Rachel Morin Investigation: Mother speaks about new details in daughter's unsolved murder
BALTIMORE - It has been more than six months since the mother of five was murdered along a popular hiking trail in Harford County.
Despite the case getting international attention, and some key pieces of evidence being released, it remains unsolved.
Morin's mother spoke with WJZ's Jessica Albert about if she feels an arrest is coming.
Jessica Albert: I asked you the last time we sat down if you felt like we're getting closer to finding her killer. With all of this information out there now, do you feel like we're closer?
Patty Morin: I think in one sense we are because now we have a face. When you see that picture, the first thing that ran through my mind, and I'm sure it's run through everyone's mind, was, 'Have I seen that person?'
Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, has renewed hope now that new details have been released in her daughter's case, including the biggest lead yet, a sketch of the suspect.
The Harford County Sheriff's Office gave the update last week during a 40-minute podcast episode.
We now know investigators believe the suspect hid on the Ma and Pa Trail in August 2023, in Bel Air, attacked Morin and pulled her into a drainage culvert.
Morin went for a walk and didn't return. Police said her car was located the next day at the trailhead.
Detectives also shared more about the March 2023 Los Angeles home invasion connected with Morin's murder suspect.
They believe it was random, revealing several people were attacked in that home, including a child. The suspect left a hat containing his DNA behind.
The sketch of the suspect was put together using a video from the L.A. attack plus statements from the victims in L.A. and witnesses who believe they saw the suspect on the trail.
Jessica Albert: Did you know any of those details prior to them releasing them?
Patty Morin: They gave us that information just before they released them.
Patty Morin understands why detectives kept these details close to the chest.
"I appreciate that they're preserving the integrity of the investigation so that it's a solid case when the tip comes," she said.
The new revelations gave Patty Morin the strength to revisited the trail recently.
"I actually went to the place where they said they found her," she said. "I didn't know where it was before. Ii didn't want to know because it was just too painful. I went and I sat where what would've been Rachel's last few minutes that she would've been alive. It just makes me more than anything to want to find this person. Like, Rachel died for no reason."
There's currently a $35,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
