Arkansas police release sketch drawing in search for killer at Devil's Den State Park

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas police say the killer of a married couple who had been hiking the remote Devil's Den State Park with their young daughters was likely injured during the weekend attack and released a sketch drawing of a man wanted for questioning.

The composite sketch, which was released Monday night and depicts a man wearing a baseball hat, was the first image Arkansas State Police have given to the public as the search for the killer entered a fourth day. The man in the drawing was described by police as a person of interest who was seen in the park Saturday.

Authorities have not provided a possible motive or elaborated on how the couple was killed.

Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were found dead on a walking trail. Their daughters, who are 7 and 9, were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, authorities have said.

Along the with drawing, state police released a statement saying the suspect “likely sustained an injury while attacking the couple." It did not go into further detail.

Authorities have asked the public for days to report tips and urged trailgoers who were at Devil's Den on Saturday to look through their photos and videos for possible images of the suspect. State police said they have received “numerous calls” but have released few details about the investigation.

The suspect may have fled the rugged 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) park, which has weak cellphone service, in a car on with a license plate partly covered by tape, state police have said. Authorities have not provided a possible motive or elaborated on how the couple were killed.

The family had just moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas, and their water had been connected less than two weeks ago, Mayor David Faulk said. Clinton Brink had been scheduled to start a job as a milk delivery driver Monday in the nearby Fayetteville area, according to Hiland Dairy, his employer.

“Clinton and Cristen died heroes protecting their little girls, and they deserve justice,” the Brink family said in a statement.“ They will forever live in all of our hearts.”

Officials described the suspect as a white male wearing dark shorts, a dark ball cap, sunglasses and fingerless gloves. He was seen driving toward a park exit in a black, four-door sedan with a license plate partly covered by tape.

The car, possibly a Mazda, may have been traveling on State Highway 170 or State Highway 220.

“We’re just really hoping that anybody who captured any video or pictures or anything suspicious, just let us know,” state police spokesperson Nick Genty said. “We’re investigating any and all tips that we get.”

The FBI said its Little Rock field office is assisting state police in the investigation.

Devil’s Den is located near West Fork, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, the state capital. The park is known for its hiking trails and rock formations, and is a short drive from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and Walmart’s Bentonville headquarters.

On Monday, few visitors were at the park and the trails remained closed. Rangers had stepped up patrol at Devil's Den, said Shea Lewis, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the deaths “horrific" and said "law enforcement will not rest until the perpetrator is brought to justice.”

Danikka Harrell, a nurse at a rehabilitation center in Montana, said the Brinks had also lived in that state for several years starting around 2018 and played on a recreational volleyball team. In the summer, the Brinks would set up a volleyball net at a local park and encourage people to play, she said.

Harrell said that when she struggled to find child care, the Brinks allowed her daughter to stay with them “without a thought" and that Cristen Brink would often bring a plate of food when she brought the girl back home.

“They were selfless and unconditional with their love and support for their friends,” Harrell said.

Investigators asked for potential witnesses to review their photos and videos from the park south of Fayetteville. The bodies of the couple were taken to the state crime lab, where the manner and cause of death will be determined.

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report

In this image made from video taken on Saturday, July 26, 2025, provided by KHBS/KHOG, Law enforcement officers investigate the deaths of a couple who were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters at Devil's Den State Park in West Fort, Ark. (KHBS/KHOG via AP)

In this image made from video taken on Saturday, July 26, 2025, provided by KHBS/KHOG, law enforcement officers investigate the deaths of a couple who were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters at Devil's Den State Park in West Fort, Ark. (KHBS/KHOG via AP)

In this image made from video taken on Saturday, July 26, 2025, provided by KHBS/KHOG, law enforcement officers investigate the deaths of a couple who were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters at Devil's Den State Park in West Fort, Ark. (KHBS/KHOG via AP)

The trail head to the Devil's Den trail at Devils Den State Park remains closed Monday, July 28, 2025, in West Fork, Ark. Police in Arkansas are searching for a suspect in the deaths of a couple who investigators said were attacked while on the wooded walking trail with their two young daughters. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

The visitors center at Devils Den State Park is open Monday, July 28, 2025, in West Fork, Ark. Police in Arkansas are searching for a suspect in the deaths of a couple who investigators said were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

The trail head to the Devil's Den trail at Devils Den State Park remains closed Monday, July 28, 2025, in West Fork, Ark. Police in Arkansas are searching for a suspect in the deaths of a couple who investigators said were attacked while on the wooded walking trail with their two young daughters. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

This composite sketch released by the Arkansas State Police shows a man seen in Devil's Den State Park, in Washington County, Ark., on July 26, 2025, whom investigators are asking the public to help identify in connection with a double homicide. (Arkansas State Police via AP)

An Arkansas Park Ranger patrols the South Entrance of Devils Den State Park Monday, July 28, 2025, in West Fork, Ark. Police in Arkansas are searching for a suspect in the deaths of a couple who investigators said were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

In this image made from video taken on Saturday, July 26, 2025, provided by KHBS/KHOG, Law enforcement officers investigate the deaths of a couple who were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters at Devil's Den State Park in West Fort, Ark. (KHBS/KHOG via AP)

In this image made from video taken on Saturday, July 26, 2025, provided by KHBS/KHOG, law enforcement officers investigate the deaths of a couple who were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters at Devil's Den State Park in West Fort, Ark. (KHBS/KHOG via AP)

In this image made from video taken on Saturday, July 26, 2025, provided by KHBS/KHOG, law enforcement officers investigate the deaths of a couple who were attacked while on a wooded walking trail with their two young daughters at Devil's Den State Park in West Fort, Ark. (KHBS/KHOG via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared on Monday to be emboldening defenders of the U.S. central bank, who pushed back against President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert more control over the Fed.

