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Plastic surgery helped murder suspect Kaitlin Armstrong stay on the run

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Before Kaitlin Armstrong was found guilty of killing professional gravel cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson, she was on the run in Costa Rica from the murder charge.

A few days after Wilson was murdered on May 11, 2022, a warrant was issued for Armstrong. She had become a suspect because her Jeep was seen on security cameras shortly before Wilson was murdered. She had also been described as being angry over a past relationship her boyfriend Colin Strickland had with Wilson. But when investigators went to look for her, she was nowhere to be found. The Lone Star Fugitive Task Force got the job of tracking her down. They suspected Armstrong had flown to Costa Rica on May 18, 2022. There, she tried to hide her identity by using other names —  Beth and Ari — and she cut and dyed her hair.

Two Deputy U.S. Marshals, part of the task force, headed to Costa Rica to find her. “48 Hours” contributor Jonathan Vigliotti has the first interview with members of the task force in “Capturing Moriah Wilson’s Killer,” airing Saturday, Jan. 27 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount +.

Lone Star Fugitive Task Force
“48 Hours” contributor Jonathan Vigliotti, center, with members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. From left, Deputy U.S. Marshal Emir Perez, Deputy U.S.Marshal Damien Fernandez, Vigliotti, Austin Police Officer Jonathan Riley and Austin Police Officer Marc McLeod.

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Deputy Marshals Emir Perez and Damien Fernandez landed in San José, Costa Rica, on June 20, 2022. They quickly moved to the beach town of Jacó, looking for Armstrong, but they did not find her. From there, a tip led them to Santa Teresa, another beach town popular among surfers and yoga enthusiasts.

The Marshals made it to Santa Teresa at night on June 22, 2022, and they quickly found that Armstrong was likely blending in. “I think from the get-go we were told … you’re gonna be in for a surprise ’cause a lot of the women in Santa Teresa look just like Kaitlin — a lot of them,” said Fernandez.

Perez and Fernandez knew that Armstrong was into yoga, so they sent a female operative to a few classes to see if they could spot her. “She actually did, three different classes for us,” said Perez. And they tapped into local contacts who reported various possible sightings of Armstrong. But nothing panned out.

The Marshals later discovered why they initially failed to find her in Santa Teresa. Those first few days they were searching for Armstrong, she was not there. Armstrong had gone to San José where she got plastic surgery. The Marshals and Armstrong had just missed each other.

“I mean, talk about odds. …the whole time that we’re in Santa Teresa, she’s not there,” said  Perez.

Kaitlin Armstrong before and after plastic surgery.
Kaitlin Armstrong before,left, and after her plastic surgery.

U.S. Marshals/Harris County Sheriff’s Office


The Deputy Marshals did not give up and came up with another plan to track her down that finally worked. Armstrong was caught and arrested on June 29. A receipt for cosmetic surgery was discovered at the hostel where she was found. Perez said she had a bandage on her nose when he found her, but it was her eyes that gave her away.



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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say

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The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.

Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.

A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.

Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego. 

According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.

CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge. 

Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.

Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.

“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”

On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.  

Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.

No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.

Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.

The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.

An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.” 

West’s exact position with the school was unclear.   



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