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

[Alkali13]

Did she always drive to her walks/runs?

Who was her boyfriend before this 'new' one?

Not sure about boyfriends, but the most recent custody case per the MD judicial site was 2017 I believe?

 

[SMK777]

This reminds me of the Lauren Heike case in Arizona earlier this year.
Random perp. Interestingly, DNA from Lauren's shoe matched with that of a guy on probation, and other evidence led to the killer.
No idea if this awful attack was random or not.
Senseless and tragic.....I hope the investigation catches whoever did this.

Woman stabbed 15 times in apparently random deadly attack on hiking trail: Court docs

Lauren Heike was stabbed 15 times while hiking on a Phoenix trail last week, according to court documents. A suspect has been charged with murder in her death.

abcnews.go.com

So the suspect was 22 years old and had some criminal history.
Seems random in the Heike case so could be with the present one as well.
Walking trails unfortunately can be places where crimes of opportunity occur with young women who are alone.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[OldCop]

List of people killed while running - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Although these are joggers as opposed to walkers, it still brings home the vulnerability of a woman alone in the outdoors.

 

[CGBSpender]

Does it strike anyone else as important that the trail is open? I'm wondering if the trail is open because LE doesn't think this is a random act that poses a danger to the public but rather a targeted attack of Rachel by someone known. I know they are patrolling the trail but I can't help but think it means something that they don't seem to be overly concerned that someone is on the loose randomly targeting people. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

MOO

I'm thinking 1) whoever did this would be really stupid to hang around the same area...because LE is looking for them, and folks going out on the trail now may be better prepared to deal with an attacker (not walking alone, carrying personal defense equipment, etc.) and...2) there may also be individuals that live, work, or attend school on opposite sides of Hwy 24 that rely on that trail to get two and from work by bicycle/e-bike?

JMO

 

[Lyanna]

There was a different comment here that was very intriguing, if true… I had thought it was a crime of opportunity but perhaps they just need more evidence to arrest. Said comment was by a commenter named “Con Man”

Rachel Morin’s death declared a homicide after body found off hiking trail: Maryland sheriff

Rachel Morin, 37, was a mother of five who lived in Bel Air, Maryland.

nypost.com

Ugh. Some of those comments are quite frankly repulsive.
Keyboard Warriors. The kind who post trash anonymously but face to face wouldnt dare say anything so vile.
Should be some sort of criminal charge in those incidences but that's JMO

Feel sick reading some of those.

Hope Rachel's children and close family are receiving all the love and support they need. Deepest sympathies for them. ♥

moo

 

[Centaurus]

Has LE said if there were signs of SA? Was the motive just a random thrill kill?! So very sad.

 

[OldCop]

The type of local and method seem similar to this unsolved NC case.

North Carolina woman dies after being beaten in park

Police said a woman who was assaulted in a city park in North Carolina has died.

www.wsoctv.com

 

[Lore Listener]

Not sure about boyfriends, but the most recent custody case per the MD judicial site was 2017 I believe?

The custody case does concern me. These can get incredibly ugly, like the Rhoden family massacre!

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

Is the park close to or next to a neighborhood or houses/businesses? Just contemplating availability of doorbell cam/CCTV video.

 

[Alkali13]

The custody case does concern me. These can get incredibly ugly, like the Rhoden family massacre!

Same. Also makes me think of Fotis Dulos (although that was likely also motivated by money).

 

[Alkali13]

Is the park close to or next to a neighborhood or houses/businesses? Just contemplating availability of doorbell cam/CCTV video.

So this is the view of the Williams Street parking entrance. I also heard reports she may have parked behind the brewery, so I included that in this snip. Either way, seems mostly businesses.

 

[Mica]

Has anyone found a link to where this video can be viewed? I can only find stills.

YouTube of the Ma and Pa Trail in BelAir. You can see houses close by to the right of the trail. Shows tunnel at 3:40 mark. I don’t see any drain swails in the tunnel.

 

[dgfred]

So she likely always took car to go there.

 

[Alkali13]

So she likely always took car to go there.

I'm not going to mention the address in case the children are still living there, but it was about a ten minute car ride, so I doubt she ever walked it.

 

[acutename]

YouTube of the Ma and Pa Trail in BelAir. You can see houses close by to the right of the trail. Shows tunnel at 3:40 mark. I don’t see any drain swails in the tunnel.

If you actually go through all the pictures on this website (posted 2x before I think) MA & PA Heritage Trail Photos | TrailLink

the trail is about 5-ish miles total (3.something mile and 1.something mile segments). It is varied- some parts wooded, some right by houses, crossing streets, goes by a park, school, etc. Not a local, but I get the impression that a lot of people used this and maybe kids rode bikes to school (?) on it? I do not get the impression that anyone thought it was particularly dangerous prior to this... IMO. Locals chime in if I am off base.