The backlash reflected the overarching stakes in determining the balance of power within the federal government and the path of the U.S. economy at a time of uncertainty about inflation and a slowing job market. This has created a sense among some Republican lawmakers and leading economists that the Trump administration had overstepped the Fed's independence by sending subpoenas.

The criminal investigation — a first for a sitting Fed chair — sparked an unusually robust response from Powell and a full-throated defense from three former Fed chairs, a group of top economic officials and even Republican senators tasked with voting on Trump's eventual pick to replace Powell as Fed chair when his term expires in May.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell, who has proven to be a foil for Trump by insisting on setting the Fed's benchmark interest rates based on the data instead of the president's wishes.

“One thing for sure, the president’s made it quite clear, is Jerome Powell is bad at his job,” Leavitt said. “As for whether or not Jerome Powell is a criminal, that’s an answer the Department of Justice is going to have to find out.”

The investigation demonstrates the lengths the Trump administration is willing to go to try to assert control over the Fed, an independent agency that the president believes should follow his claims that inflationary pressures have faded enough for drastic rate cuts to occur. Trump has repeatedly used investigations — which might or might not lead to an actual indictment — to attack his political rivals.

The risks go far beyond Washington infighting to whether people can find work or afford their groceries. If the Fed errs in setting rates, inflation could surge or job losses could mount. Trump maintains that an economic boom is occurring and rates should be cut to pump more money into the economy, while Powell has taken a more cautious approach in the wake of Trump's tariffs.

Several Republican senators have condemned the Department of Justice's subpoenas of the Fed, which Powell revealed Sunday and characterized as “pretexts” to pressure him to sharply cut interest rates. Powell also said the Justice Department has threatened criminal indictments over his June testimony to Congress about the cost and design elements of a $2.5 billion building renovation that includes the Fed's headquarters.

“After speaking with Chair Powell this morning, it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Monday.

Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said on social media that the Fed “ignored” her office’s outreach to discuss the renovation cost overruns, “necessitating the use of legal process — which is not a threat.”

“The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s,” Pirro posted on X, although the subpoenas and the White House’s own statement about determining Powell's criminality would suggest the risk of an indictment.

A bipartisan group of former Fed chairs and top economists on Monday called the Trump administration's investigation “an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks" to undermine the Fed's independence, stressing that central banks controlled by political leaders tend to produce higher inflation and lower growth.

“I think this is ham-handed, counter-productive, and going to set back the president’s cause,” said Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard and former top adviser to President Barack Obama. The investigation could also unify the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee in support of Powell, and means “the next Fed chair will be under more pressure to prove their independence.”

The subpoenas apply to Powell's statements before a congressional committee about the renovation of Fed buildings, including its marble-clad headquarters in Washington, D.C. They come at an unusual moment when Trump was teasing the likelihood of announcing his nominee this month to succeed Powell as the Fed chair and could possibly be self-defeating for the nomination process.

While Powell's term as chair ends in four months, he has a separate term as a Fed governor until January 2028, meaning that he could remain on the board. If Powell stays on the board, Trump could be blocked from appointing an outside candidate of his choice to be the chair.

Powell quickly found a growing number of defenders among Republicans in the Senate, who will have the choice of whether to confirm Trump's planned pick for Fed chair.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican and member of the Senate Banking panel, said late Sunday that he would oppose any of the Trump administration’s Fed nominees until the investigation is "resolved."

“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” Tillis said.

Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn, said the Fed may have wasted public dollars with its renovation, but he said, “I do not think Chairman Powell is guilty of criminal activity.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune offered a brief but stern response Monday about the tariffs as he arrived at the U.S. Capitol, suggesting that the administration needed “serious” evidence of wrongdoing to take such a significant step.

“I haven’t seen the case or whatever the allegations or charges are, but I would say they better, they better be real and they better be serious,” said Thune, a Republican representing South Dakota.

If Powell stays on the board after his term as chair ends, the Trump administration would be deprived of the chance to fill another seat that would give the administration a majority on the seven-member board. That majority could then enact significant reforms at the Fed and even block the appointment of presidents at the Fed's 12 regional banks.

“They could do a lot of reorganizing and reforms” without having to pass new legislation, said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital and author of a book on Fed independence. “That seat is very valuable.”

Powell has declined at several press conferences to answer questions about his plans to stay or leave the board.

Scott Alvarez, former general counsel at the Fed, says the investigation is intended to intimidate Powell from staying on the board. The probe is occurring now “to say to Chair Powell, ’We’ll use every mechanism that the administration has to make your life miserable unless you leave the Board in May,'" Alvarez said.

Asked on Monday by reporters if Powell planned to remain a Fed governor, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council and a leading candidate to become Fed chair, said he was unaware of Powell’s plans.

“I’ve not talked to Jay about that,” Hassett said.

A bipartisan group of former Fed chairs and top economists said in their Monday letter that the administration’s legal actions and the possible loss of Fed independence could hurt the broader economy.

“This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly,” the statement said.

The statement was signed by former Fed chairs Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen, and Alan Greenspan, as well as former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin.

Still, Trump's pressure campaign had been building for some time, with him relentlessly criticizing and belittling Powell.

He even appeared to preview the shocking news of the subpoenas at a Dec. 29 news conference by saying he would bring a lawsuit against Powell over the renovation costs.

“He’s just a very incompetent man,” Trump said. “But we’re going to probably bring a lawsuit against him.”

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AP writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

FILE - Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, right, and President Donald Trump look over a document of cost figures during a visit to the Federal Reserve, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)