Rachel Morin's Mother Asks Why Killer's Family Is Still Protecting Him: Report

BEL AIR, MD — Almost three months have passed since 37-year-old Rachel Morin's body was found along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air. Her family is desperate for answers in her death and they — along with police and community members — want to see a suspect charged in her death.

"The longer it goes, the dimmer it seems" to get justice, Patty Morin told WBAL TV's 11 News Investigates in an exclusive interview.

Patty Morin has spoken only briefly with the media since her daughter's death, but chose to speak up as time continues to pass from the day when the battered body of Rachel, a mother of five, was found after she was reported missing by her boyfriend.

"We're so connected that it physically hurts us that she's not here," Patty Morin said in the interview. "I know it's a fact, but I can't accept it yet."

Morin shared how her daughter had a terrible stutter up until a few years ago. The taunting she endured as a child for her stutter made her a more compassionate person. She worked hard cleaning houses in order to provide care for her children.

The younger kids have since been split up and are living separately with relatives. Rachel Morin also worked hard to stay physically fit.

"She didn't see herself as being a target or at risk for anything. She lived life as Rachel. She loved people and was outgoing, so that made me scared for her, and I would tell her all the time, 'Rachel, don't walk the trail by yourself,'" Patty Morin said in the interview. "I've seen my daughter since they found her, but seeing her and accepting it are like two different things."

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In fact, the Morins walked the trail together as a family.

“We would have dinner in the summertime and then after we ate dinner, we’d go walk the trail for a couple of hours and go through the woods so the boys could find their snakes and the crawdads or crawfish, whatever those things are,” Patty Morin told The Baltimore Sun.

But with the suspect still at large, Patty Morin told The Baltimore Sun she does not feel safe.

“I have been scared, especially in the very beginning,” she said. “Having the sense that possibly there’s somebody in our community that is killing women. [What] if it is a serial killer? Is it just women? Maybe it’s children with blond hair because Rachel [was] a small woman? We don’t know.”

According to investigators, the suspect is a Hispanic man in his early to mid-20s and estimated to be 5’9" and weighing around 160 pounds. Doorbell camera video provided by the L.A. Police Department captured a brief clip of that man leaving the scene of the alleged home invasion and assault in California.

The Morin family has been working with a law firm and launched a digital campaign to educate people who may not speak English as a first language about Morin's death. Their hope is to draw out additional leads. Ten out of the 30 detectives with the Harford County Sheriff's Office continue to work the case, WBAL TV disclosed.

From one mother to another, Patty Morin begged for the suspect's family and friends to turn him in.

"His mother knows who this man is, and my question is, 'Why? Why are you protecting him?'" Patty Morin told 11 News Investigates.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler has publicly said he believes the suspect could be a serial killer.

"My concern is that this killer is escalating. My investigators and I both firmly believe that if we do not apprehend this individual, he will again, if he has not done so already. And, if given the chance, he certainly could become a serial killer," Gahler said in a previous interview. "Until he is in custody, this suspect poses a threat to every community in our country and maybe outside," he said.

The sheriff encourages people to continue sharing the video of the suspect and continue sending legitimate tips to rmtips@harfordsheriff.org.

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