A 28-year-old schoolteacher has admitted to killing a couple who were hiking with their two young daughters at a state park in Arkansas, authorities said Thursday.
State Police arrested Andrew James McGann after a five-day manhunt and a flood of tips. He was found in Springdale, a city about a 40-minute drive from Devil’s Den State Park, according to police.
Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were found dead on Saturday on a walking trail at Devil’s Den after what police are calling a “completely random” attack. Their daughters, who are 7 and 9, were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, authorities have said.
Arkansas State Police Colonel Mike Hagar said authorities are trying to determine a motive for the stabbing attack. During an interview with police, McGann admitted to killing the couple, Hagar said.
DNA matching McGann’s was found at the scene of the crime, Hager said, and a search of his residence allegedly turned up items “consistent with being involved in this particular crime.”
Here’s what to know about the case:
The Brinks had just arrived in Arkansas
The Brinks had just moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas. Their water had been connected less than two weeks ago, Mayor David Faulk said.
Clinton Brink had been scheduled to start a job as a milk delivery driver Monday in the nearby Fayetteville area, according to Hiland Dairy, his employer. Cristen Brink had been licensed as a nurse in Montana and South Dakota before moving to Arkansas.
Officials said Clinton Brink was stabbed first. Cristen Brink ushered her children to safety before returning to help her husband. She was also stabbed to death. Authorities have not said if the girls witnessed their parents being killed.
The Brink family said the couple died as “heroes protecting their little girls.”
Hagar said he was “in awe” of the couple’s children, noting that — despite their unspeakable loss — they’ve been assisting police with the investigation into their parents’ murders.
“The information that they were able to provide to start us down this path, to be able to make this arrest, it all started with those two little girls,” he said. “It’s incredible.”
According to Hagar, the Brinks have a third daughter who was not on the trail the day of the attack.
McGann had just been hired as a teacher
McGann was charged with two counts of capital murder and was being held without bond Thursday.
Washington County prosecutor Brandon Carter said he did not know if McGann has a lawyer or will need a public defender.
Hagar said police have no reason to believe McGann knew the couple or their children.
Springdale Public Schools said it had hired McGann for the upcoming year but that he had not yet had contact with families or students.
He has active teaching licenses with no infractions or suspensions in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, according to government certification websites.
McGann was placed on administrative leave in spring 2023 while he was employed at Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound, Texas, “following concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favoritism,” according to a spokesperson for the Lewisville Independent School District. He resigned from the school in May 2023.
McGann was also a teacher at a small Oklahoma school district starting in the summer of 2024 until May.
Police received a flood of tips
Police had urged those who were at the park on the same day to check their cameras for images that could help point to a suspect — and people responded.
Their tips, photos and footage were instrumental in capturing McGann, police said. Police also released a composite sketch and a photo of a person of interest that showed him only from behind.
Tips came in from as far away as Washington state, said Colonel Stacie Rhoads, commander of the state police’s criminal investigation division.
“It was overwhelming,” she said.
Rhoads told ABC News that while McGann allegedly took steps to conceal his identity, he was “very sloppy.”
Devil’s Den is a 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) state park near West Fork, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, the state capital.
The park is known for its hiking trails and rock formations, and it is a short drive from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and Walmart’s Bentonville headquarters. It was selected as a state park site in the 1930s.
The park’s trails, which lead to the surrounding Ozark National Forest, remained closed Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
