Latest news with #crimeinvestigation
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
An infant was found abandoned. Then, police discovered 4 people dead.
Editor's note for July 31: There is an update on the abandoned infant case and four people found dead. Tennessee officials are investigating a potential connection between two disturbing incidents: An infant was found abandoned in a car seat outdoors, and four people were found dead in a nearby home. According to a news release from the Dyer County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a call about the reported 7-month-old just after 3:00 p.m. on July 29. Dyer County is located in western Tennessee, on the border with Arkansas. Witnesses contacted the sheriff's office after seeing the infant sitting in a car seat in a person's front yard near Tigrett, a community in Dyer County. According to local station WMC-TV, the homeowner, who is not the child's parent, called law enforcement. In a post on the Dyer County Sheriff's Office Facebook page, officials shared that "a dark-colored minivan or a white mid-size SUV was reported to have dropped off" the child. Crime: Mother accused of trafficking infant daughter on Snapchat for $400 'Deeply saddening for our community' In an update on July 29, the Dyer County Sheriff's Office announced that it was also working with the Lake County Sheriff's Office and investigating a crime scene in Lake County where four people were found dead. The baby and the four victims' identities have not been publicly released. Investigators say they believe there may be a connection between the abandoned infant and the deceased individuals. "This is a deeply saddening day for our community. We are committed to uncovering the truth and ensuring justice is served," Sheriff Jeff Box said in the news release. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI were tapped to assist with the case. Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Infant found abandoned in Dyer County, TN; 4 people dead Solve the daily Crossword
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
What to know about the fatal attack of a married couple at Devil's Den park in Arkansas
This undated image provided by the Arkansas State Police on July 29, 2025 shows a man whom investigators are asking the public to help identify in connection with a double homicide at Devil's Den State Park. (Arkansas State Police via AP) LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Authorities have released a photo and a composite sketch of a person they are trying to question as they investigate the fatal attack of a married couple in front of their children at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. The search for the man who killed the hikers at a state park in northwest Arkansas entered its fifth day, while many details about the attack remain unclear. Here are some things to know: Couple found dead on a walking trail Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were found dead Saturday on a walking trail at Devil's Den. Their daughters, who are 7 and 9, were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, authorities have said. Police have released a composite sketch and photo of a person of interest they are searching for in the attack. Along with the drawing, state police released a statement saying the suspect 'likely sustained an injury while attacking the couple.' It did not go into further detail. The State Police has said it has received numerous calls. But the agency has released few details, including how the couple was killed and whether it believes the killer is still in the area. The FBI has said its Little Rock field office is assisting in the investigation. Police released composite sketch of person of interest Police have not identified the killer or given a possible motive for the attack. But they have provided a description, the composite sketch and the photo of a person of interest. The photo was provided by a witness who was at Devil's Den State Park Saturday, police said. The photo was taken from behind and does not show the person of interest's face. Officials described him as a white male wearing a long-sleeved shirt with sleeves rolled up, dark pants, a dark ball cap and sunglasses. He was carrying a black backpack and wore 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 nearby State Highway 170 or State Highway 220. Victims had moved from South Dakota Clinton and Cristen Brink had just moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas. 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. Cristen Brink had been licensed as a nurse in Montana and South Dakota before moving to Arkansas. The Brink family said the couple died 'heroes protecting their little girls.' Park known for hiking trails Devil's Den is a 2,500-acre state park near West Fork, about 140 miles (220 kilometres) northwest of Little Rock, the state capital. Devil's Den is known for its hiking trails and rock formations, and it is a short drive from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and Walmart's Bentonville headquarters. It was selected as a state park site in the 1930s. The park's trails, which lead to the surrounding Ozark National Forest, remained closed Wednesday. Authorities have asked the public to report tips and urged trail-goers who were at Devil's Den on Saturday to look through their photos and videos for possible images of the suspect. Police have also asked local residents to review any security or game camera footage for unusual activity or images matching the vehicle. Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press
News24
4 days ago
- Politics
- News24
Deputy Chief Justice Madlanga addresses media on inquiry into Mkhwanazi's accusations
President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate explosive allegations of political interference and police complicity in crime made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
Kitchener man charged following after-hours liquor investigation
Waterloo Regional Police have laid multiple charges following an ongoing investigation under the Liquor Licence and Control Act at a property in Kitchener. On Sunday morning, members of the Crime Suppression Analysis and Response North Direct Action Response Team (DART) executed a Provincial Offence Warrant at a location near Victoria Street North and St. Leger Street. As a result, a 40-year-old man was charged with six offences, including unlawfully selling liquor, unlawfully possessing liquor, unlawfully keeping liquor for sale, permitting disorderly conduct on licensed premises, unlawfully permitting individuals to consume open liquor in a public place and permitting intoxication on licensed premises. Police said they seized several bottles of liquor and cases of beer from the property, which was operating as an illegal after-hours establishment. All individuals inside the location were safely cleared.
