Found Deceased MD - Rachel Morin, 37, left for walk on Ma & Pa Trail 6pm, car found at Williams St entrance, Bel Air, 5 Aug 2023

[Trocroc9]

Could be an ex from either side, the new guy or one of her formers. JMO

That’s what I’m thinking

 

[Trocroc9]

I don’t think this is random at all

That’s what I’m thinkin

 

[Snoopster]

I'm still trying to differentiate between fact and fiction in this case.

LE hasn't said much about where she was found and in what condition (other than it was an obvious homicide).

We had blabby guy "MG" who spoke up and made comments about her condition (implying a rock might have been used and her head was severely damaged; saying she was partially naked, etc.) and LE has not confirmed any of this.

I did notice that LE said that MG was not a witness to the scene and did not see the body. They did not say that his step-daughter didn't though. So I'm tending to believe that she did find the body. We don't know how much MG might have exaggerated though. We don't know that a rock was used even though people are talking as if it is fact.

So we don't know much. Certainly not enough to know if the perp was known to Rachel, was a stalker of Rachel or was just an opportunist.

 

[Knox]

If someone was assaulting her and she was on the ground, maybe she grabbed the rock and hit the perp first. That person could be injured and if they are I am betting they are out of the public eye and are acting very differently this past week until their wounds heal. Just my opinion/thinking out loud.

In that case they would have DNA, that would be great. In Eliza’s case the perp who grabbed her off the street lost his plastic slides. They were able to get DNA from the shoes (touch?) which helped identify him pretty quickly.

 

[Knox]

I don’t think this is random at all

I’m 50/50 at this point, regardless it wasn’t well planned.

 

[Diddian]

If the rock WAS used as a weapon, it could be that (apologies for being graphic) the perpetrator bashed the victim's head against a large rock on the ground, rather than that a rock was picked up by the perpetrator and used to hit the victim as some here have been speculating.

In that case, it could be that the rock would only have the victim's blood/DNA and not that of the perpetrator. (I hope not.)

 

[bonniejeanne17]

Somebody must have known this place very well.
Tunnels were perfect to hide in or hide the body.

JMO

Premeditated? Must be someone close.

 

[OldCop]

Not necessarily, although that's possible too. I just know that head wounds can bleed profusely and was wondering if anyone else thought the perp would have enough blood on him/her to create the trail. MOO

That is so true about head wounds. My neighbor fell last week, getting a gash on her head in the process. If you came upon the blood stains, you would have been convinced that someone had bled to death there.

 

[Trocroc9]

I’m 50/50 at this point, regardless it wasn’t well planned.

I had to take a stand. I agree I was 50/50 at first but then I thought about it. It was so sudden and unplanned it was a passion kill.

 

[asmi106082]

What if she had fake fingernails?

What if she did? If she got his DNA under her nails does it really matter if they were fake?

MOO

 

[Trocroc9]

What if she did? If she got his DNA under her nails does it really matter if they were fake?

MOO

I’m pretty sure dna will be under fake fingernails

 

[chihuahua]

First of all I want this woman's family to know my thoughts are with them as they go thru this horrific time.
Sorry to be following another case like this. It's terribly sad.

I have spent the last two days trying to familiarize myself as to the facts that have been released so far. As to the man who reported her to have suffered blows, I have no idea what happened. I will wait with the rest of you to find out when it's released.

IMO it's a very good line of thought to be wondering if RM was wearing a fitbit at the time of her murder. I went back to some of the earliest reports and hopefully this focused me a little more on what initial missing reports said she was wearing. I found no mention of jewelry or fitbit or headphones/ear-buds. This obviously doesn't mean she wasn't known to wear them. As we know well.

From this link: Woman Reported Missing, Car Found Abandoned on Ma and Pa Trail

[snipped by me] "Rachel is 5’2″ tall, weighing 107 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a blue or black tank top, a black sports bra, black spandex shorts, and gray sneakers." AUGUST 6, 2023

[yes she's extremely petite and imo would be fairly easy for someone with the strength adrenaline fuels to drag her right off of that trail. ]

My heart aches for her children especially. I am watching every video availabe, including the ones done of the walking/jogging trail itself, although I am not a particular "fan" of that member of the press. I digress. It is important to see the terrain and all of the areas the perp had to hide in. How noisy it seemed to be with the Hwy 24 above the drainage tunnels.

