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Fox News
28-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
‘Devil in the Ozarks' who escaped prison likely still in Arkansas area: officials
It has been 72 hours since a former Arkansas police chief serving decades in prison for murder and rape escaped from prison on Sunday afternoon. Former Gateway Police Department Chief Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit on Sunday afternoon in Calico Rock, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). "We have a pretty good idea of the route that he took and some of those circumstances… and what, if any, lapses happened," ADC Communications Director Rand Champion said during a Wednesday news conference. "Based on the information that we have and the experience of our teams, they feel fairly confident that he is still fairly close to this region," Champion said, noting that "all it takes is one vehicle" for Hardin to use to travel elsewhere, though officials have established a perimeter around the area of Stone County. "As of this time, they are still very confident that he is in the area," Champion said. Champion said the public should assume Hardin is "a very dangerous individual," and there is a risk he may commit more crimes while he is on the run. It took less than 30 minutes for prison officials to notice that Hardin had disappeared from prison. Photos that the Stone County Sheriff's Office posted to social media show Hardin wearing an ADC-style uniform during his escape through a sally port, though Champion said the uniform he was wearing was not an official uniform. "It had to have either been homemade or brought in somehow," Champion said of the uniform. Hardin, who became known as the "Devil in the Ozarks," was sentenced to 30 years for murder plus additional time for rape. He pleaded guilty to the 2017 murder of James Appleton, 59, a city water employee who was found shot in the face inside his work truck, KNWA reported. While Hardin was being booked into the state prison, officials submitted his DNA sample into a database. His DNA ended up linking him to the rape cold case of a teacher in 1997, the outlet reported. The victim, a teacher at Frank Tillery Elementary in Rogers, said she was raped by a man with a gun at the school. "It was proven to be Mr. Hardin beyond all scientific certainty," Nathan Smith, the prosecuting attorney for Benton County at the time, told the outlet. Authorities confirmed Hardin's DNA matched the DNA linked to the rape suspect. Harrison was ambushed while preparing a lesson plan for the week. The case had been cold for nearly two decades. Hardin ended up pleading guilty to the rape in 2019. "Grant Hardin, in my view and in my personal experience, is one of the most dangerous people that I ever seen for the reason that he does not at first appear that way," Smith previously said. "He is a man capable of a seemingly random, horrific murder as well as a random, horrific rape." Hardin is described as a 6' white male, weighing approximately 259 pounds.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Caves, other hideouts in mountains are part of hunt for fugitive known as 'Devil in the Ozarks'
There are plenty of hideouts in the rugged terrain of the Ozark Mountains, from abandoned cabins and campsites in vast forests where searchers are hunting for an ex-lawman known as the 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Others are not only off the grid but beneath it, in the hundreds of caves that lead to vast subterranean spaces. Fugitive Grant Hardin 'knows where the caves are,' said Darla Nix, a cafe owner in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, whose sons grew up around him. Nix, who describes Hardin as a survivor, remembers him as a 'very, very smart' and mostly quiet person. For the searchers, "caves have definitely been a source of concern and a point of emphasis," said Rand Champion, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. 'That's one of the challenges of this area — there are a lot of places to hide and take shelter, a lot of abandoned sheds, and there are a lot of caves in this area, so that's been a priority for the search team,' Champion said. "It adds to the challenge of a search in this area, for sure.' Hardin, the former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. He was the subject of the TV documentary 'Devil in the Ozarks.' He escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit — a medium-security prison also known as the Calico Rock prison — by impersonating a corrections officer 'in dress and manner,' according to a court document. A prison officer opened a secure gate, allowing him to leave the facility. Authorities have been using canines, drones and helicopters to search for Hardin in the rugged northern Arkansas terrain, Champion said. The sheriffs of several counties across the Arkansas Ozarks had urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles and call 911 if they notice anything suspicious. In some ways, the terrain is similar to the site of one of the most notorious manhunts in U.S. history. Bomber Eric Rudolph, described by authorities as a skilled outdoorsman, evaded law officers for years in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It was a five-year manhunt that finally ended in 2003 with his capture for with his capture in 2003. Rudolph knew of many cabins in the area owned by out-of-town people, and he also knew of caves in the area, former FBI executive Chris Swecker, who led the agency's Charlotte, North Carolina, office at the time, said in the FBI's historical account of the case. "I think it is very likely that he not only had campsites and caves, but he was also spending some time in those cabins," Swecker said. 'He was anticipating a great conflict and he had clearly lined up caves and campsites where he could go,' he added. Rudolph pleaded guilty to federal charges associated with four bombings in Georgia and Alabama, including one in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta during the 1996 Olympic Games. There are more than 2,000 documented caves in northern Arkansas, state officials say. Many of them have entrances only a few feet wide that are not obvious to passersby, said Michael Ray Taylor, who has written multiple books on caves, including 'Hidden Nature: Wild Southern Caves.' The key is finding the entrance, Taylor said. 'The entrance may look like a rabbit hole, but if you wriggle through it, suddenly you find enormous passageways,' he said. Local residents might discover some caves as teenagers, so a fugitive would want to choose one that deputies in the search didn't also discover as teens, Taylor said. It would be quite possible to hide out underground for an extended period, but 'you have to go out for food, and you're more likely to be discovered,' he said. Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder for the killing of James Appleton, 59. Appleton worked for the Gateway water department when he was shot in the head Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton's body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was also serving 50 years for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He had been held in the Calico Rock prison since 2017.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Former Arkansas police chief sentenced for murder and rape escapes from prison
A former Arkansas police chief serving a 30-year sentence for murder and rape has escaped from prison, according to the Stone County Sheriff's Office. Grant Hardin, 56, who has been in prison since 2017 for first-degree murder and rape, escaped the Calico Rock North Central Unit on Sunday at approximately 2:50 p.m., the sheriff's office said in a statement. MORE: Facial recognition technology use in search for New Orleans jail escapees under scrutiny Hardin, who was the former police chief of Gateway, Arkansas, allegedly escaped through a sally port "wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement," according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. As of Sunday evening, the search continues for Hardin, officials said. Hardin is "considered to be extremely dangerous and should not be approached," officials said. The Arkansas Department of Corrections, state police and other local and state law enforcement offices are working together in the search for Hardin, officials said. He is described as 6 feet tall and weighs 259 pounds. Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton, according to The Associated Press. He is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas, the AP said. Authorities said anyone with information regarding his whereabouts should contact local law enforcement immediately. Former Arkansas police chief sentenced for murder and rape escapes from prison originally appeared on
