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Rachel Morin case: Investigators question someone in DC area

  • Rachel Morin’s suspected killer is still on the loose
  • Sheriff: Person interviewed in DC area is ‘relevant’ to investigation
  • Michael Morin: Reward offered to ‘save lives in the future, to get closure’

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(NewsNation) — Two months have passed since authorities say Rachel Morin was murdered on a popular hiking trail, but the Maryland mom of five’s killer is still on the loose.

Morin’s brother, Michael Morin, told NewsNation host Dan Abrams that there has not been much movement in the case recently.

“There haven’t been any new developments,” Michael said, later adding: “It’s very, very frustrating.”

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told NewsNation host Ashleigh Banfield that authorities have questioned someone in Washington, D.C., in connection to the case.

“The investigators were working a lead. This was not the result of a tip. This was a result of evidence related to the crime leading our investigators into the D.C.-Metro area where they interviewed an individual relevant to this investigation. It is not a suspect but hopefully somebody who can point us in the right direction to identifying that person,” Gahler said on “Banfield.”

Rachel Morin, 37, was last seen alive Aug. 5 when she went for a walk on a Bel Air nature trail. Her car was spotted at the entrance of the trail, but she was nowhere to be found and eventually reported missing. The following day, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office announced the missing person case had escalated into a homicide investigation after a volunteer searcher found her body along the Ma and Pa Trail.

Maryland State Police analyzed DNA left behind at the crime scene and ran it through the CODIS database, which returned a match for an unidentified man suspected of invading a Los Angeles home in March.

On Aug. 17, the sheriff’s office released security footage from the Los Angeles incident showing the suspect leaving a home and urging anyone who may be able to identify him to come forward.

For Michael, it’s perplexing no one has given authorities a tip that has resulted in the capture of his sister’s killer.

“No one’s an island. I would imagine this guy has friends or family that I would think would have seen the video and I don’t know why they haven’t called it in,” Michael told Abrams.

The Morin family’s attorney, Randolph Rice, fears investigators may not have the proper resources to bring the suspect in.

“We’re concerned that they maybe are not getting the resources or the help they need to speed up getting the records,” Rice told Abrams.

Gahler insists his team is currently receiving the support they need, and that the surveillance footage released in August is still their “best tool.”

“Everyone from the state police to the FBI, the people that we are turning to, to help us with either technology or science, there is no delay in processing evidence in this case. We are getting all of the cooperation necessary,” Gahler told Banfield.

Rice believes law enforcement should be further analyzing the video from the Los Angeles incident and combing through phone data since the suspect is spotted in the video with what appears to be a phone.

“If you remember, in the right pocket of the suspect when he’s leaving the home, there is a cellphone that’s lit up,” Rice said. “So, that tells us that there is data that they can pull from that location. We need to analyze that.”

Rice said people can help the Morin family by continuing to share the footage of the suspect with their friends and by contributing to the reward money.

“It’s now been tripled in about a week to $30,000. I think the more money we have, and sadly in our society, money sometimes makes people do things,” Rice said. “I think if there’s more money out there, somebody will come forward and say, ‘You know what, I’m willing to turn somebody in that maybe I know.’”

Michael said the reward is being offered to “save lives in the future and to get closure” for his sister’s five children and the rest of their family. The Morins plan to launch a canvassing program in California next week. They have a goal of reaching 10,000 homes in the area of the Los Angeles incident.

Authorities currently do not have a name or location for the suspect. They described him as a Hispanic male in his 20s, standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds.

A criminal profiler hired by the Morin family says some of the tips needed to identify Rachel’s killer are that he possesses psychotic traits such as lacking empathy and being a pathological liar; also, he must know someone in Bel Air where he has been able to stay, and he has a specific reason to be in the area of the nature trail.

The sheriff’s office has received hundreds of tips in the case, but they’re still waiting on the piece of information that will lead them to the suspect. Anyone with information about the case is urged to call 410-836-7788.

Dan Abrams Live

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