-Given that it's almost always going to be a male who commits a crime like this, however I never forget the jealous and sometimes overwhelming anger of women, towards each other. Or simply towards another...-


I don't find too many of the rumors to be compelling. If someone was at, say, a meeting while this atrocity happened, that will be easy enough for LE to find out.

I have to wonder if the perpetrator had a change of shoes with them. Those tunnels seem to have plenty of water inside them. Leaning between random and targeted. We've all thought one thing about a case and changed our view as more facts came out. So I will reserve my comments for now. Random is always a possibility.

IF she was meeting someone there, why would they kill her? I'm not thinking she would have been meeting anyone there for any romantic reason. Absolutely not. Staying absolutely victim friendly and not knowing every aspect of this poor woman's life, I have no reason to speculate on her daily routine. Having 5 children is enough to keep anyone busy, especially with her cleaning business.
* There is always the outlier in these cases, but if we happen to think we hear horse-hoof noises, it's usually best to look for a horse, not a zebra.

Lust, greed, money are all powerful motivators. Unfortunately, so is a skewed form of "love".

Following with little to add except for my sincere condolences and my fervent wish for justice for Rachel and for her family and friends.

ETA from link is that a fitbit on her wrist? My eyes aren't that good these days.


close up snipped by me

Any information on if her phone and other items were in her vehicle? I am obviously trying to catch up here and probably missed that. There's too many "I's" in my post and not enough sincere condolences...

Chi

 

[Trocroc9]

I’m positive dna will get this perp. Whether he is known to victim or a stranger. Those nails will have grabbed dna.

 

[Trocroc9]

I’m 50/50 at this point, regardless it wasn’t well planned.

I get this .. I’m feeling crime of passion today. It feels like some ex was not happy about her new boyfriend being announced,

 

[OldCop]

Another way it could have happened to Rachel:

GA - Woman, 19, attacked and sexually assaulted on walking trail by masked stranger who claimed to be armed, Roswell, Aug 1 2023

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/north-fulton-county/woman-attacked-by-masked-man-while-walking-along-roswell-trail-police-say/YYIMPZVTDVBIPP3SFLWKJ5BUUQ/ “ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell police say a 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted when she went for a morning walk. They say the woman was...

www.websleuths.com

 

[otto]

I think they also need to check and see if anyone at the gym had been paying particular attention to her.

I read that she was on several dating and single social media apps. It could have been someone from the gym, someone she met through dating apps, someone she knows better than apps and the gym.

Great work. I love number crunching. So, 16% of the murders cited of women jogging were committed by someone known to the victim. (5 out of 31)

I was curious about those five cases,

Constance McClain-Murray was killed by her husband in a public park. This is the only case of the five that is potentially close to Rachel's situation. The husband followed his wife when she went on nightly walk/jog. They had been arguing about him texting another woman. She was not SA, but strangled. He "looked" for her that night, but didn't call LE to report her missing until the next morning. FWIW, she had only one arm and perhaps not capable of fighting him off.

Alexia Daval - this case is from France. She reportedly went jogging. Her husband beat her to death and burned the body. The location of her body was not on her jogging route.

Janell Mora - fled her abusive marriage with her children and filed for divorce. Her husband shot her while she was jogging and hid her body. He then called 911, confessed, and shot himself. He survived.

Laura Luelmo was killed by a neighbor in Spain. He hit her with a rock and forced her into his home and later dumped her elsewhere.

Sydney Sutherland's killer hit her with his truck while she was jogging. He then kidnapped, raped, and beat her to death. She was found buried in a shallow grave near his home.

Sources:

Man pleads guilty to strangling wife in Philadelphia park

Christopher Murray admitted to killing his wife in a park last summer as they fought over his texts to another woman

www.cbsnews.com

France murder: Jonathann Daval jailed for 25 years for killing wife

Jonathann Daval initially reported his wife as missing, but later confessed to killing her.

www.bbc.com

Realtor gets 25 years for stalking death of wife in Mesa

In April 2017, Scottsdale Realtor Stephen Mora was on top of the world.

www.themesatribune.com

Convicted killer guilty of murdering teacher in case that prompted wave of protests in Spain

Bernardo Montoya, 53, was accused of killing Laura Luelmo, 26, by striking her across the head with a rock

inews.co.uk

Man Pleads Guilty to Murdering and Raping Jogging Ark. Nurse, Then Joining Search Party

Before she spoke at a hearing Friday, Sydney Sutherland's mother commanded Quake Lewellyn look at her

people.com

Was Rachel Morin sexually assaulted? If not, the murderer was not interested in grabbing random women off the jogging path for sex.

