Mother-of-five Rachel Morin, who was found murdered on a Maryland hiking trail last weekend, used “multiple dating apps” before disappearing.
Morin, 37, disappeared around 6 p.m. last Saturday after leaving her home to hike the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland.
On the afternoon of her death, Morin had gone to a tanning salon for her daily spray tan.
A source close to the salon told the New York Post that all of the staff there knew her, and shortly before her death she told the staff that she had been on “several dating sites.”
Although Morin reportedly told staff she was on dating sites, she had officially met her new boyfriend, Richard Tobin, on social media just days earlier.
The afternoon before she disappeared, Morin, pictured here, reportedly told salon staff that she was on dating sites even though she had a boyfriend
Rachel Morin and Richard Tobin started dating “a few weeks” ago. The pair are shown during a previous hike together
The post reported that after her trip to the salon, she then headed to her local Planet Fitness gym before Tobin took her home around 5pm.
Morin then went on the trail and was last seen between 6pm and 7:30pm.
After she was reported missing, her lifeless body was discovered in a drain in a tunnel on the scenic hiking trail.
Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler also told WBAL earlier this week that officers did not yet have a suspect.
He said, “We don’t have a solid suspect.” Since we don’t know if this was a Rachel-specific event, we’re going to say, “Be aware and think there might be someone out there. ”
Local Michael Gabriszeski, along with his stepdaughter Cecilia and her boyfriend Evan, had joined the search for Morin when he claimed he stumbled upon her remains on Sunday.
Speaking to , Gabriszeski, a Native American tracker, said they decided to check two tunnels after noticing “clutters” on the ground near the track.
He said, “Cecilia was the first person to see the body.” She was hyperventilating really, really badly. And then the police asked her to sit down.
“As she sat down, she realized she was sitting in a large pool of blood. Laying completely naked on her back, she had suffered brutal head trauma…it appeared as if her head had been smashed in with a rock.
“There was a 15 to 20 foot trail of blood.” So it looked like she had been punched and dragged into that position.”
“It looked like[the killer]was trying to erase her identity.” “The right side of her face was gone.”
Michael Gabriszeski was joining the search for Morin on the Ma & Pa trail in Bel Air, Maryland, when he came across her remains on Sunday, he claims
Grabiszeski said he felt compelled to check the drainage tunnels along the way after noticing “disruptions” on the ground near the track
The coroner has not yet revealed how Morin died, but a murder investigation has been launched. Her family say she did not leave “voluntarily” and that her death was “no coincidence”.
Morin was last seen around 6pm on Saturday leaving her home to hike the Ma and Pa Trail
A separate source close to the family had previously told that the young mother suffered severe head trauma.
“The injuries were so terrible that there will be no open coffin (at her funeral),” the source said.
In an open letter shared on Facebook by her daughter Rebekah, Patricia Morin spoke about how her family is trying to deal with her daughter’s death.
She wrote, “We grieve.” We need time and space to grieve as a family. “We haven’t forgotten our community.”
“We just need time…I need time.” It’s only been 4 days since we got the terrible news.
“I ask you as mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters that you have pity on us and allow us to do this.”
Morin’s new boyfriend, who has a criminal past, claimed on social media on Sunday that he had nothing to do with her killing
It’s unclear who she was traveling with, but her new boyfriend Richard Tobin, 27, reported her missing.
The coroner has not yet revealed how Morin died, but a murder investigation has been launched.
Her family said she did not leave “voluntarily” and that her death was “not an accident”.
This comes after her new boyfriend claimed on social media on Sunday that he had nothing to do with her killing, despite his criminal past.
The couple had made their relationship official on social media just four days earlier.
Locals were spotted Tuesday participating in a community walk along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air during investigations
He said, “I love Rachel.” I would never hurt her, let the family and I grieve. Yes, I have a past, but I’m also 15 months clean and I’ve changed as a person. Please.’
Tobin has been arrested 14 times since 2014 on a variety of charges including drug trafficking, assault, disorderly conduct and evading arrest.
His extensive criminal record includes two arrests for second-degree criminal assault, restraining order violation, drug possession and malicious damage to property.
Documents show Tobin also has a number of traffic offenses, a fugitive offense, resisting arrest, and disorderly intoxication and disorderly conduct on his record.