A community in mourning gathered on Sunday to honour Rachel Morin’s memory as her killer remains at large weeks after she was found dead on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland.
The 37-year-old’s heartbroken mother shared what she felt when she found out her daughter’s body had been located.
“The pain was so unbearable,” Patty Morin told the crowd as she choked back tears.
The public Celebration of Life at the Greater Grace World Outreach Church in Baltimore was held to remember Morin, who was found dead on 6 August shortly after she was last seen heading off for a walk on the trail.
“The first thing you think of as a mom is, I wish I could be there. I’m 500 miles away. I wish I could be there. I wish I could find her. She’s probably scared. I wish I could hold her,” Patty Morin said, recalling how she felt before her daughter’s body was found.
Morin’s killer has still not been caught, but the Harford County Sheriff’s Office released video of a suspect, whose DNA was found at the scene.
“The hardest thing for a mom to do is to plan your child’s funeral,” she said.
Rachel Morin was found dead on the Ma and Pa Trail— (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
“I can’t be there to hold my baby and to comfort her, but I know that the God that we believe in, and the God that Rachel believed in, was there holding her and comforting her and he never left her,” her mother added.
According to a program distributed at the memorial, Morin was a fitness enthusiast who lifted weights and participated in marathons. She loved fashion and enjoyed travelling. And she was a dedicated mother of five children, aged eight to 18 years old.
The children are being taken care of by their fathers and other relatives, according to Joseph Murtha, an attorney representing Morin’s family.
“It was an incredibly moving service, recognizing the joy and the energy that Rachel brought to every community that she was involved in,” Mr Murtha told The Baltimore Sun. “It was moving and very spiritual in nature and comforting for the family.”
Maryland police released CCTV of suspect from a separate offence— (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
Mr Murtha also commented on Morin’s suspected killer.
“They know who it is; they just can’t identify him,’ he said. “They know his genetic makeup. Now with the [$10,000] reward and with the national presence, I just hope that someone will stand up and have some humanity and identify the person.”
Earlier this month, hundreds of people walked the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air to remember Morin.
“We think those are little ordinary things, but they actually mean something to people,” her mother said. “To have 2,000 people come out because somehow Rachel, in her ordinary life, affected them, I think that’s really amazing.”
Authorities are still urging the public to use caution while hiking on the trails, which they continue to patrol until the suspect is caught.
Anyone with information is urged to email tips to rmtips@harfordsheriff.org. A reward for information has since increased to $10,000.
