By Hannah Sarisohn and Dakin Andone, CNN

(CNN) – Authorities are looking for a Texas woman they charge with murder in the death of an elite cyclist who at one point dated her boyfriend.

The US Marshals Service is conducting a fugitive investigation into the fate of 34-year-old Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, who is wanted for first-degree murder in connection with the May 11 shooting of 25-year-old Anna Moriah Wilson.

Anyone with information about Armstrong’s whereabouts is urged to contact authorities, the Marshals Service said in a news release Friday.

Wilson was staying with a friend in Austin, Texas, before a bike race in Hico when she was shot multiple times, according to an affidavit of arrest filed in Travis County District Court.

The affidavit describes how the victim and suspect had recently been romantically involved with the same man – professional cyclist Colin Strickland – and detailed text messages and interviews with tipsters suggesting jealousy could be a potential motive.

On the day of the murder, Wilson told her friend she was going for an afternoon swim with Strickland, according to the affidavit – a detail Strickland confirmed in a police interview. They then had dinner together, Strickland said, before dropping Wilson off at her friend’s house. He didn’t go inside.

Austin police responded to the home later that evening, shortly before 10 p.m. local time, to find Wilson’s friend performing CPR on him, according to the affidavit. Wilson appears to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and officers saw “several bullet casings fired on the ground” nearby, although no firearms were seen. Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Austin Police Department said in a May 14 news release that “the shooting does not appear to be a random act.”

Authorities have since identified Armstrong, with whom Strickland lived in Austin, as the prime suspect in Wilson’s death. The affidavit of his arrest points in part to video surveillance obtained by investigators that shows a vehicle similar to Armstrong’s near Wilson’s friend’s home shortly before his body was discovered.

According to the affidavit, ballistic evidence found at the murder scene was compared to bullets fired from a firearm recently purchased by Strickland for Armstrong. Based on the results, “the possibility of the same firearm being involved is significant,” the document says.

“We are absolutely devastated by the loss of our beautiful daughter and sister, Anna Moriah Wilson,” Wilson’s family said in a statement to CNN, describing her as a talented and caring individual who wanted to empower people to find joy through sport. “There are no words that can express the pain and suffering we are experiencing because of this tragic and senseless loss.”

Wilson’s family said they would not provide details of the investigation, which is still ongoing, according to the statement. But “we think it’s important to clarify that at the time of her death, her loved ones clearly understood, directly from Moriah, that she was not in a romantic relationship with anyone.”

The suspect’s vehicle was seen in footage near the scene, an affidavit says

Wilson, who went by the name “Mo”, was an alpine skier at Dartmouth College but transitioned into pursuing her dreams as a bike racer after graduating, according to her obituary. Outside of sports, she enjoyed “cooking, writing and traveling”, he says, adding, “she particularly enjoyed Italy, taco Tuesdays, maple creams and playing Catan with her friends”.

At the time of his death, Wilson was only days away from competing in the Gravel Locos bike race. On May 15, the day after the race, an event organizer remembered her on Facebook as a “role model, a shy and compassionate person, a feisty tactical runner and a competitor who really cared.” those who clashed”.

She “inspired many, lived to the full and loved fiercely,” said a GoFundMe fundraiser hosted by Wilson’s family.

Strickland considered Wilson one of the best cyclists in the world, he told police, and a VeloNews article published the day of her death called her “the most successful woman in the off-road scene. American”. Wilson won a series of races in California this spring, the article notes, before heading to Austin.

In a statement to the American Statesman of Austin, Strickland said he had a “brief relationship” with Wilson from late October to early November 2021, at a time when she was visiting Austin.

“At the time, she and I both had recently ended relationships,” his statement said.

Strickland and Armstrong later reconciled and resumed their relationship, he told the newspaper, and his relationship with Wilson became “platonic and professional.”

“There is no way to adequately express the regret and torture I feel over my closeness to this horrific crime,” Strickland said, according to the newspaper. “I’m sorry, and I just can’t make sense of this unfathomable situation.”

Strickland told police he began his romantic relationship with Wilson during a two-week period when he was separated from Armstrong, according to the affidavit.

Her relationship with Wilson continued to some extent after she resumed her relationship with Armstrong, according to the affidavit, which also cites a tipster alleging Armstrong came to believe that Strickland and Wilson’s romantic relationship was ongoing. in January 2022. Strickland admitted to trying to hide his communications. with her of Armstrong by changing Wilson’s name in her phone and deleting text messages, the affidavit states.

Armstrong had contacted Wilson on several occasions and, in one instance, told him to “stay away” from Strickland, one of Wilson’s friends told investigators, according to the affidavit.

Several law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation obtained footage from security cameras that captured what appeared to be Armstrong’s car – a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a hitch-mounted bike rack from trailer – near the house before Wilson’s body was found, according to the affidavit.

Within 24 hours of Wilson’s death, agents from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force apprehended Armstrong on an unrelated arrest warrant and spoke to him. However, Austin police then said they learned Armstrong’s arrest warrant was invalid and told her she was free to go.

Armstrong asked to end the interview and left after detectives began confronting her about security camera video that placed her car near the crime scene, the affidavit says.

According to the affidavit, Strickland told police he had not had contact with Armstrong since May 13.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia company. All rights reserved.