FBI joins search for prison escapee known as 'Devil in the Ozarks'
USA TODAY and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change.
Law enforcement officers in Arkansas were on the hunt Wednesday for a former police chief who broke out of a state facility where he was imprisoned for rape and murder.
Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas, on Sunday, wearing a "makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement," according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Hardin, the former police chief in Gateway, Arkansas, was serving decadeslong prison sentences for the 2017 murder of James Appleton and the 1997 rape of a school teacher, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
The rape became the subject of a 2023 documentary titled "Devil in the Ozarks," according to the documentary's IMDB page.
"We've since been in touch with the subjects of that film and law enforcement and are praying for Hardin's immediate capture in the name of justice and the victims and their families' peace of mind," Ari Mark, one of the executive producers of the documentary, told USA TODAY.
The FBI, Department of Corrections, Arkansas State Police and local police were working to find Hardin, officials said.
Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, said in a Wednesday press briefing that the search area has expanded but rainy and overcast conditions have limited the use of drones and helicopters, in addition to curtailing the effectiveness of tracking dogs.
Who is Grant Hardin? A closer look at the 'Devil in the Ozarks'
Like true crime? Check out Witness: A library of true crime stories
In 2017, Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of Appleton, according to a plea agreement. Appleton's brother-in-law, who was the mayor of Gateway at the time, told investigators that he was on the phone with Appleton during the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit.
A witness told investigators he saw a white car parked behind Appleton's truck, heard a loud bang and saw the white car speed away. The witness checked the truck and found Appleton dead, according to the affidavit.
A DNA test conducted following the murder conviction connected Hardin to the 1997 rape of a school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case. She was attacked at gunpoint after leaving her classroom to go to a restroom near the teacher's lounge, according to the affidavit.
Hardin pleaded guilty to two counts of rape in 2019 and was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison for each count consecutively, according to the plea agreement.
Before becoming the police chief in Gateway, Hardin worked at the Fayetteville Police Department from Aug. 6, 1990, to May 22, 1991, KHBS/KHOG reported. The department's chief of police at the time said he terminated Hardin because his efforts "fall short of the average probationary officer" and he had a "tendency to not accept constructive criticism along with indecisiveness under stressful situations."
Hardin then moved to the Eureka Springs Police Department, where he worked from April 1993 to October 1996. The department's former police chief said Hardin made poor decisions on the job and used excessive force, according to KHBS/KHOG.
In 2016, Hardin served as the chief of police for Gateway for about four months, the Associated Press reported.
Hardin escaped from a facility located about 130 miles north of Little Rock, Arkansas, at 2:55 p.m. local time on May 25, according to the Department of Corrections. Champion said about 20 minutes passed before an officer discovered Hardin was missing.
Hardin escaped through a secure entryway wearing "an ADC type uniform," the Stone County Sheriff's Office said. A photo shared by the sheriff's office shows Hardin pushing a loaded cart.
Officials are investigating the events that led to the escape.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Search intensifies for 'Devil in the Ozarks' who fled Arkansas prison
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
16 minutes ago
- USA Today
Tulsa mayor unveils reparation plan to 'repair' community at center of 1921 Race Massacre
Tulsa mayor unveils reparation plan to 'repair' community at center of 1921 Race Massacre Show Caption Hide Caption Tulsa Race Massacre destroyed Greenwood and impacted generations The destruction of an Oklahoma community 100 years ago was based on an unfounded accusation. The impact of the attack has left real wounds. Paige Dillard, Oklahoman The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma has unveiled a reparations plan for the descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre as well as the neighborhood area once known as "Black Wall Street" on the first official remembrance day for the massacre. Mayor Monroe Nichols' plan, dubbed "Road to Repair," centers around a private trust tasked with raising $105 million in assets before June 1, 2026, the 105th anniversary of the massacre. "The pursuit for better defines greatness - a people that will look back 104 years and dare to be better - dare to come together to face a complicated past and commit to each other for a better future," Nichols said in a speech Sunday. Along with the trust, Nichols announced the release of 45,000 historic documents related to the massacre. "For us as a city, we want to model that we are a partner that wants to foster a level of trust with this entire community," Nichols, the