Blood Found, Body Missing in Murder Case

SEVERN, MD — A Severn man has been charged with murder in the case of a Baltimore County man missing for three months, even though no body has yet been found.

Anne Arundel County Police have charged Richard Wayne Brooks, 50, of Severn, with second-degree murder. Authorities say a motor home with large quantities of blood and human tissue matched to Mark Hatmaker is proof that he was killed.

Hatmaker, of the 3100 block of Freeway in Baltimore County, was last seen at 10 a.m. on November 24, 2015, when he left home to meet someone.

Relatives reported Hatmaker missing to Baltimore County Police two days later when they could not get in touch with him. Baltimore County investigators learned that on the day he was last seen, Hatmaker met with Brooks at the Empire Towers in the 7300 block of Richie Highway.

Brooks had a motor-home that had been parked close to the meeting site, but the vehicle was moved around Nov. 26.

Investigators say Brooks had someone rent a U-Haul truck for him around the time he met with Hatmaker. Inside the truck, investigators found traces of human blood that had been cleaned up. Blood samples from the truck were matched to Hatmaker, police said.

Once police located Brooks’ motor-home they reportedly found a large amount of human blood and pieces of human tissue inside that were matched to Hatmaker.

Brooks is being held without bail on those charges.

Police have not found Hatmaker’s body.

The victim is described as 50-year-old white man, about 5’11” and 245 pounds, bald, and wears glasses.

The homicide remains under joint investigation by the Anne Arundel County Police Department and the Baltimore County Police Department. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call police at 410-887-3943.

»Photo of Richard Brooks of Severn, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police