Search for Texas woman wanted in murder of cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson leads to Jersey airport

A Texas woman wanted in the murder of elite cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson was dropped off at a New Jersey airport one day after Austin police obtained an arrest warrant, officials said.

Authorities have been searching for Kaitlin Marie Armstrong since May 17. She is accused of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Wilson at an Austin home on May 11.

The U.S. Marshals Service said Armstrong, 34, was dropped off at Newark Liberty International Airport on May 18.

"A search of outbound flights at the Newark airport revealed no reservations had been made under the name Kaitlin Marie Armstrong," marshals said in a news release, without providing further details.

Armstrong's case has been upgraded to "major case status," and a reward of up to $5,000 has been offered for information that leads to her arrest, the news release says. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Wilson, 25, of Vermont, was in Austin for a race, marshals said. Police were called to a home on Maple Avenue and found Wilson bleeding and unconscious from multiple gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the home.

Austin police requested assistance from the marshals’ Lone Star Fugitive Task Force to find and arrest Armstrong. Investigators learned that Armstrong was at Austin–Bergstrom International Airport on May 14, days after the killing.

She boarded a flight to Houston and then caught a connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, marshals said. On May 25, authorities obtained another arrest warrant for Armstrong for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

A wanted poster says Armstrong should be considered armed and dangerous.

"Kaitlin Armstrong is accused of a very serious crime that she needs to answer for," Susan Pamerleau, the U.S. marshal for Western Texas, said in a statement. "The best thing she can do at this point, wherever she is, is surrender to authorities, so she can return safely to Austin and answer the charges against her. She needs to know the Marshals are not going to stop looking for her."

According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin, Armstrong was in a relationship with another professional cyclist, Colin Strickland. During a break in the relationship with Armstrong, Strickland began a relationship with Wilson, the affidavit says.

Police have said that on the night of the shooting, a female friend of Wilson's returned to the home and found Wilson shot.

Strickland has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He has told the Austin-American Statesman newspaper that he and Wilson had what the paper described as a brief "fling" in October, when he and Armstrong were not a couple. He went on to say that his relationship with Wilson had become platonic and professional and that he considered her to be a great friend.