A man and a woman who had recently moved to the northwest of Arkansas were apparently killed when they hike in a state park with their daughters of school age, the authorities announced on Sunday.
Arkansas state police identified the victims as Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41. The agency said in a statement that the couple had recently moved to Grove Prairie from the outside of the state.
The Facebook pages for each, verified by NBC News, say they have lived in the land of California and the east of Montana. The public archives place them in Miles City, Montana.
State police said that the agency had been informed of the double homicide in the DEV’s Den state park shortly before 3 p.m. on Saturday. The park is approximately 12 miles east of Grove Prairie and about 25 miles south of Fayetteville.
“We have a heart broken by the horrible news from today’s DEV’s Den State Park and are in close contact with the state police and the Ministry of Parks, Heritage and Tourism while working to apprehend the suspect,” said Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Saturday evening on X.
She said that “the police will not rest” until the killer is found and prosecuted.
The girls of the victims, aged 7 and 9, were not injured and were under the care of family members, the agency announced on Sunday. It is not clear if they have witnessed the homicides.
A man’s hunting managed by the state police is underway. An FBI representative did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The state police said that the killer is a man with an average construction that wore a dark long sleeve shirt with the rolled sleeves, dark pants, a dark baseball cap and finger without gloves.
He may have been seen led to a park out in a black sedan, perhaps a Mazda, with adhesive tape obscuring his license plate number, the state police said. Investigators believe that the man may have led on the road to the State 170 or the State Highway 220 nearby.
No information on the type of weapon used or a pattern was available.
The Arkansas State Crime Lab will confirm the way and cause of the death, the state police announced.
Detectives hope that mobile phone and safety video can help them break the case. They called to anyone at anyone in the park on Saturday with mobile phone or gopro style images to move forward.
The area of the park where the homicides took place were prohibited on Sunday when the investigation continues, said state police. The couple’s bodies were found on a pedestrian path, said the agency.
He described the area as “distant and rural”, a region “where the terrain is robust, the vegetation is thick and there is no mobile phone service.”
A spokesperson for state parks said all of Devil’s Den were prohibited until further notice.
Last month, dedication was organized for a recently renovated campsite in the park. The Arkansas State Parks describes Devil’s Den as “a favorite destination for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrian”.
It is not clear how the double homicide was initially reported.