Parents murdered at Devil’s Den were ‘heroes protecting their little girls,’ family says

The married couple who were murdered in front of their daughters while hiking at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas died as “heroes protecting their little girls,” according to the victims’ devastated family, as a massive manhunt for the killer continues.

Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were slain Saturday afternoon — with the alarm raised by their chilling screams, according to police audio suggesting they were stabbed.

They were killed while walking along a trail in a remote section of the vast park with their daughters, ages 7 and 9, who both thankfully survived uninjured, authorities have said.

“Clinton and Cristen died heroes protecting their little girls, and they deserve justice,” the Brink family told ABC News in a statement.

“They will forever live in all of our hearts.

“The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult time as they grieve and learn how to navigate this new reality. They ask that if anyone has any information at all that will help in the investigation to please contact the proper authorities immediately.”

Authorities have not disclosed how the mother and father were killed. However, officials were responding to a report of a possible stabbing on the Devil’s Den trail around 2:30 p.m. Saturday when they heard screaming, according to police radio audio shared by CNN.

“Washington County received a call from the visitor center,” someone said on the official audio captured by Broadcastify.com. “Two children are there. They advised that their parents were assaulted. One was possibly stabbed. The parents are missing.”

One responder heading towards the scene radioed that they heard “yelling calling for help,” according to recordings obtained by 5News.

“We’re hearing them too towards the end of the lower part of the Devil’s Den trail,” another official responds.

By the time they reached the family, the parents were both dead — and the killer in the wind.

“We found the victims down here,” a man says in the recordings. “They’re on the lower Devil’s Den trail where I’ve got two … two bodies.”

The couple’s daughters were not hurt in the attack and have since been placed with family members, according to the Arkansas State Police. 

It’s not clear if the killings were targeted. The couple had just recently moved to Arkansas from out of state, police said.

The unidentified suspect was last seen wearing a long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled, dark pants, a dark baseball cap, sunglasses, a black backpack, and fingerless gloves, police said.

Officials said he was seen driving toward a park exit in a black four-door sedan, possibly a Mazda, with a taped-over license plate. From that exit, that vehicle could have traveled on State Highway 170 or State Highway 220.

Arkansas State Police did not announce a warning about the manhunt for a double murderer until around 8:40 p.m. Saturday, more than six hours after the threat was first reported. Police blamed it on the difficulties of the remote murder scene.

The bodies were found in “a remote and rural area, where the terrain is rugged, vegetation is thick and there is no cellphone service,” state police said.