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The family of Rachel Morin, the mother of five murdered on a Maryland running trail last summer, hopes that two new sketches of the suspect will lead to the arrest of her killer.
“I can’t live with pain for the rest of my life. I just can’t do that,” said Patty Morin, Rachel Morin’s mother, in a statement. We are praying this sketch will help catch the killer and help us to move forward. We need to find this guy. I’m so weary of crying.”
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office released two sketches of the man who attacked Rachel Morin on Aug. 6, 2023. In one sketch, he wears an “Air Jordan” baseball hat. In the other, he is not wearing a hat.
Composite sketch of suspect in Rachel Morin’s murder (Source: Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
Morin had gone running on the Ma&Pa Trail in Bel Air and never returned home. Her boyfriend reported her missing later that evening. Morin’s body was found the next day, which led to a nationwide search for her killer.
The composite sketches are the most significant lead in the investigation in months. Last August, Harford County detectives released a video of a man leaving a home in Los Angeles in March 2023. At the time, they said the man had committed an assault at the home and DNA from the assault matched DNA at the scene of Morin’s murder.
The DNA profile was not in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), an FBI database of known felons. And the video the sheriff’s office released only showed a side profile of the man leaving the home in LA. He has not been identified.
Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler told Crime Fix that several people weighed in on the sketch on both coasts.
“It’s been shown to both the people here and the people in Los Angeles and they feel that it’s a good representation and accurate representation of our suspect,” Gahler said.
Composite sketch of suspect in Rachel Morin’s murder (Source: Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
Gahler said more than one person saw the man in the house in LA in March 2023. Gahler also said it’s possible the murderer may have been in Bel Air for a period of time working before the murder. That would have given him time to scope out the trail as a place to prey on an unsuspecting jogger.
The Air Jordan hat in the sketch is also significant. Gahler said Morin’s murderer left the hat at the home in LA. Police recovered DNA from the hat that would later provide a match to the DNA found at the crime scene where Morin was murdered- linking the two crimes.
“We’re incredibly excited. The family is very hopeful,” said Randolph Rice, an attorney for Morin’s family, following the release of the sketch.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office has also produced a podcast about Rachel Morin’s case to reach a different audience that might not watch a traditional newscast.
The reward for information leading to an arrest in Morin’s case has been increased to $35,000. Anyone with information about Morin’s murder can call 410.836.7788 or email [email protected].
