Moriah “Mo” Wilson was a rising gravel bike racer from Vermont, known for her drive, talent and sunny personality. A week before her 26th birthday she arrived in Austin, Texas, to race Gravel Locos and stayed with a friend. On May 10, 2022, Mo was out with another professional rider, Colin Strickland. He drove her home on the back of his motorcycle that evening; within an hour she was found shot multiple times in the apartment, a grisly scene that stunned the cycling community.
Investigators initially considered robbery because Mo’s expensive race bike was found discarded in nearby bushes. But there was no sign of forced entry. Police canvassing the area obtained video from a neighbor’s doorbell camera showing a black SUV with a bike rack in front of the apartment shortly after Mo was dropped off. When detectives checked, the SUV’s plate traced to Kaitlin Armstrong, Strickland’s girlfriend. Strickland later told police he had briefly dated Mo but was back with Armstrong; he described Armstrong as jealous. He also admitted to texting Armstrong a lie the night of the murder, saying his phone had died, and said he kept Mo’s number under an alias.
Armstrong’s phone was not connected to a cell network around the time of the killing, a silence investigators found suspicious. Officers also learned Strickland had bought handguns for him and Armstrong. Detectives picked up Armstrong on an old warrant for an unpaid cosmetic treatment but had to release her because the warrant’s birth date didn’t match hers. A friend later told police Armstrong had been furious enough about Strickland’s involvement with Mo to say she wanted to kill her. Two days later, an arrest warrant issued in the homicide case; by then, Armstrong had vanished.
U.S. Marshals took over a fugitive search that would become international. The Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and U.S. Marshals began chasing leads across the U.S., at times suspecting Armstrong was heading to her sister’s home in New York. Investigators discovered travel records showing a one-way flight from Newark to Costa Rica under the name Christie Armstrong—Armstrong’s sister—suggesting Kaitlin may have used that passport without permission. (Christie has denied giving her passport and was not charged.)
Armstrong slipped into Costa Rica by land and sea, according to marshals, moving among hostels under different names and appearances. She changed her hair and tried to remain anonymous. When marshals in Costa Rica found a businessman who recognized her — but said she didn’t look like the shared photo and used a new name — the trail led to the beach town of Santa Teresa on the Nicoya Peninsula. The area was full of travelers and yoga instructors; Armstrong had said she intended to become a yoga teacher, a cover that fit her behavior there.
Deputy U.S. Marshals Emir Perez and Damien Fernandez worked with Costa Rican authorities and local police to analyze surveillance and follow leads. In one town, marshals posted a local Facebook ad seeking a yoga instructor to bait whoever might respond. After almost a week of searching, a woman answered the ad and arranged to meet deputies at a hostel. Perez approached alone, posing as a tourist. He said the woman looked like the photo but not entirely; she had changed her hair and appearance. When she reached for her phone, Perez saw a bandage on her nose and swollen lips — signs of recent cosmetic surgery — and recognized her eyes as Kaitlin’s. Local police arrested Armstrong. Later, agents found a receipt for plastic surgery at a nearby clinic. Armstrong was taken back to Texas and charged with Mo’s murder.
During pretrial detention, Armstrong briefly escaped custody while at a medical appointment but was quickly recaptured and returned to custody. Her trial began November 1, 2023. Prosecutors told jurors Armstrong had tracked Mo’s rides using the Strava fitness app, enabling her to follow or intercept her. They also presented DNA evidence: Armstrong’s DNA was found on the handlebars of Moriah’s abandoned bike. Prosecutors argued jealousy and fixation as motives, painting a picture of Armstrong following and targeting Mo after learning of Strickland’s time with her.
The defense sought to cast doubt and pointed fingers at Colin Strickland, arguing he was a more plausible suspect. Prosecutors countered, calling the defense theory false and presenting alibi and electronic evidence they said cleared Strickland. After two weeks of testimony and deliberation, the jury found Armstrong guilty of murder. She was convicted and, in the sentencing that followed, given a 90-year prison term.
The case drew attention because of its intersection with cycling culture, dating dynamics, and modern technology. Strava and other tracking apps have long been valued by athletes for training and safety, but prosecutors argued such tools could be used by someone to hunt a target. Law enforcement officials described the hunt for Armstrong as a complex, cross-border effort that required traditional detective work, local tips, social-media sleuthing, surveillance and cooperative arrests with foreign authorities.
In Vermont, where Moriah grew up, friends and community members mourned and remembered her potential and generosity. A trail was named in her memory: “Moriah’s Ascent” at Kingdom Trails in northern Vermont, honoring her love of cycling and the legacy she left behind.
The investigation and international manhunt illustrated how fugitives can disappear quickly but also how persistent, collaborative law enforcement work and careful analysis of digital traces — from phone networks to travel manifests and social postings — help bring suspects to justice. The trial’s outcome brought a measure of closure for Moriah Wilson’s family and the cycling community, while raising difficult questions about privacy, tracking technology and intimate violence.
