Southeast
Murder in small-town America: The crimes that tore quiet communities apart in 2025
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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.
Clinton and Cristen Brink were murdered at Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday, July 26, 2025. (GoFundMe)
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.
The FBI’s Jackson Field Office released this “seeking information” poster featuring four suspects wanted in connection with the Oct. 11, 2025, mass shooting in Leland, Mississippi, that left six people dead and 20 injured. (FBI)
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.
Main Street in Anaconda, Montana, leads to the Deer Lodge County Courthouse with mountains in the background on Aug. 8, 2025. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
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.
The Department of Criminal Investigations in Montana released a photo of Michael Brown fleeing the scene after allegedly shooting and killing four people at a bar on Aug. 1, 2025. (Department of Criminal Investigations)
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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.
Travis Decker was suspected of murdering his three daughters before disappearing into the Washington wilderness. (Chelan County Sheriff’s Office)
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.
This undated photo provided by Whitney Decker shows Paityn, Olivia and Evelyn Decker. (Whitney Decker via AP)
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.”
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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.
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Southeast
Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’
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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.
The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.
The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.
The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)
“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”
Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.
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Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.
The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.
The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.
Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”
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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.
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Southeast
Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work
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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.
Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.
Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )
“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”
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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)
Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.
His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.
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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.
Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.
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Southeast
High school teacher arrested in alleged sex case involving student
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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.
GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.
A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)
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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.
This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.
The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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