After a dayslong manhunt, police have arrested the “monster” suspected in the brutal slaying of a couple during a family hike – a horrific attack that was witnessed by the two young daughters who are now orphaned and traumatized.
On July 26, Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, along with their two young daughters, ages 7 and 9, went on a hike at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas.
The family, according to Cristen’s sister, moved from another state to Prairie Grove, a small town near the Oklahoma border only three weeks before.
CNN reports that about 2:40 p.m., “Washington County received a call from the visitor center,” saying: “Two children are there. They advised that their parents were assaulted. One was possibly stabbed. The parents are missing.”
Mom ‘took them to safety’
When police arrived at the scene, the couple was found dead on the walking trail, sparking a manhunt for the killer who for days remained at large.
Police say the couple’s daughters were unharmed, thanks to the brave and selfless actions of their mother, who may have sacrificed herself to protect them during the deadly attack.
“We believe that the mother took them to safety, and then returned to help her husband,” Maj. Stacie Rhoads with ASP told reporters, per ABC.
Officials confirmed that the victims died from stab wounds caused by a knife.
‘Died heroes’
“Clinton and Cristen died heroes, protecting their little girls and they deserve justice. They will forever live on in all of our hearts,” the family said in a statement, shared by NBC.
Later, in a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for their funeral, a relative writes: “Their lives were stolen senselessly and cruelly. We want this individual caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He robbed these precious girls of their mom and dad, a mother of her son, a mother and father of their daughters.”
The fundraiser, as of August 1, has raised almost $57,000 of its $70,000 goal.
Suspect arrested
Following a dayslong manhunt by local and federal agents, ASP announced on July 30 they had arrested Andrew James McGann, a 28-year-old schoolteacher, in connection with the brutal slaying of the couple hiking with their children.
About 4:57 p.m., police found McGann at a hair salon in Springdale, just five days after the deadly attack. Police do not believe the suspect – who faces two counts of capital murder – was trying to change his appearance with a haircut: “Could chalk that up to school starts next week,” Rhoads said.
The arrest came just one day after authorities released a composite sketch of a man they were urgently trying to identify in connection with the double homicide.
Who is Andrew James McGann?
According to officials, McGann had recently relocated to Arkansas from Oklahoma and was set to begin a teaching job at a local school.
Springdale Public Schools confirmed he had been hired as a teacher candidate for the upcoming school year, but had not yet officially started, Superintendent Jared Cleveland said in a statement.
Reports reveal that the suspect previously worked as a teacher at Sand Springs Public Schools in Oklahoma from summer 2024 to May 2025, resigning at the end of the school year to move out of state, according to district officials.
Shockingly, he had passed all mandatory background checks – both at the district level and through the Oklahoma State Department of Education – raising serious questions about how someone with no red flags became linked to a double homicide.
‘Monster off the streets’
“Nothing can heal the harm done to the Brink family, but this announcement is a comfort and reassurance for our State. We are all lifting up prayers of thanks for our law enforcement and prayers of condolence to the entire Brink family,” Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement shared on X.
“Let there be no mistake – if you target innocent people, Arkansas law enforcement will hunt you down and bring you to justice.”
Praising the tireless efforts of law enforcement, ASP Col. Mike Hagar said: “Because of their hard work and investigative skill, we were able to take a monster off the streets, and bring relief to those two precious girls, and the rest of our citizens.”
Hagar said the tragic incident is still under investigation, though he did say it appeared to be a “completely random event.”
“We have no reason to believe that there was any known association between our suspects and our victims,” Hagar said.
While authorities have not yet revealed a motive, investigators say the arrest followed a flood of tips – some coming from as far as Washington state – that helped track down the suspect.
The arrest brings a dramatic end to a multi-state manhunt that left a community in shock and a nation following closely.
Rest in peace Cristen and Clinton. Please share your tributes in the comment section below and then share this story with your friends so we can also hear from them.
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