Authorities have released a sketch of a man wanted for questioning as the family of a couple killed while hiking in an Arkansas state park remembered them as “heroes” who died “protecting their little girls.”

Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, who had only moved to Arkansas three weeks earlier, were attacked in broad daylight July 26 on a walking trail at Devil’s Den State Park in West Fork, Arkansas, Arkansas State Police said in a news release. They were hiking with their daughters, ages 9 and 7.

The girls were uninjured and ran for help after the attack, officials said.

Cristen Brink and her husband, Clinton Brink, were killed in an attack while hiking with their two young daughters in an Arkansas state park, police said. Clinton and Cristen Brink via Facebook

“Two children are there. They advise that their parents were assaulted,” a dispatcher says in audio released of police communications following the attack. “One was possibly stabbed. The parents are missing.”

The couple’s devastated family said in a statement released by state police that they “died heroes, protecting their little girls, and they deserve justice. They will forever live on in all of our hearts.”

Authorities were alerted about a double homicide in the park around 2:40 p.m. local time. The couple’s bodies were found on a walking trail in the 2,500-acre park, which features rugged terrain, thick vegetation and no cellphone service.

The Arkansas State Police released a composite sketch July 28 of a man seen at the park who is wanted for questioning. Authorities described him as a white man with a medium build, who was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, dark pants, a dark baseball hat, sunglasses, a black backpack and fingerless gloves.

The Arkansas State Police released a composite sketch of a man wanted for questioning in the killings of a couple at Devil’s Den State Park on July 26. Courtesy Arkansas State Police

The man was seen driving a black, four-door sedan, possibly a Mazda, toward the exit of the park with a license plate covered by electrical or duct tape, state police said.

The attack has left those who frequently visit the park on edge. All trails at Devil’s Den have been closed until further notice, and the presence of law enforcement has been increased in nearby state parks, a parks spokesperson told NBC News.

“They’re saying it’s a random act, but it definitely makes you know that you never know,” local man Tyler Yeakley told NBC affiliate KNWA. “Any day, the craziest thing could happen out of nowhere, especially in Arkansas.”