrong. Just thinking out loud here.

 

[Curious_in_NC]

With regard to the scenarios proposed by @citizen_sleuth, this older article has a quote from a "Texas Deputy US Marshall" suggesting they lean more toward the first scenario, a pre-planned crime:

Texas Deputy US Marshal Brandon Filla told The New York Post that Armstrong’s background in flipping houses may have provided her with "the funds to continue to hide."

"[Armstrong’s escape] wasn’t something that was abrupt, this was something that was methodical, that was timed. She had somewhat of a plan," he told the outlet.

Fugitive Kaitlin Armstrong previously charged with larceny after not paying for $650 Botox procedure

Armstrong is wanted in the May 11 shooting death of pro cyclist Moriah 'Mo' Wilson that may have been a possible love triangle scenario.

www.fox7austin.com

 

[citizen_sleuth]

I would actually expect someone to go to JFK, not Newark, for an international flight.

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.

 

[SMK777]

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.

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?

 

[SMK777]

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.

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.

 

[SMK777]

Yes sir, one step further, if they can determine if and which hotel she stayed at, there could be something in the memory of hotel computer that could provide a lead, destination, contacts, etc... only problem is it's May 14-18. AMOO

Good point. I hope it’s not too late.