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The all-American couple who were knifed to death while visiting an Arkansas state park were known as gentle, outdoorsy people devoted to their three children.
Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristin Brink, 41, were murdered during a Saturday trip to explore nature near their new home. Authorities on Wednesday arrested 28-year-old Andrew James McGann for allegedly murdering the couple at Devil’s Den State Park.
“They were outdoorsy people. They loved to take the girls and go do outdoor things and go hiking. They loved every minute of it,” Mary Hinebauch, a fellow choir member from their former church in Miles City, Montana, told Fox News Digital.
“That wasn’t an unnatural place for them to be. They did tons of stuff like that.”
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The family had recently moved to Arkansas for what Cristen described as a new opportunity and to be closer to Clinton’s mother.
“It was an opportunity to be closer to family,” Hinebauch recalled. “And Clinton’s mother lived down there. And it was an opportunity for them for some change of scenery and to be down by his mom.”
Cristen Brink, in particular, left a deep impression on her friends and community.
“She had the two little toddlers when she lived here. I’m 65 years old, and I always stood back and thought, ‘Oh, I wish I could have had that patience,’” Hinebauch said.
She remembered Cristen as the kind of person who gave what she had — even when it wasn’t much.
“They didn’t have a lot, but she always had an extra hand for somebody else if they needed anything,” she said. “She touched people’s lives just by her softness. And her talent was unbelievable. Her singing was just a real gift.”
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The Brinks were known for being present, kind, and active in their local community.
“They were out in the community. Everybody knew them — you know, with the little kids, and she was involved in moms’ groups,” Hinebauch said.
Reflecting on the tragedy at Devil’s Den State Park, she added, “I just think it’s pure evil. It sounds like there was hardly any crime in the area. It was a very safe, safe place to be.”
Reminiscing about their final exchange, Hinebauch said, “I went back to look at the very last message we had between each other, and it was like they had just gotten there and were unpacking. And I just had said, ‘Keep in touch.’ And that was the last little conversation we had.”
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Amy, who knew the Brinks’ from their church in Miles City, Montana, said that the family were “wonderful people.”
“She [Cristin] got A’s in nursing school while raising babies and taking care of her family,” she told Fox News Digital. “She was involved in volleyball at Miles Community College, where she graduated with her nursing degree.”
“I loved her so much, and it just doesn’t seem real. Just seems there should be something I could do to take all this terrible tragedy back. Sadly, they are gone.”
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