Rachel Morin – latest: Bel Air mother-of-five’s killer remains at large as Maryland police step up patrols
Harford County Sheriff’s Office said investigators had been made aware of potential witnesses who may have seen Morin on the Ma & Pa trail
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More than a week after mother-of-five Rachel Morin was found dead on a popular trail in Maryland, authorities have yet to make any arrests in the investigation into her death.
Morin, 37, was last seen heading to the Ma & Pa Trail at around 6pm on 5 August. Her boyfriend reported her missing that night after she failed to return home and her body was found the following day.
On Thursday, Harford County Sheriff’s Office said investigators had been made aware of potential witnesses who may have seen Morin on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air on Saturday. The witnesses – either three men, two women and two dogs or two men, three women and two dogs – were urged to come forward.
Officials said that these individuals had been identified and were contacted by investigators.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told The Independent on Tuesday that the department had increased patrol on the Ma & Pa Trail area to reassure the community in the aftermath of Morin’s tragic death, but noted that there is no perceived threat at this time.
WATCH: Rachel Morin's boyfriend speaks out about her death
Rachel Morin’s boyfriend provided DNA sample, cellphone to police
Ms Morin’s boyfriend Richard Tobin reported him missing on Saturday after she failed to return home.
Responding to speculation in the case, Mr Tobin, 27, previously said on a Facebook post that he “would never do anything” to Morin.
A source close to Mr Tobin has since told The Baltimore Banner that he gave his cell phone and a DNA sample to police.
Authorities have not identified any suspects in the investigation.
On Thursday, Harford County Sheriff’s Office said investigators had been made aware of potential witnesses who may have seen Morin on the trail that night. The witnesses – either three men, two women and two dogs or two men, three women and two dogs – were urged to come forward.
Sheriff says his department has received ‘promising tips’ in Rachel Morin homicide case
Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler reiterated that the public should continue sending in tips even if the details may seem insignificant.
“That might be the key piece of evidence of information we are looking for,” the sheriff said.
“Some of your tips have been promising and tremendous in advancing the investigation and bringing us closer to getting the answers that we need, the answers that Rachel’s family needs, and the answers that our community needs.”
Rachel Morin’s family plans ‘trail of flowers and light’ walk to honour her life
Morin’s family invited members of the community to meet at 11 am on 19 August at the William Street entrance of the Ma and Pa trail.
Attendees will then begin walking to the end of the first half of the trail and back.
“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,” Morin’s sister Rebekah Morin wrote on Facebook. “If you are able to, we ask that you bring flowers and a battery operated candle to lay on either side of the trail somewhere as we walk Rachel’s last steps.”
Police department purchases ATV amid Rachel Morin investigation
Just a week after Morin’s homicide rocked the town of Bel Air in Maryland, the Harford County Sheriff’s Foundation has purchased a new Gator ATV in response to an “immediate police operational need,” Fox Digital News reports.
According to WBALTV, law enforcement has increased patrols along the Ma and Pa Trail in the aftermath of Morin’s homicide.
It is unclear if the new vehicle is being actively used in the Morin case. The Independent has reached out to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials said that three potential witnesses have been identified and were contacted by investigators.
Slain mother-of-five ‘loved her children above all,’ employers say
Rachel Morin’s boss Margaret Woltz told The New York Post that Morin “loved her children above all.”
“She raised them very well. She had a flexible work schedule that allowed her to make sure her kids were always taken care of. We were like grandparents to the kids and we trusted her implicitly,” Ms Woltz, 69, said.
Ms Woltz, who hired Morin’s cleaning services, also said that she seemed distracted during the week before her death.
Rachel Morin’s boyfriend says he ‘would never do anything to her’
The boyfriend of a Maryland mother-of-five has denied involvement in her death, after police launched a homicide probe into the death of a woman whose body was found on a popular hiking trail.
Rachel Morin, 37, disappeared after reportedly heading out for a hike on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Hartford County, at around 6pm on 5 August.
Her boyfriend Richard Tobin, 27, reported her missing at around 11pm that night after she failed to return, Hartford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told a press conference.
Authorities launched a missing person investigation and Ms Morin’s car was found at the Williams St entrance to the trail on the morning of 6 August.
A member of the public found a woman’s body near the trail at 1.07pm, and authorities launched a homicide investigation as they await formal confirmation of the deceased’s identity and cause of death from the medical examiner’s office.
On Sunday night, Mr Tobin took to social media to state his innocence while also making reference to his lengthy criminal rap sheet.
“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.”
Who was Rachel Morin?
Ms Morin was originally from Dover, New Hampshire, and was a long-term resident of Bel Air. She was one of five siblings.
Her sister Rebekah, herself a mother of seven children, revealed on a GoFundMe page that the family had been grieving the death of their niece Lily Beth to sudden infant death syndrome just a week earlier.
“It is with devastating sadness and a broken heart that our family has been hit with yet another heartbreak.
“My sister, Rachel Morin went missing on Saturday August 5 2023 around 6pm. In less then 24 hours her body was found by local law enforcement. It has only been a week since my niece Lily Beth passed away from SIDS, and I find that I have to make yet another gofundme to help my mother, Patty Morin with funeral costs.”
Rebekah confirmed that her sister did not have life insurance, and appealed for financial assistance to provide for her five surviving children.
In an update, Rebekah asked for anyone with information to notify law enforcement to “get justice for my sister, her children, her mother and all her siblings”.
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,” her best friend Claudia Brown wrote in a Facebook post after her death.
“Her faith was so strong,”
Rachel Morin’s family walks in remembrance of ‘the most beautiful, sweet and loving woman’
Rachel Morin’s family walked the Ma and Pa trail together in silent remembrance of the late mother-of-five, her sister Rebekah Morin wrote on Facebook last week.
“Along the way we placed pictures of her and us her siblings on the trees. I was thinking how beautiful would it be to have flowers along both sides of the trail in remembrance of her!” Ms Morin wrote. “If you would like to place flowers along the way, or take pics of what we put up, we would love to see, please post a picture and use the hashtag #RememberingRachelMorin to honor and remember the most beautiful, sweet and loving woman I have known”
Law enforcement urges the public to keep sending in tips
Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler reiterated that the public should continue sending in tips even if the details may seem insignificant.
“That might be the key piece of evidence of information we are looking for,” the sheriff said.
“Some of your tips have been promising and tremendous in advancing the investigation and bringing us closer to getting the answers that we need, the answers that Rachel’s family needs, and the answers that our community needs.”