 

[Allabouttrial]

Bit late to this case, so this is the presser from Monday.

TRANSCRIPTION OF PRESS CONFERENCE

7TH AUGUST

SHERIFF - We're here to follow up on, what I think our entire community knows, sadly, what is a homicide along the Ma and Pa Trail, just outside the town limits, here, in Bel Air, that happened sometime early this morning or today.

At approx. 11:23 last evening, our deputies responded to a report of a missing person. It was reported by the individuals boyfriend, that Rachel Morin, who's aged 37, headed out from her home on Old Emmerton Road, around 6 pm. to go to the Ma and Pa Trail. When she had not returned, as and when expected, the family was obviously concerned. Initial information from the boyfriend, again the caller who reported her missing, indicated her car was at the lot at the Trailhead here on Williams St., behind where the Independent Brewery is, and people that are familiar with Bel Air. Her car was there but she was not.

During the initial search, again, deputies did locate her vehicle at the Williams St. entrance. The vehicle, during the investigation was towed to our CID building, up in Forest Hill, where it will be processed for any and all evidence, at this time. At that time, last evening, an extensive search of the trail and surrounding area followed. A notice to the public was put out, by this office, by our office of media communications, that, has had over 11,000 shares and I'm going to touch on it a little here, but always thankful to our citizens, here in Harford County, who assist us in solving so many crimes by sharing information. As for the good side of social media, the bad side is - there's also been a lot of false or early information shared that we don't want to see. We don't want to see false news out there, we also don't want to see information getting out before family members are informed and that could jeopardise the case. So we always, along with thanking the public, ask the public to be careful in what they share in their comments. Make sure it's factual and based on information that we have put out here from the Sheriff's Office.

While it was all of our hope, certainly mine and everyone standing up here with me, and the men and women of our office, and all of our citizens, that Rachel would be found safe - at about 1:07 pm., a citizen called 911 to report a female's body had been located off the trail. At that time, it was obvious that this person was deceased.

The investigation went from a missing person investigation to a homicide investigation. While we firmly believe this is the body of Rachel Morin, that final determination belongs with the medical examiner and that has not happened yet. And that's one of the things that's being shared out there on social media, that in fact, it's factual, which I will admit here, standing at the podium, that that's the way this is going to go. But again, we have to let the process do what it's supposed to do.

We understand this homicide causes a lot of concern, it causes a lot of concern for us, our partners in the allied law enforcement agencies and the safety of our citizens. The trail is one of our major Parks and Recs. assets that runs through a lot of parts through Harford County, and we understand that this is going to cause a lot of concern. The trail.. the crime scene down there has been processed. The trail will be reopened, it was closed during crime scene processing, but the trail has always been... we've had minor incidents, but it's always known to be a pretty safe place, but with that in mind, and with this incident in mind, the trail is going to reopen. We asked everyone to use good judgement on the trail, and not just on the trail but in everyday life. Always be aware of your surroundings, I can tell you my house backs to a portion of the Ma and Pa Trail, and when I was out there more often I would pass people with headsets or something and they don't know you're there until you're upon them. The earbuds, stuff like that; it's great, helps you exercise, but it can also keep you from being aware of your surroundings. Don't set yourself a predictable routine where you can be relied upon to be at a certain time, a certain spot, routinely, kind of mix it up a little bit. And, if possible, walk or run with a friend or a family member, buddy up. Also consider carrying a whistle or some other alert device; there's a whole bunch of them on the market. And be sure to let your family know where you are, and most of all, and we emphasise this, if you see something that doesn't make you feel comfortable, if you feel suspicious about it, take out your phone and call 911 and let us look at it. Let the men and women of law enforcement respond and see if there's something to be concerned about. In the immediate future, already starting, we will have increased police presence along the trail, all portions of the trail, while this case remains under investigation. And again, I've got to thank our citizens, many of them have written or called in with tips, social media tips. Each one of those tips is and has been, or will be, followed up on. We are going to be very careful with what we say in the early stages of this very active criminal investigation. So there's very little I can share as far as details as to what investigators have seen and learned, but I will say - if you think you have just the smallest tidbit of information, you saw something in this young lady's travels yesterday to the trail, on the trail, investigators would like to talk to you and have that information.

