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Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

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State police release name of Berlin hit-and-run victim

(Nov. 24, 2016) Maryland State Police investigators announced on Monday that the victim of an apparent fatal hit and run in Berlin on Nov. 11 has been identified as 49-year-old Carlos Enrique Morales Barrios of Ocean City.
According to a press release on Monday, Barrios was found dead on the Route 50 roadside near GlenRiddle. He lived at the 200 block of South Philadelphia Avenue.
During a phone interview on Monday, police spokesperson Elena Russo said the victim’s foreign nationality made it difficult to notify his family and resulted in a delay in the release of his name.
“They had trouble identifying this guy – that’s why it took them about a week – because he had a passport with him and they had to go through the Mexican Consulate to get to his next of kin,” she said. “That was a little bit challenging for them.”
No suspects were named and the case remains under investigation. Russo admitted that will be difficult, because police are depending on the possibility of witnesses and are analyzing “some debris that was left on the side of the road.”
“Perhaps that would help them – [even] a paint match. I don’t know exactly what kind of evidence [police have], but if they found pieces of a vehicle, like a puzzle, it just fits,” she said. “If they had a vehicle that somebody described they thought was in the area, they could hunt down that vehicle and see if that piece fits the damage on the car.
“I don’t think there are any cameras in that area because it’s so rural, that’s why they really rely on getting this information out through the media,” Russo added. “Hopefully, witnesses have something. It’s a tough one.”
Police discovered the body after receiving a 911 call from a motorist who thought he had spotted a dead deer near a ditch, but found, upon further examination, that it was a body.
The man apparently spoke with state police at the Berlin Barrack, and troopers arrived to find the victim “deceased … in a grassy ravine between Maryland Route 707 and Route 50 in Worcester County” according to a state police press release issued later that day.
The release went on to stay a preliminary investigation suggested the victim was involved in a fatal hit-and-run “due to the physical evidence and debris left at the scene.”
Police are asking that anyone with information related to the case contact the Berlin Barrack at 410-641-3101.
The Lower Eastern Shore Crime Solvers are offering up to $1,000 for any information leading to an arrest for the person responsible. For more information, call 410-548-1776.