 

[Kapua]

I’m 50/50 at this point, regardless it wasn’t well planned.

I am 60/40 leaning towards random until we have more info. MOO

 

[otto]

I am 60/40 leaning towards random until we have more info. MOO

Was she sexually assaulted?

We have read that the father of a friend of the victim claims that she was naked or half undressed. He wasn't there. Furthermore, removing clothing during body disposal does not mean that motive is sexual.

If she was not sexually assaulted, then she was not grabbed randomly for sexual assault ... meaning she was targeted.

Have autopsy reports been released?

 

[mm126]

I wonder what dating sites she was on as well

First of all I want this woman's family to know my thoughts are with them as they go thru this horrific time.
Sorry to be following another case like this. It's terribly sad.

I have spent the last two days trying to familiarize myself as to the facts that have been released so far. As to the man who reported her to have suffered blows, I have no idea what happened. I will wait with the rest of you to find out when it's released.

IMO it's a very good line of thought to be wondering if RM was wearing a fitbit at the time of her murder. I went back to some of the earliest reports and hopefully this focused me a little more on what initial missing reports said she was wearing. I found no mention of jewelry or fitbit or headphones/ear-buds. This obviously doesn't mean she wasn't known to wear them. As we know well.

From this link: Woman Reported Missing, Car Found Abandoned on Ma and Pa Trail

[snipped by me] "Rachel is 5’2″ tall, weighing 107 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a blue or black tank top, a black sports bra, black spandex shorts, and gray sneakers." AUGUST 6, 2023

[yes she's extremely petite and imo would be fairly easy for someone with the strength adrenaline fuels to drag her right off of that trail. ]

My heart aches for her children especially. I am watching every video availabe, including the ones done of the walking/jogging trail itself, although I am not a particular "fan" of that member of the press. I digress. It is important to see the terrain and all of the areas the perp had to hide in. How noisy it seemed to be with the Hwy 24 above the drainage tunnels.

-Given that it's almost always going to be a male who commits a crime like this, however I never forget the jealous and sometimes overwhelming anger of women, towards each other. Or simply towards another...-


I don't find too many of the rumors to be compelling. If someone was at, say, a meeting while this atrocity happened, that will be easy enough for LE to find out.

I have to wonder if the perpetrator had a change of shoes with them. Those tunnels seem to have plenty of water inside them. Leaning between random and targeted. We've all thought one thing about a case and changed our view as more facts came out. So I will reserve my comments for now. Random is always a possibility.

IF she was meeting someone there, why would they kill her? I'm not thinking she would have been meeting anyone there for any romantic reason. Absolutely not. Staying absolutely victim friendly and not knowing every aspect of this poor woman's life, I have no reason to speculate on her daily routine. Having 5 children is enough to keep anyone busy, especially with her cleaning business.
* There is always the outlier in these cases, but if we happen to think we hear horse-hoof noises, it's usually best to look for a horse, not a zebra.

Lust, greed, money are all powerful motivators. Unfortunately, so is a skewed form of "love".

Following with little to add except for my sincere condolences and my fervent wish for justice for Rachel and for her family and friends.

ETA from link is that a fitbit on her wrist? My eyes aren't that good these days.

View attachment 440712
close up snipped by me View attachment 440714

Any information on if her phone and other items were in her vehicle? I am obviously trying to catch up here and probably missed that. There's too many "I's" in my post and not enough sincere condolences...

Chi

"Rachel is 5’2″ tall, weighing 107 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a blue or black tank top, a black sports bra, black spandex shorts, and gray sneakers." AUGUST 6, 2023”

How did they know what color sports bra she was wearing? unless the description was released after she was found (that would explain it). Or did boyfriend relay that detail?

Also wondered if head injury was her falling badly on something.

 

[FromGermany1]

It’s so very strange she had just posted a new relationship and then was assaulted. To me that is telling. Somebody was upset.

What if this time it is an older woman, who had a grudge against RM and thought, she would be the source of all problems. I think of someone, who knows Rachel well, knows, where she worked out, and is close to Rachel's children or some of her children. Speculation only, but from the start already.