Rachel Morin's accused killer was hiding in plain sight: prosecutors
He was right under their noses.
The illegal immigrant charged with the brutal 2023 slaying of Rachel Morin on a Maryland hiking trail was hiding out with relatives in the state during a nationwide manhunt that ended with his arrest for murder, court papers revealed.
Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, was taken into custody at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and extradited to Maryland on Thursday to face rape and murder charges.
His relatives in Maryland told police that he stayed with them between December 2023 and May 2024 before suddenly vanishing, according to court documents.
They did not specify where they lived in the state or how close the location was to where Morin was found Aug. 5, 2023.
Morin's mother, Patty Morin, was stunned to learn that Martinez Herandez did not flee.
"That's really brazen to stay in the state where he committed the crime," she told Fox News Digital. "It amazes me. It also amazes me that his family didn't see the fliers we posted."
The police hunt for Martinez Hernandez stretched to Los Angeles and El Salvador.
Morin's boyfriend reported the 37-year-old missing after she left to go for a walk on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, and never returned.
Police later found the mother of five's car parked near the trail and her brutally beaten body in a culvert nearby.
Martinez Hernandez left bags of clothes behind after leaving his relatives' home last month, and police were able to collect DNA from the items that matched samples from the crime scene.
Officials said Martinez Hernandez, who has suspected gang ties, fled his native El Salvador in February 2023 after a warrant was issued for the murder of a woman there.
He made three unsuccessful attempts to enter the United States before making it across the border on Feb. 13, 2023 near El Paso, Texas, authorities said.
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND POLICE TIE CRIME SCENE DNA TO LOS ANGELES ASSAULT, HOME INVASION
Police said he assaulted a 9-year-old girl during a Los Angeles home invasion in March, and a DNA profile from that attack matched a sample found on Morin.
"Victor Hernandez did not come to this country to make a better life for him or his family, he came here to escape the crimes he committed in El Salvador. He came here to murder Rachel and God willing, no one else," Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said this past weekend.
Morin's relatives said they fear Martinez Hernandez may have assaulted other victims during his violent stay in the United States.
He is scheduled to appear before a Maryland judge on Friday.