Two Front Royal men charged with murder in Tristen Brinklow death

On December 31, 2019, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of two Front Royal men in what has now been called the “murder” of Tristen Ryan Brinklow. The 20-year-old Brinklow’s body was discovered December 2nd at Digs Landing in the Rivermont area of Warren County. However the body, believed to have been found in a decomposed state, was not publicly identified until December 16th in a subsequent WCSO press release.

That release acknowledged the assistance of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Department of Forensic Science in the identification.

Charged with Brinklow’s murder are Richard Matthew Crouch, 35 years old, and George Lee Good, 28, both of Front Royal. Crouch and Good were each charged with First Degree Murder,
Abduction by Force, and Concealment of a Dead Body. The dates of these charges against Good and Crouch on the jail websites appear to date Brinklow’s murder to September 28-29.

Unconfirmed information indicated that Brinklow went missing in September of this year.

Richard Crouch, 35 years old from Front Royal

George Good, 28 years old from Front Royal

While also unconfirmed by authorities, it is believed Brinklow’s body was discovered at a location it may have been transported to not long before it was discovered.

Both Crouch and Good were already incarcerated in what the New Year’s Eve Press Release from the desk of Sheriff Michael Arnold said were charges unrelated to the Brinklow case. Crouch was being held without bond at the Rappahannock, Shenandoah, Warren County (RSW) Regional Jail and Good at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center (NRADC) in Frederick County.

Good was arrested in Frederick County at a DUI check point in early December. At the time he was wanted in connection with a non-fatal November 27 shooting on the 200 block of Cloud Street in a residential area adjacent to Front Royal’s Downtown Business District.

In that case Good was charged with Malicious Shooting/Wounding, Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, with Front Royal Police noting that further charges were likely forthcoming regarding “other involved individuals”.

The NRADC Jail website lists 13 charges against Good, including the above three connected to the Cloud Street shooting and the December 7 traffic stop leading to his arrest and the three new charges believed to date to Brinklow’s September disappearance. Other charges against Good include Possession of Schedule 1 or 2 drugs and Probation Violation.

Other charges listed against Crouch on the RSW website include Possession with Intent to Distribute Schedule 1 or 2 drugs, six remaining strangulation charges of nine he was originally charged with, and Malicious Wounding: Stab or Cut with Malicious Intent.

Brinklow’s Facebook page indicated he had been employed at Rick’s Auto Care on South Royal Avenue in Front Royal. An adjacent residential rental building at 228 South Royal Avenue was raided in both December 2018 and July 2019 by a Regional Task Force. A number of arrests regionally were made on drug and arms charges from that Task Force operation.

Sheriff Arnold’s press release notes the assistance of “the Front Royal Police Department, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, Northwest Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, and John Bell, the incoming Commonwealth’s Attorney.”

Anyone with information on this situation is asked to contact Investigator Emily Young of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 540-635-4128 or at by email.

Update to the death investigation of Tristen Ryan Brinklow – Digs Landing