Members of the media gathered in the foyer of the Arkansas State Police Troop L headquarters in Lowell Wednesday evening. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a media advisory that she, alongside Director of State Police Colonel Mike Hagar and Parks Secretary Shea Lewis, would be delivering an update on the investigation of a double homicide at Devil’s Den State Park. The suspect had been arrested.
A line of uniformed and plainclothes police officers stood several feet behind a lectern as Governor Sanders addressed the press.
"Good evening," Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. "Thank you for coming in late this evening. We are here in northwest Arkansas, a community that has been absolutely heartbroken over the course of the almost last week. Our entire state is grieving for the tragic loss and senseless and horrific crime that's taken place in this area.
"On Saturday, July 26, Clinton and Kristen Brink were murdered while hiking with their two daughters in Devil’s Den State Park in West Fork. The daughters, ages 7 and 9, were unharmed and are now with other family members.
"It was a horrible moment to have to call and speak with members of the Brink family to tell them what had happened to Clinton and Cristen. And while that was one of the worst moments, certainly one of the moments where we're the most grateful is for the absolute tireless and heroic efforts of our law enforcement, and the collaborative effort from every single level—our city, our county, our state, our state parks, our federal partners—who have worked together to bring this person to justice. I’m so thankful for their courageous and tireless efforts over the course of the last several days."
The 28-year-old James Andrew McGann was arrested Wednesday while getting his hair cut in Springdale. McGann had recently moved to Springdale from Oklahoma to work as an elementary school teacher in the Springdale School District. State police are charging McGann with two counts of capital murder.
"Because of their hard work and investigative skill, we were able to take a monster off the streets and bring relief to Clinton and Cristen’s precious girls—and to the rest of the citizens of Arkansas," Col. Mike Hagar, Arkansas State Police director, said.
After statements were made, Major Stacie Rhoads, commander of the State Police’s Criminal Investigation Division, took questions from members of the media.
"We still have a lot of work to do in terms of securing a conviction," Maj. Stacie Rhoads said. "That’s our next big focus right now. But we will release some details as they become available that we think are pertinent. The community deserves to know what happened and what led to that arrest, and we’ll be happy to share that when the time is right."
Doug Warner with KNWA asked Rhoads if there’s any indication of motive yet.
"We’re not going to talk about his motive right now," Rhoads said. "We’re still exploring and determining exactly what that motive was, so it’d be a little premature for us to speak on that tonight."
Ozarks at Large followed up, asking if there was concern about long-term effects on state park visitation after a crime like this.
"I don’t know if we have a true indication of what the impact will be," Shea Lewis, director of Arkansas State Parks, said. "I know it has greatly impacted this family with their loss. As we move forward and navigate reopening trails and other parts of the park, we’re going to take our time. Right now, they’re going to remain closed. I want to make sure the Brinck family has time to grieve and go through this process—time for our staff to assess the situation—and then we’ll reopen it at the appropriate time."
Rhoads added that premature information sharing can hinder investigations.
"Sometimes when we share information, it actually creates a lot of running down trails that we don’t want to go down," Rhoads said. "It actually hinders the investigation. As some of y’all are likely aware, there was a podcast that, really, we feel hurt the investigation. The interviews that were done were spreading information that we were using to help locate [the suspect], and the last thing we wanted was for him to be alerted that we were onto him.
So we tried to give information that would help us identify this person, but we didn’t want to give anything that would send him into hiding. That’s why we were very deliberate with the information and the timing that it was delivered. That was the strategy."
Washington County Prosecutor Brandon Carter said McGann is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 1 at 7:45 a.m.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue.
