Podbit · Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder
After weeks of failed searches, US Marshals posted a bogus yoga instructor job ad on a Santa Teresa community Facebook group. Armstrong took the bait under the alias Ari Martin, suggested meeting at the hostel where she'd been staying, and was identified by Deputy Marshal Perez who leaned in close — her new nose was bandaged, but her eyes hadn't changed.
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At 1:02:55 · chapter starts 54:40
On May 13th, the day after police let her walk, Armstrong drove her Jeep to a South Austin CarMax and sold it for $12,200 cash — well below its $30,000+ market value. She flew to New York, connected with her sister Christine at a campground upstate, and then stole Christine's passport before boarding United Airlines flight 1222 from Newark to San José, Costa Rica on May 18th — what would have been Moriah Wilson's 26th birthday [1] — Host "Armstrong flew to Costa Rica on her sister's stolen passport, dyed her hair, cycled through three aliases, then paid $6,360 for a rhinoplas…" 57:30 . In Costa Rica, she moved from San José to Jacó to Santa Teresa, a Pacific Coast surf village where drifters blended easily into the scenery. She checked into Don John's Lodge, ran reception, taught yoga classes, and cycled through three aliases — Beth Martin, Liz Martin, and Ari Martin. Then she disappeared for days and returned with a bandaged nose and swollen lips: she had paid $6,360 for a rhinoplasty, lip fillers, and a brow lift in San José under the name Allison Page. She even grew uncomfortable when her surgeon tried to take a pre-surgery photo.
Armstrong sold her black Jeep Grand Cherokee — the vehicle seen on surveillance near the crime scene — to CarMax for $12,200, a fraction of its $30,000+ market value, taking cash to flee.
Kaitlyn Armstrong had access to $450,000 of Colin Strickland's investment capital she managed for him, and she never returned it when she fled.
Armstrong flew to Costa Rica on her sister's stolen passport, dyed her hair, cycled through three aliases, then paid $6,360 for a rhinoplasty and lip fillers to change her face. US Marshals eventually found her using a fake yoga instructor job posting on a Facebook community group.
While hiding in Costa Rica, Armstrong paid $6,360 for cosmetic procedures including a rhinoplasty, lip fillers, and a brow lift under the alias Allison Page to alter her appearance.
Kaitlyn Armstrong was detained in Costa Rica on June 29, 2022 — 43 days after the murder of Mo Wilson — after US Marshals used a fake yoga-instructor job ad to lure her out.
A man used ChatGPT as a de facto lawyer, sharing self-incriminating details in his chats. When the transcripts were subpoenaed, the judge ruled no attorney-client privilege applied and admitted the chats as evidence against him. AI first passes are useful — treating AI as your counsel is dangerous.
CIA operative Edwin Wilson armed Muammar Gaddafi with 10,000 machine guns and 20 tons of C4 hidden in barrels of mud and flew them to Libya himself. He was sentenced to 52 years and served 12 in solitary. He was also a founder of the same arms network Oliver North contracted for the Contras.
Kim Dotcom's legal nightmare had nothing to do with copyright infringement. He donated to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange — and the US government charged him under RICO statutes, seeking 186 years in prison as payback.
More than a decade after his indictment, the US is still trying to extradite Kim Dotcom from New Zealand — even after he suffered a stroke. He cannot be convinced the authorities are on his side; only the legal process, run by his lawyers, keeps him free.
The illegal wildlife trade and the drug trade aren't just parallel industries — they actively overlap. Smugglers force-fed cocaine to boa constrictors to evade customs, packed drugs beneath layers of live animals in crates with spitting cobras on top, and exploited the chronic under-resourcing of US Fish and Wildlife inspection teams.
Mario Tabraue was sentenced to over 100 years in prison for murder and drug trafficking. He served 12. Nobody — not even the DEA agent who put him there — knows why he got out. That agent, Larry Lovelace, now lives in rural West Virginia with a gun within reach every night, still expecting retaliation.
Anson Wong from Malaysia was the Pablo Escobar of the global reptile trade, supplying rare animals — including Komodo dragons — to buyers across the world. He was caught in a sting, extradited to the US, and served the longest wildlife crime sentence at the time. The animals seized from him went on to stock some of America's biggest zoos.
Zelig Williams landed a role in Hamilton at just 19 while still in college — a rare achievement in a world where most Broadway dreams die young. By 28 he was a veteran ready to mentor the next generation, until he disappeared without a trace on October 3, 2024.
Season 5 of Dateline: Missing in America brings six new unsolved mysteries. The show is explicitly asking listeners to engage — because a detail someone remembers might be the break investigators need.
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