RCMP still on the hunt for Alberta woman mistakenly released from jail

CTV News

22-05-2025

The RCMP confirm officers are still searching for an Alberta woman, Mackenzie Dawn Hardy, 24, who was released from a jail near Edmonton last month because of fraudulent reports that her charges were stayed.
In an email, RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff says she was released from Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre on April 25, 2025, and that 'the release itself did not involve the RCMP.'
An email from Alberta's Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services states that 'an individual was released from custody following receipt of documentation that was believed to provide the authority for release.'
Doug King, criminal justice professor at Mount Royal University, says in his decades of teaching, he has never heard of a case like this before.
'The idea that someone would use forged documents or falsified documents to get out of remand is outrageous,' he said.
'It takes more than the person to say, 'This is my document.' It takes someone on the outside to have helped her.'
There is a warrant out for Hardy's arrest. The RCMP say Hardy faces a number of charges including possession of stolen property, driving while impaired and fleeing a peace officer. Most of these charges stem from March 11, 2025, when she was found in a stolen vehicle by Red Deer RCMP Crime Reduction members.
Since Hardy's release, she has surfaced on social media, posting a number of TikTok videos about her ordeal.
In one of them, she says, 'apparently with these videos I'm making it's going to get me caught' adding 'the cops are just pissed because I'm one step ahead of them.'
In another video, she shares that her boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer and has one year to live. Hardy says her being released from jail was a 'gift from God.'
Investigators say her social media posts could be used as evidence and a tool to help find her.
'Every video she makes and posts is going to be seen as an aggravating circumstance to her criminal charge of escaping custody. She is just digging herself a hole,' said King. He believes Hardy will be found and that there will be consequences for her actions.
'Based on the charges she was facing, possession of stolen property, impaired operation, that kind of stuff, she probably went from a six-month stint in incarceration to probably an indictable offence. It's going to get you years now.'
The RCMP say Hardy isn't a threat to the public and efforts are being made to extend the Alberta-wide warrant for her arrest to a Canada-wide one.
The province added that the matter is also being investigated by the 'ministries of Justice and of Public Safety and Emergency Services'adding 'some immediate procedural changes have already been implemented but cannot be publicly disclosed to ensure their security and integrity are protected.'