Arkansas Authorities Search for Suspect After Deadly Park Assault on Couple | Crime Alert 6AM 07.29.25

Police in northwest Arkansas are searching for a suspect after a couple was found dead on a hiking trail over the weekend — their two young daughters nearby but unharmed.

Authorities in Los Angeles are searching for answers—and a missing grenade—after a deadly explosion at a Sheriff’s Department training facility claimed the lives of three veteran deputies.

A state judge in Alabama has paused the scheduled execution of a death row inmate to determine whether he’s mentally competent to be put to death. 

A former sheriff’s deputy in Georgia has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for using excessive force against a Black detainee in a jailhouse beating caught on video. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime alert on John Lemley. Police in northwest Arkansas are
searching for a suspect after a couple was found dead
on a hiking trail over the weekend, their two young
daughters nearby but unharmed. Arkansas State Police save forty three
year old Clinton David Brink and forty one year old
Kristin Amanda Brink were discovered Saturday in Devil's Den State Park,

(00:23):
a densely wooded area in Washington County not far from
the Oklahoma border. Authorities are calling it a double homicide.
The Brinks had recently moved to Prairie Grove, Arkansas, from
out of state. Their daughters, ages seven and nine, were
with them on the trail when the attack happened. Police
say the children were not physically harmed and are now

(00:44):
in the care of relatives. As of Sunday, the suspect
remained at large, described as a white man wearing dark shorts,
a dark ball cap, sunglasses, and fingerless gloves. He was
last seen driving a black four door sedan, possibly a
mile The car had a license plate partially obscured by
tape and was spotted heading toward the park's exit. Investigators

(01:08):
believe the vehicle may have traveled along State Highway one
seventy or two twenty, roads that cut through a remote
area where cell phone service is spotty. Shay Lewis, head
of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourisms AS
rangers have increased patrols and are working closely with state
police and other law enforcement agencies. In a statement, he

(01:29):
offered condolences to the victims loved ones and reaffirmed that
public safety remains a top priority. Officials are urging anyone
who visited Devil's Den recently to check photos or videos
that may help identify the suspect or his vehicle. So far,
police have released no information about a possible motive. The

(01:50):
Brinks bodies have been sent to the state Crime Lab
for autopsy as the investigation continues.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Thanks John for the latest crime and justice needs. Go
to crime online and please join us for our daily
podcast Crime Stories, more crime and justice news after this
Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news Crime Online,
John Lemley.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Authorities in Los Angeles are searching for answers and a
missing grenade after a deadly explosion at a Sheriff's Department
training facility. Claimed the lives of three veteran deputies. The
blast occurred July eighteenth that the Bisgaloos training facility as
members of the department's Arson and Explosives Detail were handling

(02:35):
two military style grenades recovered the day before from an
apartment storage unit in Santa Monica. One grenade detonated, the other,
according to Sheriff Robert Luna, has yet to be found.
Despite extensive searches of vehicles, buildings, and even the gym,
the unexploded device remains unaccounted for. No public access to

(02:56):
the site has been reported. Killed in the blast Detective
job Ushua Kelly Ecklund, Detective Victor Lemus, and Detective William Osborne,
who served nineteen twenty two and thirty three years on
the force, respectively. Luna called the incident the department's deadliest
single loss of life since eighteen fifty seven. An ATF

(03:16):
investigation is under way. Meanwhile, Luna has ordered sweeping policy changes,
declaring that from now on, every explosive device, active or inert,
will be treated as live. A state judge in Alabama
has paused the schedule execution of a death row inmate
to determine whether he's mentally competent to be put to death.

(03:37):
David Lee Roberts, now fifty nine, was set to die
by nitrogen hypoxia on August twenty first for the nineteen
ninety two killing of Anitra Jones in Marion County. Prosecutor
say Robert shot Jones three times in the head while
she slept, then set the house on fire, but Circuit
Judge Talmadgelee Carter issued a stay earlier this month, citing

(04:00):
questions about whether Roberts understands the reason for his execution.
His defense team says Roberts suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, hears voices,
and recently tried to burn off tattoos he claimed were
controlling his thoughts. The judge has ordered the execution delayed
until Alabama's Department of Mental Health completes a competency evaluation.

(04:22):
The state is not appealing the state, but has requested
the process be expedited. The U. S. Supreme Court prohibits
executing inmates who are incapable of understanding their punishment, though
Alabama law offers no specific criteria for determining competency in
such cases. A former sheriff's deputy in Georgia, has been

(04:43):
sentenced to sixteen months in federal prison for using excessive
force against a black detainee and a jailhouse beating caught
on video. Twenty seven year old Ryan Beagle pleaded guilty
earlier this year to violating the civil rights of Jarrett Hobbs,
who had been booked into the Camden County jail in Woodbine,
near the Georgia, Florida line September third, twenty twenty two.

(05:07):
Federal prosecutors say security footage from that night showed Hobbs
standing alone in his cell when five deputies entered. At
least three, including Beagle, punched Hobbs repeatedly in the head
and neck. He was then dragged into the hallway and
slammed against a wall. Beagle was fired and arrested more
than two months later, after Hobb's attorney released the jail

(05:29):
video to the public. Two other deputies involved also faced
state charges of battery and violating their oaths of office. Hobbes,
from Greensboro, North Carolina, initially faced felony charges stemming from
the incident, but prosecutors later dropped them citing insufficient evidence.
Camden County later paid Hobbes, an undisclosed cash settlement to

(05:52):
avoid a civil lawsuit. So far, Beagle is the only
one to face federal prosecution.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Thanks John, or the latest crime in justice news, go
to crime online dot com and please join us for
our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best
to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides.
With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.