first Black mayor of Tulsa, told USA TODAY in an interview Monday, June 2. "The massacre has always loomed as an event that really isn't rooted in a lot of trust over the years, and releasing the documents is one of the things, along with making the Tulsa Race Massacre Day of Observance, I think are really important." Nichols said in the interview that the Trust was a way to take the conversation out of the political realm. "Let's model for everybody on how this repair work can be really restorative for the entire community, and let's do that as best we can outside the political context," Nichols said. "If it's good for all of us, well, maybe public policy can now follow something that's been a model good for everybody." Where will the money go? Under the plan, a housing fund will receive $24 million dollars from the trust for housing and homeowner benefits for Race Massacre descendants. A cultural preservation fund will have $60 million to reduce blight and implement parts of a master plan for the Kirpatrick and Greenwood neighborhoods in North Tulsa and a legacy fund will receive $21 million to develop trust owned land and fund scholarships for descendants and economic development grants for the area. The mayor added that the trust's work provided an opportunity for parts of the "descendant community" that left Tulsa to be reconnected to the city. "There's a lot of families that, after the massacre, decided Tulsa was not the place for them," Nichols said. "The goal is a scholarship, for example, to go to school in the state of Oklahoma, to come to school here and we will pay the cost of education. The goal, with the business grants and no interest loans, is to open a business here in Tulsa, in the Greenwood District, or North Tulsa, to bring back those great entrepreneurs and business owners whose families may have left Tulsa because of what happened in 1921." The trust – named the Greenwood Trust for the neighborhood where the massacre took place in – will employ an executive director and fundraising staff, paid by private funding. Nichols said in a statement that the first year of the trust would focus on planning and fundraising. "The next step is now we're going to make these investments so it's not just symbolic," Nichols told USA TODAY. "We're going to come behind that and make the investments necessary to show that not only are we recognizing (the massacre) but we're also showing that we're a much different community in 2025 than we were in 1921." What was the Tulsa Race Massacre? In the early 1900s, 40 blocks to the north of downtown Tulsa boasted 10,000 residents, hundreds of businesses, medical facilities an airport and more. But on May 31, 1921, a white mob descended on Greenwood – the Black section of Tulsa – burning, looting, and destroying more than 1,000 homes. The massacre is reported to have started with an accusation that Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old shoe-shiner, assaulted a white female teenager in an elevator. Decades later, the 2001 Tulsa Race Riot Commission concluded, Sarah Page, 17, was interviewed by police but made no allegations of assault. Rowland was arrested and white men went to the jail to demand that he be released to "face mob justice," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a speech launching a long-awaited Department of Justice probe into the massacre in 2024. A fight broke out after members of the Black community showed up to protect Rowland from being lynched. A mob then invaded Greenwood, looting and destroying businesses and homes. Tulsa authorities deputized some white men, instructing them to "get a gun and get busy and try to get" a Black person, according to witness accounts and records at the time. The Oklahoma National Guard participated in mass arrests of nearly everyone living in Greenwood. "Some suspect that the aim of the white mob was, all along, to appropriate the wealth of the Black community and that the allegations against Mr. Rowland were merely an excuse," Clarke said. The true death toll of the massacre may never be known, with the search for unmarked graves continuing more than a century later. Most historians who have studied the event estimate the death toll to be between 75 and 300 people. In January, the department said that while there are credible reports that law enforcement was involved in the attack, it had no avenue to prosecute the crimes. The department cited the expiration of relevant statutes of limitations and the youngest potential defendants being more than 115 years old. Contributing: Dale Denwalt, Minnah Arshad – USA TODAY Network; Reuters
USA Today
43 minutes ago
- USA Today
Man who claims to be New Orleans jail escapee says plan wasn't his
