Maryland police confirm body found on trail is missing mom-of-five Rachel Morin

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Louise Thomas

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The identity of a body found on a Maryland hiking trail on Sunday has been confirmed as mother-of-five Rachel Morin.

A spokesperson for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office told The Independent that the medical examiner’s office had identified the 37-year-old’s body on Monday.

The spokesperson could not provide a cause of death, what injuries she suffered, or whether any suspects have been identified.

Morin was reported missing after she failed to return from a hike on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore, on Saturday night.

Her body was found by a member of the public along the 6.25m (10km) trail just after 1pm on Sunday.

On Sunday night, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said the department had launched a homicide investigation and warned the public to be vigilant while hiking in the area.

Morin’s grieving sister Rebekah wrote on a GoFundMe page that her death was not accidental, and she “did not go willingly”.

Morin was reported missing by her boyfriend Richard Tobin at around 11pm on Saturday night.

He later expressed his innocence of any part in her death.

“I love Rachel, I would never do anything to her, let the family and I grieve,” Mr Tobin wrote.

“Yes I have a past but I also have 15 months clean and have changed as a person. Please.”

Mr Tobin, 27, has not been named as a suspect or been implicated in any way in his girlfriend’s death by law enforcement.

Mr Tobin has two arrests for second-degree assault, and separate arrests for violating restraining orders, malicious destruction of property and drug possession dating back to 2014, court records show.

He has also faced charges of being a fugitive from justice, resisting arrest and disorderly intoxication, according to Maryland judiciary case search records.

Mr Tobin and Ms Morin confirmed they were in a relationship in a Facebook post on 1 August, five days before she was reported missing.

Sheriff Gahler on Sunday urged the public to report any information directly to them, no matter how insignificant it might seem.

He asked anyone hiking trails in the area to carry a whistle alert device, pay attention to their surroundings, and notify family and friends of their plans.