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Harford County Sheriff Announces Arrest in Rachel Morin Case

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Harford County Sheriff’s Office Announces Arrest in Rachel Morin Case

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office announced it has made an arrest in connection with the Rachel Morin murder case.Video above: Raw Press Conference – Harford County Sheriff Gahler Announces Arrest in Rachel Morin Case. In a press conference Saturday, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler announced an arrest has been made in connection with the murder case that has been making headlines. Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, of El Salvador was arrested and taken into custody in connection with the August 2023 murder of Morin on Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air. “At one point, when things seemed really grim and hopeless, the lead investigator said to me, ‘Patience will prevail in the end.’ And that’s exactly what (investigators) did,” said Rachel Morin’s mother, Patricia Morin. “They were diligent, worked very hard and patiently worked through all the leads. That’s why we have an arrest today. So I’m very grateful and just very thankful for those men.” Morin’s body was found along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air on Aug. 6, and her car was found in a parking lot. Investigators said Rachel Morin was dragged off the trail and into the woods. Her body was found in a sewer. Police said Martinez Hernandez has been living in the U.S. illegally since February 2023. Investigators said in January 2023, Hernandez killed a young woman in El Salvador before entering the U.S. in February. A month later, police said Hernandez brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a burglary in Los Angeles, California. The LAPD is conducting this particular investigation. Gahler said three weeks ago, on the day Morin would have turned 38, investigators discovered a lead that enabled Friday night’s arrest. “I’m here to tell you that Rachel’s killer is no longer a free man. Hopefully he will never have the opportunity to walk free again,” Gahler said. “The lead we received involved DNA evidence and allowed investigators to finally put a name to the image of the suspect in the Los Angeles video we released two weeks after Rachel’s death.” Gahler said at that point they knew what Hernandez looked like, and through FBI genetic genealogy they found out his name. However, they did not know his whereabouts. “As I have said many times, this killer could have laid his head in any community in the country or even the world, and that was actually quite true,” Gahler said. “Over the past two weeks, investigators have continued their diligent investigation, tracking our suspect all the way from Prince George’s County to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our investigators also obtained an arrest warrant on (Friday) afternoon.” “Our genetic genealogy investigative team in Baltimore has worked countless hours to identify the suspect using DNA from the crime scene and tracing that DNA back to possible family members. Investigators have even traveled to El Salvador as part of their efforts to identify this killer,” said Bill DelBango of the FBI’s Baltimore field office. “In order to find the suspect, we provided technical assistance to determine his whereabouts. That brings us to (Friday night) where Tulsa police and FBI agents were able to successfully apprehend and arrest the suspect in Oklahoma.” Tulsa police posted on social media that they encountered Hernandez “casually sitting” at a bar on Friday night before taking him into custody. Gahler stated that Morin’s death was the second murder of an “innocent woman” in Harford County in about two years by men living in the U.S. illegally. “We are 1,800 miles from the southern border here in Harford County. This is the second woman in our county killed by illegal suspects. In both cases, these are suspects from El Salvador with ties to criminal gangs,” Gahler said. “(This) should not happen. Victor Hernandez did not come here to build a better life for himself or his family, he came here to escape a crime he committed in El Salvador.” Harford County District Attorney Alison Healy said she is personally handling prosecution and coordination for extradition has already begun. If Hernandez fights extradition, it could take up to 30 days, if not, it could take up to 10 days. Gahler said there is an ICE warrant out for Hernandez’s arrest because he is living in the U.S. illegally. In February, a sketch of the suspect was released and the reward for information in the case was increased to $35,000. The months-long investigation continued as investigators worked with several federal and state agencies and Morin’s family on outreach and canvassing, as well as newspaper and social media campaigns in English and Spanish. This became a national story in 2023 because, according to the Sheriff’s Office, an analysis of social media data shows that 18 million people around the world heard some part of the story surrounding Rachel Morin’s murder.

BEL AIR, Maryland —

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office announced it has made an arrest in connection with the murder of Rachel Morin.

Video above: Raw Press Conference – Harford County Sheriff Gahler Announces Arrest in Rachel Morin Case

In a press conference on Saturday, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler announced that an arrest had been made in this high-profile murder case. Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, of El Salvador was arrested and taken into custody in connection with the August 2023 murder of Morin on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air.

“At one point, when things seemed really grim and hopeless, the lead investigator said to me, ‘Patience will win in the end.’ And that’s exactly what the investigators did,” said Rachel Morin’s mother Patricia Morin. “They were diligent, worked very hard and patiently followed up on all the leads. That’s why we have an arrest today. So I’m very grateful and just very thankful for those men.”

Morin’s body was found on August 6 along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, her car in a parking lot. Investigators said Rachel Morin was dragged off the trail and into the woods. Her body was found in a sewer.

According to police, Martinez Hernandez has been living illegally in the United States since February 2023.

Investigators said Hernandez killed a young woman in El Salvador in January 2023 before entering the United States in February. A month later, police said Hernandez brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a burglary in Los Angeles, California. The LAPD is conducting this special investigation.

Gahler said investigators came across a lead three weeks ago, on Morin’s 38th birthday, that made Friday night’s arrest possible.

“I’m here to tell you that Rachel’s killer is no longer a free man. Hopefully he will never have the opportunity to walk free again,” Gahler said. “The tip we received involved DNA evidence and allowed investigators to finally put a name to the image of the suspect in the Los Angeles video we released two weeks after Rachel’s death.”

Gahler said at that point they knew what Hernandez looked like and through FBI genetic genealogy they found out his name. However, they did not know where he was.

“As I have often emphasized, this murderer could have laid his head in any community in the country or even the world, and that was actually quite right,” Gahler said. “Over the past two weeks, investigators continued their meticulous investigation and tracked our suspect all the way from Prince George’s County to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our investigators also obtained an arrest warrant this afternoon.”

“Our genetic genealogy investigative team in Baltimore worked countless hours to identify the suspect using DNA from the crime scene and tracing that DNA back to possible family members. Investigators even traveled to El Salvador as part of their efforts to identify this killer,” said Bill DelBango of the FBI’s Baltimore field office. “To find the suspect, we provided technical assistance to determine his whereabouts. That brings us to the day (Friday night) that Tulsa police and FBI agents were able to successfully apprehend and arrest the suspect in Oklahoma.”

Tulsa police said on social media that they found Hernandez “sitting casually” at a bar on Friday night before taking him into custody.

Gahler said Morin’s death was the second murder of an “innocent woman” in Harford County in about two years by men living in the United States illegally.

“We are 1,800 miles from the southern border here in Harford County. This is the second woman in our county killed by illegal suspects. In both cases, these are suspects from El Salvador with ties to criminal gangs,” Gahler said. “(This) should not happen. Victor Hernandez did not come here to build a better life for himself or his family, he came here to escape a crime he committed in El Salvador.”

Harford County District Attorney Alison Healy said she is personally handling the prosecution and coordination for extradition has already begun. If Hernandez resists extradition, it could take up to 30 days, if not, it could take up to 10 days.

Gahler said there is an ICE arrest warrant for Hernandez because he is in the United States illegally.

In February, a sketch of the suspect was released and the reward for information in the case was increased to $35,000. The months-long investigation continued as investigators worked with several federal and state agencies and Morin’s family on public relations and prospecting, as well as newspaper and social media campaigns in English and Spanish.

This became a national story in 2023 because, according to the Sheriff’s Office, an analysis of social media data found that 18 million people around the world heard some part of the story surrounding Rachel Morin’s murder.

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