In 2025, idyllic small towns across America were interrupted by acts of violence from Mississippi to Montana, Arkansas to Washington state.

The murders struck during homecoming weekends, inside neighborhood bars, at campgrounds and along hiking trails.

Together, the cases exposed vulnerabilities in small-town America: unresolved personal disputes, untreated mental health crises and domestic violence.

FRIENDS UNVEIL DEVIL’S DEN COUPLE’S HAUNTING FINAL MESSAGE BEFORE DEADLY PARK AMBUSH

Devil’s Den, Arkansas:

In northwest Arkansas, a visit to a state park ended in a double homicide.

Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, the parents of three children, were stabbed to death while hiking at Devil’s Den State Park on July 26.

The couple had recently moved to Arkansas to be closer to family and begin a new chapter. Friends described them as gentle, active and devoted parents.

“They loved to take the girls and go hiking,” said Mary Hinebauch, a friend from their former church in Montana. “That wasn’t an unnatural place for them to be.”

The Arkansas State Police arrested Andrew James McGann, 28, charging him with murdering the couple. Investigators said the killings appeared unprovoked. The arrest came a day after police released “a composite sketch of a man” they were “seeking to identify for questioning in connection with the double homicide.”

“This was a very safe place to be,” Hinebauch said. “It’s pure evil.”

To read more about this case, click here.

Leland, Mississippi:

On Oct. 11, 2025, just after midnight in Leland, Mississippi, a small city in Washington County where the population hovers around 3,700, the excitement of homecoming weekend was shattered when a shooting broke out following a football game.

At least six people were killed and at least 19 others wounded.

The FBI’s Jackson Field Office announced that four people were arrested in connection with the shooting.

Three men, identified as Teviyon Powell, 29; William Bryant, 29; and Morgan Lattimore, 25, were charged with capital murder. A fourth suspect, Latoya Powell, 44, was charged with attempted murder.

MUGSHOT OF RURAL MONTANA BAR MASSACRE SUSPECT RELEASED AFTER WEEK-LONG MANHUNT

Investigators said they believe the violence stemmed from a personal dispute, though no final motive has been confirmed.

“This is not who we are as a community,” Leland Mayor John Lee said. “Our hearts are broken for these families.”

To read more about this case, click here.

Anaconda, Montana:

In Anaconda, Montana, a quiet bar in a former mining town with about 9,000 people was interrupted when a man opened fire on Aug. 1, 2025.

Authorities said that Michael Paul Brown, 45, an Army veteran and longtime local resident, entered The Owl Bar around 10:30 a.m. and opened fire. Authorities said Brown lived next door to the bar and was known to the patrons inside.

Four people were killed: Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74. Kelley was working as the bartender; the others were regular customers.

Brown fled, sparking a massive weeklong manhunt involving more than 130 local, state and federal law enforcement officers. The FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service and Montana National Guard all assisted, deploying helicopters, air patrols and ground teams across rugged terrain.

MONTANA MANHUNT EXPANDS FOR EX-SOLDIER SUSPECT SEEN WITH STOLEN SURVIVAL GEAR AFTER BAR MASSACRE

Residents told Fox News Digital that fear settled over the town as the search dragged on.

“The town is just scared,” one bartender said. “Everybody’s on edge.”

Brown was captured Aug. 8 near a barn about five and a half miles from the bar. Authorities said he was armed.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen called the killings “cold-blooded.”

To read more about this case, click here.

SPECIAL FORCES VET EXPOSES TACTICS OF MONTANA, WASHINGTON STATE SURVIVALISTS: ‘CAN’T STAY HIDDEN FOREVER’

Wenatchee, Washington:

In May 2025, a manhunt was launched for the fugitive father of three accused of murdering his three daughters before disappearing into the wilderness. 

The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said Travis Decker, a military veteran and wilderness survivalist, failed to return his three daughters from a court-mandated custody visit in late May 2025. Days later, the bodies of Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were found at a Chelan County campground.

According to police, the girls had been bound with zip ties and suffocated.

A manhunt followed, spanning rugged mountain terrain and involving multiple law enforcement agencies. In September, human remains were discovered on Grindstone Mountain, less than a mile from where the girls’ bodies had been found. DNA testing later confirmed the remains belonged to Decker.

“This will bring a close to our case,” Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said after the DNA results were confirmed. “We wanted to show honor to them and let them know we haven’t forgotten.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Court records showed Decker’s ex-wife had previously petitioned to modify the parenting plan, citing his worsening mental health and unstable living conditions.

To read more about this case, click here.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca, Julia Bonavita, Michael Dorgan and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

The “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement hit the ground running in 2025 — pushing a wave of health policy changes nationwide, especially around food and nutrition. Now supporters vow that one court setback will not slow them down.

A West Virginia judge paused enforcement of parts of H.B. 2354 — the state law restricting certain food dyes and preservatives — during the holiday week, on Dec. 23. That triggered swift backlash from state leaders and advocates who say the fight is only intensifying.

In her ruling, Judge Irene Berger — appointed by former President Obama — said the law is “unconstitutionally vague because it fails to provide sufficient notice and invites arbitrary enforcement.”

COMMON CHEMICALS, FROM FOOD ADDITIVES TO PESTICIDES, MAY BE WRECKING YOUR GUT HEALTH, STUDY SAYS

She added that the statute does not spell out how the West Virginia Department of Health should determine whether color additives beyond those specifically listed are “poisonous and injurious.”

