HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND: Just one week before mother-of-five Rachel Morin was discovered dead on a trail, a female teacher, 59, from Maryland vanished while out for a walk less than 60 miles away. Mariame Toure Sylla, who was walking 15 miles northeast of Washington, DC, was last seen over ten days ago on July 29 at around 8 pm, near the Schrom Hills Park Path.
Friends of Sylla have told 8newsnow that the 59-year-old educator's disappearance is "bizarre and out of the ordinary." Officials have not classified the case as anything other than a missing persons case as of yet, but as the search continues, they have stated that they are not prepared to rule anything out.
On August 5, the body of Morin was found about 55 miles to the northeast
After Sylla went missing on July 29, Morin's body was found on the Ma and Pa trail in Bel Air, Maryland, on August 5 about 55 miles to the northeast of where Sylla was last seen. In order to pray for Sylla's safe return, students, parents, family members, and friends from the Greenbelt neighborhood gathered for a vigil for her over the weekend.
The 59-year-old was praised by the community for being a "vibrant and visible part of the neighborhood" and for her work as a volunteer and teacher at the French immersion school for more than ten years.
Sylla typically took daily strolls for 30 to 45 minutes at a park close to her home, and she disappeared while taking one of those walks, according to the investigators. According to Greenbelt police, they have been "thrilled" by the assistance in finding Sylla and have also contacted neighboring police departments for potential leads.
'We have conducted a number of interviews with her friends and family'
Greenbelt Police Chief Richard Bowers said, "We have conducted a number of interviews with her friends and family. We've conducted searches of the area, we've interviewed other witnesses that frequent that particular area.”
Bowers declared, “Not returning was very much out of the ordinary, she was a person of habit. This was part of her normal habit and she broke that habit when she didn't return. That's really what's got us concerned."
On August 6, the Harford County Sheriff's Office in Bel Air made the shocking discovery of a female corpse just a day after Rachel Morin reportedly vanished. Morin, 37, whose body was discovered, was last seen the day before beginning the Ma and Pa trail.
The 6.25-mile Ma and Pa Trail, a multi-use rail trail, travels through Harford County in Maryland along the route of the former Ma and Pa Railroad. It has three interconnected trails and one that is not, with plans to connect it in the middle to make the total length ten miles.
Morin's case is being investigated as a homicide
Although a Hartford Country Sheriff spokeswoman said no potential suspects have been identified, Morin's case is being investigated as a homicide. Police in the area chose not to comment on Morin's cause of death or the nature of her wounds. Her family claims her death was "not accidental" and she did not "go willingly."
This follows her new boyfriend, Richard Tobin's assertion on social media that despite his criminal past, he had nothing to do with her murder. Four days earlier, the couple had only made their relationship public on social media, as reported by Daily Mail. Tobin, in the assertion, also declared that he is 15 months clean, trying to back his claims of innocence.
