An illegal immigrant, Victor Martinez Hernandez, has been charged with the brutal slaying of Rachel Morin on a Maryland hiking trail in 2023. Court documents revealed that Martinez Hernandez was hiding out with relatives in Maryland during a nationwide manhunt that led to his arrest for rape and murder.
After being taken into custody at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Martinez Hernandez was extradited to Maryland to face charges. His relatives in Maryland disclosed that he stayed with them between December 2023 and May 2024 before disappearing suddenly. They did not provide details on their location in the state or proximity to where Morin's body was discovered.
Morin's mother expressed shock at Martinez Hernandez's audacity to remain in the state where the crime occurred. The police search for him extended to Los Angeles and El Salvador. Morin was reported missing by her boyfriend after she failed to return from a walk on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. Her body was later found beaten in a culvert near the trail.
Police collected DNA evidence from clothes left behind by Martinez Hernandez, which matched samples from the crime scene. Martinez Hernandez, suspected of having gang ties, fled El Salvador in February 2023 after a murder warrant was issued against him. He entered the U.S. in February 2023 and was linked to a home invasion assault in Los Angeles in March.
Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler emphasized that Martinez Hernandez came to the U.S. to evade crimes committed in El Salvador and was not seeking a better life. Morin's relatives expressed concerns that he may have assaulted other victims during his time in the country. Martinez Hernandez is set to appear before a Maryland judge for his charges.
