Man who described grisly state of Rachel Morin’s body never actually saw it, sheriff says

The Maryland man who claimed he saw the body of 37-year-old Rachel Morin was not even “within eyesight of the crime scene” when she was found, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office told The Independent.

Michael Gabriszeski, 49, claimed to multiple news outlets that he and his stepdaughter came across Morin’s body on Sunday when they joined the search for the missing mother-of-five, who had vanished on Saturday after going for a jog on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland.

Mr Gabriszeski said that his stepdaughter, who he said was a friend of Morin’s, was the first to discover the body in a tunnel near the trail before they alerted police. He gave his first public comments to WMAR on Monday.

On Thursday, multiple media outlets published interviews in which Mr Gabriszeski described seeing Morin’s remains in a horrifying state.

Mr Gabriszeski gave graphic accounts of what he claimed he saw to both the Daily Mail and WBFF, telling the latter that he “saw a terrible mess”.

But a spokesperson for the Harford County’s Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The Independent on Thursday that Mr Gabriszeski “did not find Rachel’s body” and that he did not “view her body.”

“He has no first-hand knowledge of the crime scene,” the sheriff’s office added.

Mr Gabriszeski was in the area to help search for the missing woman, the sheriff’s office explained, but said that he was “not within eyesight of the crime scene”.

The spokesperson would not confirm whether or not the stepdaughter was the one to locate the body.

Investigators have also not confirmed any details about Morin’s injuries or the state of her remains.

Morin initially left her home around 6pm on Saturday to go for a jog. When she failed to return five hours later, her boyfriend called the police to report her missing. Her body was found on Sunday afternoon.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler announced that evening that the case was now a murder investigation.

“Together we will solve this crime and find the heinous coward who took Rachel Morin from her family and friends,” Mr Gahler said in another briefing on Wednesday.

He added that a team of detectives have been working around the clock to piece together a timeline of the case and that some of the “more than 100 tips” that have been submitted by the public “have been promising.”

Investigators in the Harford County Sheriff’s Office do not have an official suspect yet in the case.

“We do not have a solid suspect. Not knowing whether this was a targeted event specific to Rachel, we are going to say, yes, be aware, be thinking there could be somebody out here and this is a random event,” Mr Gahler said.

Mr Gahler urged the public to be vigilant when walking along the Ma and Pa Trail and said there will be increased patrols along the trail.

This article was amended on 10 August 2023. It previously stated that Michael Gabriszeski had discovered Rachel Morin’s body, based on his own accounts.