A Maryland mom of 5 whose physique was discovered close to a preferred path after disappearing Saturday was the sufferer of a murder, authorities mentioned as they requested the general public to submit photographs or video in the event that they have been within the space over the weekend.
Rachel Morin, 37, went lacking Saturday night after her boyfriend mentioned she deliberate to stroll on the Ma & Pa Path in Bel Air, a city about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore. A physique was discovered close to the path on Sunday, and Robert Royster, Harford County Sheriff’s Workplace public data officer, confirmed to HuffPost that it was Morin’s.
Richard Tobin, Morin’s boyfriend, reported her lacking, telling police that she had left round 6 p.m. and that her automotive was parked on the trailhead’s car parking zone. An enormous search was launched early Sunday morning, and a volunteer discovered Morin’s physique simply after 1 p.m. “off of the path,” authorities mentioned.
Harford County Sheriff’s Workplace
Investigators haven’t recognized a suspect, and Sheriff Jeff Gahler advised WBAL on Monday that Morin’s killing may very well be “a random occasion.” In a information convention Monday, Gahler advised reporters that he couldn’t say whether or not there was an ongoing menace to the neighborhood however that the sheriff’s deputies would supply “elevated patrols” on the path all through the week.
The sheriff mentioned there are not any surveillance cameras within the path’s car parking zone or public areas. “It’s at all times recognized to be a reasonably secure place,” Gahler mentioned in a information convention Monday however urged individuals to “hold conscious of your environment,” keep away from “a predictable routine” when exercising, “buddy up” with somebody they know, and think about carrying a whistle or different alert gadget.
“In the event you have been on the Ma & Pa Path on Saturday, or close to the path or path heads and took photographs or video, we’re asking should you would please share them with investigators,” the sheriff’s workplace mentioned on Fb. “There may very well be one thing useful in considered one of your photographs that may carry us another piece of the puzzle.”
As of early Tuesday, authorities mentioned they’d obtained almost 100 ideas.
Morin and Tobin had not been relationship very lengthy. He up to date his Fb standing to “in a relationship” on Aug. 1, and Morin mentioned that she had “Solely began taking pics few weeks in the past” in an Aug. 3 Fb publish with two snapshots of the couple. In a single image, she is visibly sunburned, noting that the couple had been “From the seaside to the mountains.”
Harford County Sheriff’s Workplace
Tobin, whose legal historical past of misdemeanor assault and drug costs has come underneath scrutiny from would-be web sleuths, defended himself on Fb on Sunday. “I like Rachel, I’d by no means do something to her, let the household and I grieve,” he mentioned in response to his authentic relationship replace, the place a whole lot of individuals had expressed suspicions about his guilt — together with hyperlinks and screenshots of his rap sheet.
“Sure, I’ve a previous however I even have 15 months clear and have modified as an individual. Please,” he mentioned.
In a GoFundMe for funeral and memorial bills, Morin’s sister, Rebekah Morin, mentioned, “It’s with devastating unhappiness and a damaged coronary heart that our household has been hit with one more heartbreak.”
Simply over every week earlier, the sisters’ 4-month-old niece, Lily Beth Morin, had died abruptly, Rebekah Morin mentioned in a GoFundMe she had posted then to assist with funeral and medical bills.
Authorities haven’t any speedy plans to launch Morin’s reason behind loss of life.