Man who claims to be New Orleans jail escapee says plan wasn't his Show Caption Hide Caption New Orleans escapees arrested in Texas, police body cam footage shows Two New Orleans escapees Jermaine Donald and Leo Tate, were captured in Texas, according to Huntsville Police Department. Authorities are investigating whether one of the two inmates still on the run after last month's New Orleans jail escape posted a social media video, claiming the jailbreak wasn't his idea. On May 16, a total of 10 inmates escaped the Orleans Parish jail through a hole in a wall left by a ripped-away toilet and sink unit, officials said. Police have since captured eight of the men, leaving both Antoine Massey, 32, and Derrick Groves, 27, at large. An Instagram video posted Sunday, June 1 appears to have been from Massey, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune and local station WVUE. In the video, a man who identified himself as Massey dismissed rumors that he was the mastermind behind the jail break. a web site operated by the Times-Picayune, quoted a deputy U.S. marshal and another source, confirming authorities were investigating the video. "I'm one of the ones that was let out of Orleans Parish jail where they said I escaped, right?' he said speaking directly to the camera wearing the same facial tattoos as Massey. "They say that I broke out. I didn't break out. I was let out." The man in the video also proclaimed his innocence and said he fled the Orleans Parish jail to avoid being charged for a crime he did not commit, reported. "The reason why I left the jail is because these people were trying to give me a life sentence in both parishes for something that I did not do," the man said in the video. The post, which is no longer available as of Monday, June 2, was shared by an account named "@_007chucky" that is no longer searchable, WVUE reported. USA TODAY has reached out to the officials with the U.S Marshall, FBI and the New Orleans Police Department for comment. Man rejects statements from arrested jail maintenance worker The man in the video also said not to believe jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams, 33, the reported. Williams told police one of the inmates threatened to stab him with a homemade knife known as a "shank," according to an arrest affidavit for Williams. WVUE reported that the man said in the video that he never tried to "shank" Williams. Williams was arrested in connection with the prison escape and is accused of being in contact with the escapees alongside several others. He is charged with being a principal to simple escape and malfeasance in office. Williams allegedly admitted he shut off the water to a cell after one of the inmates requested so, allowing them to escape through the ripped out a toilet and sink unit, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said last month. Michael Kennedy, a lawyer for Sterling Williams, told USA TODAY last week that his client didn't know about the escape plan and only shut down the water because of a clogged toilet. Why was Massey in jail? Massey is charged with domestic abuse involving strangulation. He's also charged with theft of a motor vehicle, Orleans Parish records show. A warrant for his arrest in St. Tammany Parish shows he is wanted for second-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping, domestic abuse involving strangulation and violation of a protective order involving battery stemming from a November incident, a spokesperson for the parish sheriff's office confirmed with USA TODAY. He is wanted alongside Groves, who last October was convicted of two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of attempted second-degree murder in connection to a 2018 Mardi Gras shooting. Three of the escaped inmates were recaptured by the end May 16, the same day as the escape. A week later, two more were found. Within two weeks, authorities had caught all except Groves and Massey. Authorities are offering a $50,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of either of them. Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse, John Bacon, Thao Nguyen, Jorge L. Ortiz, and N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
De Pere selects new Fire Chief to replace retiring Matzke, set to start June 9
DE PERE, Wis. (WFRV) – With the April retirement of Chief Al Matzke, who stepped down from his role after 40 years of service, the De Pere Police and Fire Commission has officially announced the next Fire Chief. Battalion Chief Brett Jansen will become the new chief effective on June 9, officials announced on Monday evening. Appleton's Lamers Dairy brings back 'Cones for a Cause' to raise money during June Dairy Month Jansen, a long-time member with De Pere Fire Rescue, will step into the role after Assistant Fire Chief Jack Mlnrik finishes his time as the interim chief. Chief Jansen has served De Pere for nearly 20 years, starting as a firefighter/paramedic in 2006, until he became a Lieutenant in 2019. His current title of Battalion Chief was earned in 2022. The 2021 Wisconsin State Firefighter of the Year, Jansen, is also the Emergency Medical Services Director, with years of experience. Fire Department Lieutenant in Wisconsin uses chainsaw to create artful park bench Mayor James Boyd released the following statement regarding the selection: 'Battalion Chief Jansen is an exceptional leader, and we're excited to see him step into the role of Fire Chief for our community. The City of De Pere has long taken pride in the strength of its public safety services and overall quality of life. We're confident that Chief Jansen will not only uphold these high standards but also lead the department forward with professionalism, innovation, and a forward-thinking approach to fire and emergency response.' De Pere Mayor James Boyd City Manager Kim Flom added the following statement: 'We are excited to have Brett on board as the next Fire Chief. His commitment to the community and to the continued strength of the organization were evident through the recruitment process.' City Manager Kim Flom No additional details were provided. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