News.com.au
7 days ago
- News.com.au
‘Cloud of secrecy' that's failing Australian parents
As Victoria police investigate a number of sexual assault claims linked to Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown, lawyer and sexual assault advocate Andrew Carpenter has made a disturbing revelation about another high profile child abuse investigation. Brown, 26, was charged in May with more than 70 offences including sexual activity in presence of a child under 16, sexual assault of a child under 16 and possessing child abuse material. He has yet to enter pleas to the charges. Carpenter's comments, made on Gary Jubelin's I Catch Killers podcast, refer to the handling of the investigation of serial paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith, who last year was sentenced to life in prison for sexual offences relating to at least 73 victims, mostly girls aged between three and five years old, in several early childhood centres across a span of nearly 20 years. Griffith is one of Australia's worst paedophiles, and his crimes shocked the public when, in 2022, the AFP announced the charges against him. Yet Carpenter describes the handling of that investigation – especially in comparison to that currently underway in Victoria – as being 'covered in a cloud of secrecy,' revealing there had been complaints against Griffith since 2014. 'I applaud the Victorian police for their work,' says Carpenter. 'As soon as they uncovered the alleged offender in Victoria, they identified 24 centres where crimes have been alleged to have occurred, they notified thousands of parents and students as to what centres they were, a timeframe in which the alleged offender was working there, and they got on the front foot, set up hotlines for individuals to get information, and asked 1200 children to get STI checks.' In Griffith's case, says Carpenter, the response couldn't have been more different. 'The hardest thing with [Griffith's case] is that the public still doesn't know what centres this offender went to,' he explains. 'And we are talking about almost 3000 counts at the start. I think they whittled it down to about 1500, but it was 73 children that he pleaded guilty to abusing. And the public still does not know which centres he worked at and which timeframe this occurred in.' 'Griffith's crimes were preventable and foreseeable,' he says. 'There were people dating back nine years who actually first raised concerns about him. He was spoken to by the police, but they didn't even take steps to go through his device, on which they would've found tens of thousands of images of child abuse. His crimes were calculated and over a span of time, and the parents that complained about him earlier on didn't see any recourse.' A father himself, Carpenter believes there could be 'hundreds, if not thousands of other students out there that have been impacted by this individual in Queensland that will never be known.' He says the very young age of Griffith's victims would mean many of them may not be able to properly recall events well enough to disclose the abuse. 'I asked my oldest son who's five today, if he remembers a child that he went through preschool and kindy with that he last saw a year ago,' he continues. 'He couldn't remember who it was. And you've got children now, five years after the fact of when this guy had his main offences – they wouldn't remember a thing that happened to them. So the issue here is that we've got one police force that's coming out on the front foot saying 'we need to adequately investigate this now', and then we've got the Queensland police officers that have investigated [Ashley Griffith's crimes] within a cloud of secrecy, where the full extent of his crimes will never be truly known.' 'I mean, we're not even at the tip of the iceberg with Queensland,' adds Carpenter. Equally disturbing, the lawyer says a whistleblower seeking to make media aware of Griffith's crimes ended up being charged with computer hacking. She was later found not guilty of computer hacking allegations. When 60-year-old Queensland grandmother Yolanda Borucki spoke to A Current Affair producers about failings in the investigation into Griffith's crimes, she quickly found herself at the centre of a police raid. Yolanda told reporters that she had made a complaint about Griffith at a Uniting Church childcare facility a year beforehand, but nothing was done. 'A few days later, a task force rocked up at her doorstep and raided her house, and she got charged with computer hacking,' explains Carpenter. 'All for simply saying, 'here is evidence of me providing the childcare centre proof that I had made a previous complaint.' She went through the ringer of a trial and her fight got made public,' he continues. 'Yet the offender who sat in secrecy for many years was able to keep his anonymity for quite some time.'
