Bel Air, Maryland – Maryland Sheriff Jeff Gahler, investigating the murder of Rachel Morin in August 2023, has advised pedestrians to alter their routines following the killing of Augusta University student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus on Feb. 22. Both women, Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, and Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, were both murdered while jogging on popular pedestrian trails.
Gahler emphasized the importance of breaking routines and avoiding isolation while on trails or in parks. He stressed the need to be vigilant, especially in areas where someone might be vulnerable to attack. Living on the same trail where Morin was killed, Gahler highlighted the importance of paying attention to one’s surroundings and being cautious.
Morin disappeared while running along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, a quiet town located about 28 miles northeast of Baltimore, on August 5, 2023. Her body was discovered the following day, prompting an investigation into what Gahler described as a “horrific” criminal homicide.
In February, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office released a composite sketch of the suspect in Morin’s case, described as a Hispanic male based on witness accounts and video footage from a home invasion incident in Los Angeles in March 2023. This new development led them to a single DNA match for an unidentified Hispanic male linked to both crime scenes.
Authorities also discovered evidence linking the suspect to the Los Angeles home invasion, where he allegedly broke into a home, assaulted the family inside, and then fled. Surveillance footage captured the shirtless suspect leaving the scene, sparking comparisons to the unidentified suspect in Morin’s case due to the matching description.
Gahler clarified that while there are similarities in the two cases, his office has not found evidence to suggest they are directly related. Despite speculation and tips received after the arrest of Jose Antonio Ibarra in Georgia, Gahler believes there is no concrete link between the cases at this time.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office is urging anyone with information about the suspect’s whereabouts prior to Morin’s murder to come forward, as they believe he poses a continued threat to the public. A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in Morin’s case, with tips directed to [email protected].