Maryland sheriff’s ‘gut’ says Rachel Morin was ‘stalked’ by suspect before her murder

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Rachel Morin murder suspect linked to Los Angeles home invasion, assault on young girl

Maryland officials on Thursday said DNA collected from the scene where Rachel Morin was murdered has been linked to DNA from a Los Angeles assault and home invasion that happened in March.

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Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler on Monday said his “gut” tells him the suspect in Rachel Morin’s August murder “stalked” the mother of five before brutally killing her.

Morin, 37, was running along the Ma & Pa Trail, a pedestrian trail in Bel Air, a quiet and typically safe town about 28 miles northeast of Baltimore, Aug. 5, 2023, when she vanished. Authorities found her body the next day in what Gahler previously described as a “horrific” criminal homicide.

“I’ve been doing police work for 40 years. … My gut tells me she was stalked, but until we catch this person … it could’ve just been a crime of opportunity,” Gahler said in a Monday episode of his podcast, “Into the Sheriff’s Spotlight.” “He could’ve laid in wait on that trail for Rachel or whichever female decided to come down that trail when there were no other people in sight.”

Capt. Andy Lane, who appeared as a guest in the episode, said the Ma & Pa Trail is “well used” during the time of day when Morin typically went on her runs.

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Rachel Morin was found dead Aug. 6, 2023, a day after she vanished from a pedestrian trail in Bel Air, Maryland.   (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)

“In fact, we’ve spoken to a number of witnesses who not only saw Rachel that day, but they saw Rachel almost every day at the same time on the trail, walking and running and exercising in the same area,” Lane said. He added that the suspect “obviously took the time to be familiar with the area” and was “most likely or potentially familiar with Rachel,” who regularly used the trail for exercise.

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A photo of Rachel Morin was posted to a tree by her family along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Md., Aug. 10, 2023. The 37-year-old was found murdered there Aug. 6, 2023. (Mega for Fox News Digital)

Lane noted, however, that the sheriff’s office does not have information at this time to definitively say Morin was “targeted.” There is evidence to suggest that the suspect chose a specific hiding location to target a victim, he said.

“I believe in my heart someone picked her — specifically her.”

— Sherrif Jeff Gahler

“But until we have him in custody, and we can say that 100%, it could have been likely he just picked a location and Rachel was the unfortunate person who was there at that time,” Gahler said.

The sheriff’s office released a new sketch Monday of the suspect, described as a Hispanic male based on witness accounts and video footage of the suspect from a March 2023 incident in Los Angeles described as a home invasion.

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland released two new sketches of a suspect in the murder of 37-year-old Rachel Morin, whose body was found in a wooded area near a trail Aug. 6, 2023. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)

Just 11 days after authorities found Morin’s body, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office announced a link between evidence found at the scene of Morin’s murder to evidence found at the scene of the LA home invasion using the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), leading them to a single DNA match for an unidentified Hispanic male.

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The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) collected a hat left behind at the scene of the March 2023 home invasion that turned violent, leaving multiple people, including minor children, injured. 

Suspect in Rachel Morin’s murder. Police described him as Hispanic, 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds. (Harford County Sheriff)

The suspect allegedly broke into the home in the middle of the night and assaulted the family inside before he was chased out. Surveillance video footage captured the man leaving, shirtless, through the front door.

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“There is no DNA database that would allow me to plug [DNA evidence] in there and just give me a name,” Lane explained in the podcast. “If you haven’t been arrested and committed one of these crimes and been to prison, then your name is not in a database. There is no massive database with everyone’s DNA. But it does allow us to link these two crimes.”

A photo of Rachel Morin was posted to a tree by her family along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Md., Aug. 10, 2023. The 37-year-old was found murdered Aug. 6, 2024. (Mega for Fox News Digital)

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office does not know what brought the suspect from LA to the area of Bel Air, Maryland, but they do know he was in Bel Air prior to Morin’s murder. And they are asking members of the public who may have seen or communicated with the suspect during the summer of 2023 to come forward. Authorities believe he still poses a threat to the public.

“From March until August, he certainly escalated in violence.”

— Sheriff Jeff Gahler

The sheriff also addressed the matter of the suspect’s citizenship, or lack thereof, noting that the recent influx of illegal border crossings has become a serious concern for the public.

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Rachel Morin was found dead after saying she was taking a walk on a Maryland trail.  (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)

“We don’t know” if the suspect is in the United States illegally, Gahler said in the podcast episode.

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“We don’t want to rule that out,” the sheriff said, but he added that the suspect could also be a legal resident of any state from California to Maryland. There is no way to know without an identity. 

Lane said a suspect who is an illegal immigrant would add “another layer of complication” to the investigation.

Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.