Suspect arrested in 2023 murder of mother of 5 killed while hiking in Maryland

After 10 months of searching across the country, investigators said they arrested Friday the suspect they say murdered Rachel Morin as she walked on a Maryland trail last summer.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told reporters Saturday that through DNA evidence and tracking, local police and the FBI arrested Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in connection with the 2023 murder .

Morin, 37, a mother of five, was found dead on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail on August 6, 2023, a day after her boyfriend reported her missing after she failed to return home from a hiking.

Gahler said his team, the FBI and the community worked tirelessly to bring justice to Morin and his family.

“Our deputies and partners worked every day on this file with perseverance and passion,” he said.

Martinez-Hernandez, 23, will be charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape when he is extradited to Maryland, Gahler said.

Investigators believe Morin was attacked on the trail and ran through a wooded area before being killed in a drainage culvert that runs along the trail, the sheriff's office previously said.

DNA evidence was recovered from the crime scene shortly after Morin's body was found linked to a 2023 home invasion in Los Angeles, where a suspect's DNA had been found. A 9-year-old girl was attacked in the Los Angeles case, according to the sheriff.

Although they had the DNA evidence and video from that break-in, Gahler said they didn't have an ID on the suspect until May.

Martinez-Hernandez allegedly entered the United States illegally last year from El Salvador, where he was wanted for the murder of a woman, according to the sheriff and the FBI.

“Now, with the new DNA evidence, we knew who he was but we didn’t know where he was,” Gahler said.

Two weeks ago, investigators tracked the suspect to Tulsa and an arrest warrant was issued Friday.

Gahler said his office privately informed Morin's family about the warrant before the arrest was made.

Patricia Morin, the victim's mother, held back tears as she thanked investigators and the press for helping to find the suspect.

“At one point, when things were looking really dark and hopeless, the lead detective said to me, 'Patience will win out in the end,'” she said at the news conference. “I am very grateful and very grateful.”

The investigation into the murder is still ongoing.

Gahler said investigators still don't know the motive for the killing, but he noted it appeared the suspect acted alone.

Information from the suspect's attorney was not immediately available. No extradition date has been set.

ABC News' Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.