Rachel Morin update: Family of slain Bel Air mother issue fresh plea for leads as profiler gets involved
DNA found at the scene of Morin’s murder matches the DNA left at a home where an unknown man broke into a home in Los Angeles and violently attacked a young girl back in March
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Rachel Morin’s family are pleading for information that leads to an arrest more than a month after her body was found on the Ma & Pa Trail after she failed to return home from an evening hike.
Authorities in Harford County, Maryland, continue to hunt for Morin’s killer amid fears that the suspect could strike again.
Police previously released footage from the scene of a home invasion and assault in Los Angeles, where DNA found matched DNA at the Morin crime scene.
But despite the developments, investigators have yet to make any arrests in the case.
Morin’s brother Michael Morin told NewsNation on Wednesday that his family was hopeful somebody would provide the key piece of information needed to bring the suspect to justice.
“We only need one lead. We need a last name, we already have DNA and video,” Mr Morin said.
Last week, Morin’s sister Rebekah Morin shared a behavioural profile built by a volunteer criminal profiler.
It suggested that the killer has psychopathic traits and may have travelled to Bel Air because he knew someone in the tight-knit community.
Harford Sheriff’s Office has asked for help from the public in identifying the suspect
Recap: who was Rachel Morin?
Rachel Morin, 37 was one of five siblings. She was originally from Dover, New Hampshire, and was a long-term resident of Bel Air, Maryland. She was a mother to five children.
On social media, Rachel Morin posted touching photos with her children, selfies at the gym and spending time with friends.
“Rachel was so unabashedly herself: witty and genuine, brilliant, daring, and headstrong. Her spirit would light up the room and her smile was contagious,” Morin’s best friend Claudia Brown wrote in a Facebook post after her death. “Her faith was so strong,” she added.
Ms Brown wrote that Ms Morin had been divorced, and was a “fierce protector of her children and loved them with all of her heart”.
Ms Morin had worked as a model, and appeared on the cover of Owl Magazine, Harford Community College’s student publication, where her brother John Morin worked as a technical director.
Her new boyfriend, Richard Tobin, described her as the “sweetest , kindest , and a very special women” on Facebook. According to the social media platform, the couple became official on 1 August.
The LA case that links the suspect to Rachel Morin’s death
According to the a Baltimore Banner reporter, the Los Angeles Police Department said the suspect was involved in a 26 March 26 break-in and assault of a young child in South Los Angeles; the assault was not of a sexual nature, but investigators don’t want to disclose “any more details about what occurred in the house at this time.”
What locals are saying
A Harford County resident told WBAL-TV11:“It’s mind blowing. It’s so close to home. I lived in the city for a long time, so I’m used to watching my surroundings and whatnot. But up here, you’re walking the trail. That’s the last thing on your mind.”
Police previously told locals to stay vigilant in the wake of Morin’s death.
“In the light of this new evidence, I urge our citizens to use caution while walking on our trials and through our community,” police said on Thursday. “Be alert. Walk with a friend. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by your cell phone or headphones.”
Locals have been posting tributes to the late mother-of-five
Rachel Morin’s best friend, Claudia Brown, has been documenting the tributes to the 37-year-old, which have been posted along the Ma and Pa trail.
What police have said regarding the Rachel Morin case
After relatively few updates in the case, on 16 August, Harford County investigators had a break in the case. Police said they found DNA at the crime scene, which corresponds with a sample taken from a March crime scene in Los Angeles where a man invaded a home and assaulted a young girl.
However, police said they “don’t have a clue” where the suspect is currently.
The suspect remains unnamed, but has been described by police as a Hispanic male aged 20-30, 5ft 9in tall, weighing 160 pounds with a “muscular build.” They say it’s unlikely the suspect knew Morin, calling the killing a “potentially a random act of violence.”
They added that they believe he has “ties to the Los Angeles area and may have been involved in violent crimes in other states.” Police have released footage of the suspect, and are asking people to send in tips if they know anything that can identify the suspect.
Read more:
Rebekah Morin reposted slowed footage of suspect on Facebook
Watch the original footage provided by police, who said there was a DNA match between genetic material found at Morin’s crime scene and a suspect involved in a home break-in and assault of a child in LA in March.
Rachel Morin’s family echoes police, saying they think her death was caused by “ a random act of violence”
A lawyer for her family spoke to a WJZ reporter about their thoughts following the break in the case on Thursday evening.
GoFundMe surpasses $48,000
The GoFundMe for Rachel Morin, started by her sister Rebekah Morin, has surpassed $48,000, with a goal of $65,000.
Donations are flowing in by the hour—from people who say they want to give money to help support her surviving five children as well as from others who say they have been following the tragedy from afar.
“This was not an accidentally death, and she did not go willingly and she deserves a funeral worthy of her her beauty. If there are any remaining funds they will go towards things her 5 children may need. Please share, donate, comment and keep this going,” her sister wrote in the page’s description.
“Trail of Light & Flowers”
Family of Rachel Morin are planning a walk in memory of the mother-of-five.
Writing on Facebook, the family wrote “We are hoping to have a ‘Trail of Flowers and Light’ to line both sides of the trail for our walk on the Ma & Pa Trail,” asking people to bring flowers and battery powered candles “to lay on either side of the trail somewhere as we walk Rachel’s last steps.”
The family asked the public to assemble 19 August at 11 am at the William Street entrance; the walk will begin at 11.30am.
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