Murder suspect linked to LA home invasion, assault on young girl
Maryland officials said DNA collected from the scene where Rachel Morin was murdered has been linked to DNA from a Los Angeles assault and home invasion that happened in March.
More than three months after mother of five Rachel Morin was murdered on a Maryland hiking trail, her family has launched a door-to-door mail campaign to try to track down her killer.
"We don't know why he committed such a gruesome murder. Why my daughter?" Patty Morin asked Fox News Digital. "That means that no one is safe until he is caught and incarcerated for life."
Morin, 37, went for a hike on Aug. 5 about 6:30 p.m. on the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air. The next day, her body was found in a wooded area on the side of the path.
The suspect's DNA left at the Maryland scene matched DNA evidence recovered from an unsolved Los Angeles home invasion and assault of a young girl in March.
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND SHERIFF SAYS SUSPECT ON LOOSE COULD STRIKE AGAIN
Mother of five Rachel Morin was murdered on Aug. 5, 2023, on the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. She's shown with two of her children. (Facebook)
The Harford County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) released surveillance video in August of the suspect leaving the Los Angeles home and described him as Hispanic, in his 20s, 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds.
But the investigation appears to have come to a standstill with no one coming forward to identify the killer despite a $30,000 reward.
"They just want their mom back and their lives to be normal, and for some of the older ones, they know it will never be."
Los Angeles police would not release the address of the assault but lawyers, who are representing the Morins for free, located the exact home by comparing Google satellite images with the surveillance footage.
RACHEL MORIN'S BOYFRIEND CALLS MURDER SUSPECT 'SCUM OF THE EARTH'
The law firm, Rice, Murtha, Psoras Trial Lawyers, printed 10,000 English-Spanish flyers to be hand-delivered starting this week to homes in the Los Angeles neighborhood where the young girl was attacked.
The door-to-door direct mail campaign, featuring screen grabs of the suspect from the surveillance footage, is expected to reach 58,000 people, attorney Randolph Rice told Fox News Digital.
"I am praying that someone, maybe someone who has had a similar experience, will have compassion and help in identifying this person," Morin's grieving mother said. "We are literally sitting in limbo and can't move because we have no answers, no direction."
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND POLICE TIE CRIME-SCENE DNA TO LOS ANGELES ASSAULT, HOME INVASION
Richard Tobin, far left, was devastated after his new girlfriend, Rachel Morin, was found murdered on a Maryland hiking trail Aug. 6. (Facebook)
A spokesperson for HCSO said that early on in the investigation deputies distributed bilingual flyers in and around the area of the Los Angeles home invasion.
"At this time, the family of Rachel is moving forward with a similar initiative to continue blanketing the area with flyers," Cristie Hopkins said in a statement. "We are appreciative of their continued efforts to find Rachel’s killer."
Rice noted that the HCSO's initiative was significantly smaller in scope and did not involve door-to-door mailings.
RACHEL MORIN MURDER EERILY SIMILAR TO HIGH-PROFILE CASES OF FEMALE JOGGERS KILLED BY STRANGERS
Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was found murdered Aug. 6, 2023, on the Ma and Pa Hiking Trail in Maryland. She was reported missing by her new boyfriend, far right, Richard Tobin. (Facebook)
"We haven’t seen any viable leads coming out of the sheriff’s department, so we’re trying to create our own set of leads any way we possibly can," Rice said.
A criminal profiler told the legal team that the suspect likely has strong ties to the Los Angeles neighborhood in question, and local police have said there was at least one other person in the home at the time the girl was assaulted, Rice added.
Morin, a fitness enthusiast who owned her own cleaning company, was adored by her family.
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Rachel Morin's mother, Patty, and brother, Josias, are shown at her celebration of life on Aug. 27, 2023, at Greater Grace World Outreach Church in Baltimore. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
"She filled so much of our lives with laughter and light," Patty said. "Even when she was having a bad day, she still shined. There is just such an empty void."
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Morin's children are struggling the most.
"As the holidays approach, I fear there will be this deafening silence that will overshadow our get-togethers," Patty said. "They just want their mom back and their lives to be normal, and for some of the older ones, they know it will never be."
Authorities are asking anyone with information related to Morin's murder to call 410-836-5430 or email RMTips@harfordsheriff.org.
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