Bel Air Woman Reported Missing Has Been Found: Harford County Sheriff

BEL AIR, MD — A Harford County woman reported missing over the weekend has been found, police announced early Monday morning.

Witnesses posted on the sheriff's office's Facebook page their own sightings of 55-year-old Melissa Dianne Dernetz. A Facebook user said she and her daughter were leaving the Ma and Pa Trail when they were shown Dernetz's photo by Harford County sheriff's deputies and were asked if they had seen her on the trail. Another Facebook user who said she was Dernetz's daughter posted on the Harford County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page that her mother didn't have her phone with her Sunday.

Sometime around 5 a.m. Monday, the sheriff's office announced on its Facebook page that Dernetz had been safely found. No other details have been disclosed about the case.

Bel Air mother of five Rachel Morin, 37, went missing after running on the Ma and Pa Trail in August 2023. She was found raped and murdered not far from the trail. Earlier this month, the suspect arrested in connection to her death was formally indicted by a grand jury in Harford County Circuit Court. Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, of El Salvador has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree rape, second-degree rape, first-degree assault and second-degree assault in connection to Morin's death.