NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Austin, Texas – FIRST ON FOX: Kaitlin Armstrong, the Texas yoga instructor wanted for the Austin murder of top cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson, “is still alive,” a U.S. Marshals spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
Tuesday marked six weeks since Armstrong, 34, became a wanted person in connection with the May 11 shooting death of Wilson, a professional cyclist who went by the nickname “Mo.” On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service told Fox News Digital, “She is still alive.”
Last week, Marshals announced a reward of up to $21,000 for information leading to Armstrong’s capture.
They revealed she sold her black Jeep Grand Cherokee to an Austin CarMax for $12,200 one day before she left the state, and said Armstrong was has been charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Moriah “Mo” Wilson, left, and Kaitlin Armstrong.
(The Wilson family/ U.S. Marshal Service)
Lenny DePaul, a now-retired commander of the U.S. Marshals Service’s New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that agents are using “a variety of different methodologies” in their efforts to capture Armstrong, which likely would have led to their knowledge of her wellbeing.
“They’re obviously looking at everybody, especially their trusted circle of friends is important,” DePaul said when reached by phone. “Who’s who in the zoo, we like to say. Maybe there is somebody cooperating that is passing on the appropriate intel to the investigator.”
DePaul retired from the USMS in 2013 and is not involved in the ongoing manhunt.
Wanted poster for alleged murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong
(US Marshal Service)
When asked about the spokesperson’s comment that Armstrong was “still alive,” DePaul responded: “To make a statement like [that] … Well, obviously, they know some things.”
FUGITIVE KAITLIN ARMSTRONG: TIMELINE OF AUSTIN MURDER SUSPECT’S DISAPPEARANCE
He later added: “Maybe they picked up on something, maybe intercepted something. And, you know, whether it’s communication or a conversation or somebody did see her, you know, maybe her sister in upstate New York is cooperating.”
“They’re connecting those dots,” he said. “They’re looking at a variety of things – that digital footprint’s important, is she using a different name? Did she get out of the country somehow? Is she bedded down?”
A LinkedIn account that appears to be connected to Armstrong lists her as being a “partner” at a studio in Bali, Indonesia, since February 2017, though it’s unclear when the page was last updated.
If Armstrong had opted to travel out of the country, DePaul said, she’d likely be unknowingly leaving traces.
“If she was able to get out of the country – and that’s a big if,” he went on, “usually, you drop breadcrumbs as soon as you get to the airport.”
He added: “And the relationships that the U.S. Marshals Service has, not only with our international branch, but, with all other countries that we have extradition treaties with, and folks that are on the ground, from the U.S. Marshals and other agencies around the globe … I know the appropriate lookouts are in place.”
Armstrong is accused of fatally shooting Wilson, 25, multiple times inside her friend’s home where she was staying ahead of an upcoming race. At the time of her murder, Wilson had recently returned from spending the afternoon and evening with Colin Strickland, a fellow cyclist who was in a long-term relationship with Armstrong.
Investigators have said evidence indicates Armstrong followed the pair for at least a portion of their outing. Home surveillance footage from a neighboring residence shows Armstrong’s black Jeep Grand Cherokee – which she later sold – driving past the home just moments after Strickland had left.
And Armstrong had “made prior statements expressing a desire to kill Wilson,” authorities have said.
Investigators executed a search warrant at Armstrong’s home, which she shared with Strickland, and ultimately confirmed that one of the guns found in Armstrong’s home was the murder weapon – a Sig-Sauer P365 9mm, APD Homicide Det. Richard Spitler said.
Armstrong was previously wanted on a misdemeanor warrant for skipping out on a $650 Botox bill, records show. Police initially took her into custody shortly after the murder and interviewed her, but mistakenly let her go because of a data entry error, Spitler said.
On May 14, three days before she became wanted for murder, Armstrong traveled from Austin International Bergstrom Airport to New York’s LaGuardia Airport. She allegedly boarded Flight #WN2262 from AIBA to Houston Hobby Airport at 12:30 p.m. local time, and then took a connecting flight via Southwest Airlines Flight #WN30 to New York.
Investigators later revealed that Armstrong “was dropped off at the Newark Liberty International Airport May 18, a day after Austin police obtained a warrant for her arrest.” But her name was not linked to any of the outbound flights from Newark airport at the time, Marshals said.
Left: victim Moriah “Mo” Wilson after a race. Right: A photo of suspect Kaitlin Armstrong released by the US Marshals.
(The Wilson Family/US Marshals)
And earlier this month, Fox News Digital spoke with a camper at a secluded, sweeping property known as “Camp Haven” or “Haven for Humanity” in Livingston Manor, New York. The camper confirmed not only that Armstrong’s sister, Christine, lived there, but also that agents with the Marshals Service had been there to speak with the sister.
The Livingston Manor address appeared on property records in connection with Christine Armstrong, 31, on May 17, a source told Fox News Digital. The campsite is about a 2-hour, 20-minute drive from Newark Liberty International Airport and is roughly the same distance from LaGuardia Airport.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Authorities have described Armstrong as being 5-foot-8 inches tall and 125 pounds with reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call the U.S. Marshal Service at 1-800-336-0102.
