Rachel Morin's mother says she nearly gave up hope before suspected killer was arrested

BALTIMORE -- Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was found dead off the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County after she went out for a walk in August 2023. Patty Morin had almost given up hope as law enforcement officers searched nationwide for her daughter's killer.

More than 10 months later, on June 14, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler announced that 23-year-old Victor Martinez Hernandez, an undocumented migrant from El Salvador, was arrested at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thanks to tips and DNA tracking.

He is being charged with the murder and rape of Morin.

"I mean, there's 8 billion people in the world," Patty Morin said. "And they found the one person out of 8 billion people. That's an amazing feat."

"Very grateful that they didn't give up"  

Patty Morin, relieved that her daughter's accused killer was captured, sat down with WJZ's Jessica Albert for an exclusive one-on-one interview.

"I was just so very grateful that they didn't give up," Patty Morin said. "That she wasn't the folder on the desk that I was afraid might happen."  

"It takes and shatters"  

Patty Morin told WJZ that times were bleak and she thought there would never be an arrest made.

She said detectives told her Saturday morning that they found the man suspected of killing her daughter.

Gahler said Martinez Hernandez entered the United States illegally in February 2023 after an arrest warrant was issued following the murder of a woman in El Salvador.

He was also wanted for attacking a 9-year-old and her mother in Los Angeles.

Patty Morin said the 10-month-long nightmare has ended for her family, but now she has new grief.

"It takes and shatters," Patty Morin said. "All the things that you had put up to, kind of buffer yourself from the pain, and now you have to face the reality that she really is gone. We've lost her, and so like I said, it was just it was a mix of emotions, and I'm still working through."

"Don't give up, mom"  

The tip that led deputies to the suspect came in a few weeks ago on what would have been Rachel Morin's 38th birthday.

"I think she was trying to say, 'Don't give up, mom,'" Patty Morin said.

She is now looking ahead and preparing for the judicial process. The suspect is expected to be extradited to Maryland soon.

"I have a lot of questions," Patty Morin said. "Some of them, I can imagine why, I don't know, but I'm sure time will tell us the truth."

Morin said she is grateful for the community and all of the tips that were called in, but says she still needs their help.

Now that the suspect has been identified, she wants anyone who knows anything about him or his movements around the time of the murder to contact the Harford County Sheriff's Office.