DNA Found on Maryland Mom Who Was Out on a Run Helps Authorities Identify Her Accused Killer
A Maryland mother-of-five who had gone for a jog was brutally murdered, and her body was disposed of in a tunnel on her running route.
In August 2023, Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old fitness enthusiast went missing after going out for a jog on Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, People reported.
The Morin's family attorney, Randolph Rice, stated that the victim's "badly beaten" body was retrieved from a drainage tunnel the day after she went missing, the New York Post reported. He added that she had “10-15 head wounds and the manner of death was strangulation and blunt force injuries.”
The attorney mentioned that the attack allegedly happened on the trail where Morin was doing her workout and the assailant dragged her through the woods to the tunnel where her body was located.
On June 14, police arrested Victor Martinez-Hernandez in Tulsa as a suspect in the homicide, Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler shared in his statement, People reported.
In the charging document, Harford County authorities stated that they were able to track Martinez-Hernandez due to the DNA they found on Morin's body.
Authorities collected multiple DNA samples from Morin's body, and on genetic profiling found that they all belonged to the same person, as per the charging document, People reported.
Further DNA tests were conducted and led the authorities to a possible relative of the alleged assailant. Authorities said they conducted an “investigation into the family lineage,” and were able to determine Martinez-Hernandez as the suspect.
The charging document states that investigators spoke with the suspect's relatives, who shared that he had lived with them since last December and left in May, People reported.
The family provided authorities with Martinez-Hernandez's alleged belongings. The DNA retrieved from the belongings matched the samples that were found on Morin's body, according to the charging document.
Authorities were able to connect Martinez-Hernandez's alleged DNA with the assault of a girl in Los Angeles on March 26, 2023, the New York Post reported.
Gahler claimed that the suspect was also allegedly associated with a Los Angeles home invasion, in which a mother and child were assaulted, according to People.
Authorities claim that Martinez-Hernandez was an illegal immigrant who entered the country through unlawful means from El Salvador, after being accused of murder in his native country.
According to the charging document, the suspect has been charged with two counts of murder, two counts of rape, and two counts of assault, People reported. It is unclear how Martinez-Hernandez has responded to the charges.