After 43 days as a wanted fugitive, 34-year-old Kaitlin Marie Armstrong is in federal custody after her capture in Costa Rica this week.
Federal authorities arrested Armstrong on Wednesday at a hostel on Santa Teresa Beach in Provincia de Puntarenas, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service.
The operation to apprehend Armstrong involved members of the U.S. Marshals Office of International Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, along with Costa Rican authorities.
The statement notes that Armstrong will be deported and returned to the U.S., but makes no mention of when or how long that process might take.
Armstrong is accused of fatally shooting world-class gravel cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson last month in Austin. Authorities have since learned Wilson had previously dated Armstrong’s boyfriend.
Wilson, a former competitive skier from Vermont, was considered one of America’s top gravel and mountain cyclists. She had traveled to Austin from San Francisco to compete in Gravel Locos, a 150-mile race through Texas, which she was favored to win.
Wilson was found “bleeding and unconscious from multiple gunshot wounds” inside the ex-boyfriend’s apartment on May 11.
CPR was performed on her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after.
Armstrong was identified as a person of interest early on in the investigation. In fact, detectives spoke with her on May 12, after allegedly recovering surveillance footage showing her vehicle in the area around the time of the murder.
Armstrong’s boyfriend — professional cyclist Colin Strickland — told police he has not heard from her since May 13.
Investigators allege that on May 18, a day after authorities issued a warrant for her arrest, Armstrong used a fraudulent passport at Newark International Airport to board a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.
They believe she flew from Austin to Houston on May 14, where she caught a connecting flight to New York City.
In addition to the single homicide count, Armstrong has also been charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
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