The U.S. Marshals Service is leading a nationwide search for a suspect accused of killing a professional cyclist after police say the victim met with the suspect's boyfriend on the night she was killed.
Kaitlin Armstrong, 35, has been accused of fatally shooting professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson, 25, on May 11 at a home in Austin, Texas.
Armstrong was initially in police custody on an unrelated warrant just days after the crime. However, police told her she was free to go when the warrant was deemed invalid, and she hasn't been seen since.
Police said they found Wilson's body on May 11 with multiple gunshot wounds. Authorities said in an affidavit obtained by NBC affiliate KXAN that Wilson had met with Armstrong's boyfriend, fellow professional cyclist Colin Strickland, on the night she was killed.
Wilson, known as “Mo,” was a rising talent in the sport of gravel cycling, a combination of mountain and road biking.
The affidavit said Strickland and Wilson went swimming and had dinner on May 11 before Strickland dropped Wilson off at the home where she was later found dead.
Strickland told police he was in a relationship with Armstrong for three years, but dated Wilson during a break in their relationship, according to the affidavit.
Detectives said that one minute after Wilson arrived at the Austin home, security footage shows an SUV belonging to Armstrong appearing to pull up outside.
Officers said they confronted Armstrong with the security footage when she was in custody, but that she provided no explanation and "continued to remain very still and guarded." Armstrong was then later released.
Investigators said an anonymous tipster found to be credible told them Armstrong discovered that Strickland was having a romantic relationship with Wilson and "became furious and was shaking with anger" and "wanted to kill (her)," according to the affidavit obtained by KXAN.
Wilson's family said in a statement that "at the time of her death, she was not in a romantic relationship with anyone."
Police said they do not consider Strickland a suspect because security footage and other evidence shows him to have been elsewhere at the time of Wilson's murder. Authorities said he has been cooperating with investigators.