Again, I continue to be proud of our Harford County citizens, the way this community comes together in terrible times and this is one of those. Many people didn't know Rachel, but they stopped their day and they conducted their own, helped... and it was one of those citizens who actually found the deceased body. It was a volunteer who stepped up to come out because of what they'd seen on social media. I have to say thank you to our partners at Bel Air Police Department, because that's where the Trailhead here is off of Williams Street, allied agencies; natural resources police were up here assisting with our search, State Highway Administration, (?) search and rescue. And I know I'm going to miss some, but so many of our great community partners who assisted us in this event, are always there for us in the times we need and I know (Christy?) talked about it, we actually had two different areas where we were running active police operations today. The other one, down closer to the festival shopping centre, actually across Abello Parkway South, we had our command vehicle there, for a big portion of today. People thought these two incidents were related, that is also a missing person that we will be sharing on our social media, shortly after this press conference concludes and that one - it is not related to the homicide on the trail.

(talks about another missing women, that has since been found alive and well)

REPORTER - For any reason (inaudible) targeted? (inaudible) Is there a danger to the community right now?

SHERIFF - Sure, we hate having homicides, and thankfully, we don't have too much violent crime here in Harford County. That's the way all of us in the front of the room prefer it and our citizens prefer it, but when we have one, I prefer it when I can stand here and tell you that the suspect has been arrested or that it's a targeted crime - I can't tell you that in this case. So, right now, detectives continue to work the case as aggressively as they possibly can and we will leave no stone unturned and I hope that changes in the coming hours but, at this point in time, there is not a suspect or can I put the comment out there that says "we don't believe there's a threat to the community"? I can't do it.

REPORTER - Sheriff, you mentioned a homicide, I know it's early in the investigation, but what (inaudible)?

SHERIFF - There's indicators, that our detectives have no doubt, and I'm not going to go into what physically they observed at the scene, but the investigators believe, sadly, it's a homicide case.

REPORTER - (inaudible)

SHERIFF - She wasn't pronounced until she was found. So, when she went missing, I think about 6 pm., is when she went on the trail. So, I think this could have happened anytime from 6 pm. when she.. we assume, and this is speculating on my part, that when she arrived at the trail.. if they expected her at the trail at 6 she could have got there at 7. So, again, this is speculation on my part, but sometime from the time she got to the trail to when she was found, the homicide occurred.

REPORTER - (inaudible)

SHERIFF - I can tell you, investigators are working.. I don't believe.. the trails are part of the Parks and Rec system here in Harford County. I'm not familiar with cameras that are set up that are not in response to something we've had. As I said earlier, we've had minor thefts at the parking areas and I know at times, trip cameras had been set up there trying to catch that. I'm not familiar with any trails that run along, outside of the parking areas and I don't think there's any permanent cameras at the parking areas. But we will, again, there's houses, my house is one of them; it's on a different section of the trail, there's houses that border the trail and many of those houses have cameras, so you might have camera footage you think's not related, if you have something that could possibly look related, detectives want to see it.

REPORTER - Have you had a chance to talk to (inaudible but I'm assuming he says family)

SHERIFF - I have not, but our investigators have. They were up at our criminal investigations division, up in Forest Hill, as we got ready to start this press conference. And obviously, you know, it's being widely shared on social media and I would just ask, you know, give that family some time to come to grips with what's happened. You know, it's always a terrible loss no matter what family it is, but this one, with so much of a public eye on it. And again, I don't know that we've ever had a post reach 11,000 shares before and that's amazing, and that's a compliment, once again, to our Harford County citizens who step up and say 'we want to be part of helping sharing the good news', but it's also that many people who are also heartbroken when the news breaks that has a sad ending.

REPORTER - (asks about possible suspects)

SHERIFF - Right now, there's nobody that I would say that this person is a possible suspect, zero.

Okay, thank you all again for waiting on us and for your time this evening and hopefully I'll have better news to share as the investigation progresses forward.

 

[acutename]

YouTube of the Ma and Pa Trail in BelAir. You can see houses close by to the right of the trail. Shows tunnel at 3:40 mark. I don’t see any drain swails in the tunnel.

I think, IMO, BTW, there are "drains" around 9:40 - on his way out (somewhere between 4 and 5 on the way in and closer to the starting point than the "art sculpture")- they are not in the tunnel- I think the way the news articles are written, the tunnel and the "drains" get mixed up. IMO .

 

[x_files]

Very weird. I also wish they’d release photos that aren’t Facetuned/filtered to all heck. It’s hard to identify people when the photos released don’t look like themselves in ‘real life’.

She is a natural beauty without filters. I agree it's hard to recognize someone in real life from photos sometimes.

 

[x_files]

Not sure about boyfriends, but the most recent custody case per the MD judicial site was 2017 I believe?

I'd be curious about any exs who felt obsessed or slighted.