Berger was nominated in 2009 by Obama to serve as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of West Virginia.

West Virginia’s House Bill 2354, signed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, aims to phase out specific artificial dyes in stages.

Beginning on Aug. 1 of this year, seven dyes were banned from school lunches — and starting Jan. 1, 2028, the same dyes, along with two preservatives, would be banned from food products sold statewide.

The judge’s new ruling does not apply to school nutrition programs — so the school-lunch portion remains on track even as the broader legal fight plays out.

PEPSICO TO REMOVE ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS FROM POPULAR FOOD ITEMS BY END OF 2025

Red Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2 and Green Dye No. 3 were all banned from school lunches starting in August. 

The same food dyes, plus the preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben, will be banned from all food items sold in the state beginning in 2028.

Gov. Morrisey, a Republican, issued a statement blasting the decision as a detour, calling it “premature and incorrectly decided.”

“West Virginia will continue to defend its authority to protect the health and well-being of our citizens, especially children,” his statement said. “We are reviewing our legal options and will continue to press forward with our efforts to get harmful crap out of our food supply.”

Morrisey told Fox News Digital in an interview that “West Virginia has set the standard for the nation when it comes to protecting children from harmful ingredients in food.”

“Since we acted, other states have stepped forward and manufacturers have already begun changing formulas, because they see where this is headed,” Morrisey said.

“Children who consume these dyes across many foods, day after day, during critical stages of development, face a higher risk of chronic disease,” he added. “West Virginia acted because protecting children’s health should never be optional, and we remain proud to lead this effort.”

Red dye gives food a bright cherry red color. It has been linked to behavioral issues in children, while non-human studies have linked the dye to cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, has made removing artificial dyes from America’s food supply one of his priorities during his work as a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet. 

“Artificial food dyes offer zero nutritional value.”

During his first trip as America’s lead healthcare official in March, Kennedy spoke in Martinsburg alongside Gov. Morrisey, who said his state’s ban plan and the Democrat scion’s choice to visit the area first showed that the “MAHA” movement “begins right here in West Virginia.”

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

The debate over artificial dyes has become a flashpoint for MAHA-aligned supporters. Many see the legal challenge as proof the movement is beginning to hit real resistance. They see it as a reason to push back hard, rather than retreat.

Liana Werner-Gray, nutritionist and author of “The Earth Diet,” told Fox News Digital that “artificial food dyes offer zero nutritional value.”

The native Australian said the European Union (EU) requires warning labels on products containing several common artificial dyes “because of links to activity and attention effects in children.”

Werner-Gray added that “from a preventative health standpoint, removing unnecessary additives is a straightforward way to reduce avoidable risk.”

She noted that injunction or not, one bright spot is that the conversation has shifted.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Parents are asking why ingredients linked to behavioral and neurological concerns are still common in children’s food, and that question isn’t going away,” she said. “They want it to go away, they want us to go away with this, but we won’t.”

Vani Hari, better known as the “Food Babe,” told Fox News Digital that “the judicial system is going to see the might of the MAHA movement.”

“There is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children.”

“I know who is going to win — because there is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children,” said Hari, who is based in North Carolina.

The case was brought by the International Association of Color Manufacturers, an organization based in Washington, D.C., that alleged the West Virginia bill causes economic harm to its member companies.

“The statute arbitrarily and irrationally targets color additives no U.S. agency — state or federal — nor any court has ever found to be unsafe,” IACM said in a statement announcing its suit, adding that the ban also lacks “scientific evidence.”

West Virginia’s governor, for his part, said the decision by the Obama-appointed judge is legally flawed. Morrisey said he believes the decision will be reversed.

California, Virginia, Utah and Arizona have sought to enact similar bans focused largely on children’s school lunches.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Charles Creitz contributed reporting.

A Florida man working as a Salvation Army bell ringer for the holidays was arrested Christmas week after he allegedly attempted to “impale” the manager of a grocery store with his donation kettle tripod, according to officials. 

Steven Pavlik, 63, was arrested at his home this week and charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest after he fled after allegedly drunkenly attacking the manager of a Publix in Stuart, Florida. 

Pavlik had been stationed as a bell ringer outside the store.

MURDER IN SMALL-TOWN AMERICA: THE CRIMES THAT TORE QUIET COMMUNITIES APART IN 2025

Sixty-three-year-old “Steven Pavlik tried his hand at some part-time Christmas charity work — however, drunk ringing, belligerent tidings and assault took him from bell duty to booking blotter after a full-blown charity tirade,” the Martin County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Christmas Eve Facebook post. 

The store manager confronted Pavlik after he allegedly got drunk on duty and began “aggressively” harassing passersby, causing a “major disturbance” outside the store, according to the sheriff’s office. 

TEXAS FATHER RESCUES KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER BY TRACING HER PHONE’S LOCATION, SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS

Pavlik then allegedly attacked the store manager with his donation kettle tripod.

“When the Publix manager came outside to speak to Pavlik, he became violent and attempted to impale the manager with the donation kettle tripod,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The manager wasn’t injured during the attack, the sheriff’s office said. 

Pavlik fled, but deputies later located him at his home, where he was taken into custody.

Publix and the Salvation Army did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.