FIRST ON FOX – Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris on Tuesday morning sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking why a DNA sample was never taken from the suspected illegal immigrant charged with the murder of Rachel Morin.
Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was brutally murdered on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, an affluent Baltimore suburb north of the city, in August 2023.
“Rachel Morin's alleged killer, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, had multiple encounters with border agents before being charged with the first-degree murder and rape of Rachel Morin. Yet, it appears that his DNA was never collected,” Harris wrote in her Tuesday letter, calling it a “persistent and systemic failure” and noting that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is required to collect DNA from all illegal immigrants under the DNA Fingerprinting Act.
In June, Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler announced the arrest of Martinez-Hernandez, a 23-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, for Morin's murder.
Martinez-Hernandez was arrested in Tusla, Oklahoma, and faces charges of first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping in connection with Morin's death.
WATCH: BODYCAM FOOTAGE OF MIGRANT ACCUSED OF RAPE AND MURDER OF MARYLAND MOTHER RACHEL MORIN
Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, arrives in Maryland. He is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in the death of Rachel Morin at the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun/Getty Images)
Harris went on to point to allegations that less than a third of migrants officers encounter at the border have their DNA samples collected by CBP, according to DHS whistleblowers.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH MURDER OF RACHEL MORIN IN A 'CRUCIAL STEP': FAMILY LAWYER
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“In fact, the internal administration memo found that of the nearly 1.7 million encounters with illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2022, only about 37% resulted in DNA collection. This figure reportedly dropped to 31% in fiscal year 2023,” Harris wrote, adding that “due to a lack of DNA samples, law enforcement investigators were forced to conduct a lengthy, nationwide search that allowed a deadly criminal to roam freely.” [10] months.”
Maryland congressman asks Mayorkas about whistleblower claims that DNA is being collected from only a third of migrants encountered at the southern border; whether a DNA sample was ever collected from Martinez-Hernandez after he entered the United States; and if not, why not?
MARYLAND SHERIFF'S 'GUT' SAYS RACHEL MORIN WAS 'STALKED' BY SUSPECT BEFORE HER MURDER
Rachel Morin was dragged off a hiking trail on August 5, 2023 and brutally murdered. (Family brochure)
Authorities have labeled him a potential serial killer after his alleged involvement in a series of crimes against women in Central America and the United States, and prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the suspect.
“The Morin family is relieved and pleased that the State is seeking life in prison without parole for the defendant,” said Randolph Rice, the attorney for The Morin familysaid in a statement following Martinez-Hernandez's arrest. “This ensures that the suspect responsible for Rachel's tragic death will never again have the opportunity to harm anyone. We are grateful for the State's commitment to ensuring justice for Rachel and ensuring public safety.”
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND POLICE LINK CRIME SCENE DNA TO LOS ANGELES ASSAULT AND HOME INVASION
Maryland Rep. Andy Harris sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday morning asking about the suspect in the August 2023 murder of Rachel Morin. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg)
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Investigators linked DNA found at the scene of Morin's murder to DNA found inside a Los Angeles residence after a home invasion in March of last year.
“Once in our country, and likely emboldened by his anonymity, he attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion in March of 2023 in Los Angeles,” Gahler said at the time of the suspect's arrest. “And as I think everyone knows, that was our first DNA match linking Rachel's case to the one in Los Angeles.”
Victor Hernandez-Martinez is charged with the rape and murder of Rachel Morin on August 5, 2023, in Bel Air, Maryland. (Hartford County Sheriff's Office/Tulsa Police Department)
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However, despite the DNA match linking the two cases, authorities were unable to find an identity match for the DNA samples collected at both crime scenes because they had not been previously registered in the nation's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), where authorities record DNA samples from criminals arrested in the United States.
“We are 1,800 miles from the southern border,” Gahler said in June. “And American citizens are not safe because of their failed immigration policies.”
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
