CONTACT:
Diane Richardson
Media Relations Office
(301) 609-6557 or (240) 682-1658

On March 28 at 1:37 p.m., officers responded to the Super 8 motel in the 3500 block of Crain Highway in Waldorf for the report of a death investigation. A preliminary investigation revealed a motel employee entered the room to check on the occupants who were scheduled to check out earlier in the day. Upon entering the room, a man and a woman were found deceased. The male was later identified as Robert Ralph Russell, Jr., 47, of King George, VA. The woman was identified as Rachel Rae Africa, 39, of Waldorf. An autopsy was performed on March 29 at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. Africa’s death was ruled a homicide and Russell’s death was ruled a suicide. Detectives are working to establish a motive; however, there was recent history of domestic violence in which Russell was charged with assaulting Africa on March 23. He was arrested but released on personal recognizance on March 25. Anyone with additional information is asked to call Detective J. Long at (301) 609-6502. The investigation is ongoing.

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office is a full-service law enforcement agency comprised of more than 600 police, corrections and civilian personnel responsible for protecting more than 150,000 residents. The CCSO was accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in 2001 has been designated as a CALEA Gold Standard of Excellence agency since 2011. Established in 1658, the CCSO is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States. For more information, visit www.ccso.us.

Charles County Crime Solvers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest or indictment of a person responsible for a crime in Charles County. All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. Anyone with information about an unsolved crime or the location of a fugitive may contact Charles County Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted online at www.charlescountycrimesolvers.com or by using the P3Intel mobile app, which can be found in the Android Store and Apple store by searching P3tips. For more information about the P3 program, click on this link: www.p3intel.com.