Latest news with #escapedconvict
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Arkansas killer and rapist caught after 13-day manhunt in mountains
A former police chief who is also a convicted killer and rapist nicknamed the 'Devil in the Ozarks' was captured by law enforcement 1.5 miles north-west of the prison he escaped from following a 13-day manhunt in the mountains of northern Arkansas, authorities announced on Friday. Grant Hardin's identity was confirmed through fingerprinting, the Izard county sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. Hardin, a former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. Eventually, his notoriety led to a TV documentary, 2023's Devil in the Ozarks. Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a fatal shooting. In order to escape, he had impersonated a corrections officer 'in dress and manner', according to a court document. A prison officer in one of the guard towers opened a secure gate, allowing him to walk out of the facility. Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the state prison system, said that someone should have checked Hardin's identity before he was allowed to leave, describing the lack of verification as a 'lapse' that's being investigated. Searchers had been using bloodhounds, officers on horseback, drones and helicopters in their hunt for Hardin since he escaped on 25 May. An elite and highly trained US border patrol team had recently joined the search, federal authorities announced this week. The border patrol tactical team known as BORTAC provided 'advanced search capabilities and operational support' in the hunt for Hardin, US customs and border protection said. Its members are experienced in navigating complex terrain, the agency said. The Ozark mountains region is known for its rocky and rugged landscape, thick forests and an extensive cave network. 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 on 23 February 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton's body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Hardin's DNA was also matched to the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He was sentenced to 50 years for that crime.
Daily Mail
30-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Manhunt for 'Devil of the Ozarks' killer underway in Arkansas after he escaped prison
Authorities are scouring caves and abandoned cabins in the Ozark Mountains as the manhunt for a former police chief and convicted killer who escaped from prison continues. Grant Hardin, 56, was serving a decades-long sentence for murder and rape when he escaped from North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas on Sunday. Known as the 'Devil in the Ozarks,' Hardin was able to escape by impersonating a corrections officer 'in dress and manner,' according to a court document. A prison officer opened a secure gate which allowed the criminal to casually walk out of the medium-security facility as he pulled what appeared to be a fully loaded trolley. Searchers are now hunting for the 'extremely dangerous' fugitive in the rural Ozarks region, where experts warn that there are plenty of places to hide, from vast forests and abandoned cabins to hundreds of caves that lead to subterranean spaces. Locals say Hardin is familiar with the extensive cavern system in the area, which has nearly 2,000 documented caves in the northern part of Arkansas alone. Darla Nix, a cafe owner in the nearby city of Pea Ridge whose sons grew up around the fugitive, said: '[Hardin] knows where the caves are.' Nix, who describes Hardin as a survivor, remembers him as a 'very, very smart' and a mostly quiet person. Local, state, and federal law enforcement, who say they are 'confident he is still in the area', are continuing the hunt for Hardin in the greater Ozarks region. At a press conference on Wednesday, Rand Champion, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, said: 'Until we have credible evidence that he is not in the area, we assume that he's probably still in the area.' However, Champion noted that for the searchers, 'caves have definitely been a source of concern and a point of emphasis'. He added: '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.' The area around the prison is one of the most cave-dense regions of the state, according to a University Of Arkansas geology professor who studies caves. Video surveillance shows that Hardin escaped from the prison at about 2:55pm on Sunday, wearing what appeared to be an imitation law enforcement uniform. The outfit was not a standard inmate or correctional uniform, said Champion. Police are working to determine how Hardin was able to get the uniform or manufacture it himself. Authorities also revealed that a prison officer opened a secure gate for the convict, allowing him to leave the facility. Champion said that someone should have checked Hardin's identity before he was allowed to leave the premises and described the lack of verification as a 'lapse' that is being investigated. It took authorities approximately 30 minutes to notice Hardin was not at the prison and had escaped. Officials publicly announced his escape about two hours later. Prison officials say they are investigating the events that occurred in the lead up to the escape 'to help determine any assistance he may have had'. Champion said the decision to house Hardin in a medium-security facility, which has a capacity of about 800 people, weighed the 'needs of the different facilities and inmates' and 'assessments' of his crimes. Champion explained that inmates are evaluated and given a classification when they first enter the prison system to determine where they are housed. There are portions of the Calico Rock facility that are maximum-security. The corrections officer added that Hardin did not have any major disciplinary issues while incarcerated. Hardin briefly served as the police chief in the tiny town of Gateway, located near the Arkansas- Missouri border, for four months in early 2016. He had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of 59-year-old James Appleton. Appleton, a Gateway water department employee, was shot in the head in 2017. Police found his body inside a car and Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Hardin's DNA was entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, and it matched the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for that crime. At the time he was a police officer in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Hardin was the focus of a popular 2023 HBO documentary, Devil In The Ozarks, that featured interviews with the victim of the 1997 rape and sisters of the murder victim, and Hardin's own family. The documentary revealed a crucial run-in between Hardin and Appleton in the Spring of 2016 in which Appleton stood up to Hardin about fixing a police car. Cheryl Tillman, one of Appleton's sisters, said: 'He was out chasing cars for no reason. 'He was pulling guns on the citizens here in Gateway and then as time went on with him being the police chief things just started going down hill fast.' Then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, who was Appleton's brother-in-law, described being on the phone with him when he was shot, while local resident John Bray spoke about driving past Appleton's car when the shooting happened. He was the first to find his body and identified Hardin as the shooter. Bray said: 'I heard what I thought was someone had fired a rifle. 'I went back and I seen it looked like he had been shot.' The documentary revealed key details about the bubbling resentment Hardin felt toward Appleton, as well as accounts of the moments right before and after the murder. A Benton county sheriff's office lieutenant described several times they had got into each other's faces during disputes and the dislike they both felt toward one another. The city council gave Hardin an ultimatum: resign or be fired. He stepped down four months after taking the position and nine months later, he killed Appleton. The documentary also includes security video of Hardin at a restaurant with his family just after the shooting and the police interrogation in which he tells law enforcement that he has 'the right to be silent' and opted not to give a statement. Prior to be incarcerated Hardin had a checkered and brief law enforcement career. He worked at the Fayetteville Police Department from August 1990 to May 1991, but was let go because he didn´t meet the standards of his training period, a department spokesman said. Hardin then worked about six months at the Huntsville Police Department before resigning, but records do not give a reason for his resignation, according to Police Chief Todd Thomas, who joined the department after Hardin worked there. Hardin later worked at the Eureka Springs Police Department from 1993 to 1996. Former Chief Earl Hyatt said Hardin resigned because Hyatt was going to fire him over incidents that included the use of excessive force. Speaking to the television station KNWA, Hyatt said: 'He did not need to be a police officer at all.' Hardin continued to have trouble in his brief stint as an officer in Gateway, according to the 450-person town's mayor Cheryl Tillman. She said while Hardin was the town's sole officer, 'there was things that I seen that wasn´t good. He was always angry'. Champion said authorities have been using canines, drones and helicopters in their search for Hardin in the rugged northern Arkansas terrain. 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 with his capture in 2003. Rudolph knew of many cabins in the area that were 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 office at the time, said in the FBI's historical account of the case. Swecker said: 'He was anticipating a great conflict and he had clearly lined up caves and campsites where he could go.' Rudolph pleaded guilty to federal charges associated with four bombings in Georgia and Alabama. There are nearly 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 a passersby. Experts warn it would be quite possible to hide out underground for an extended period, but one would have to go out for food, increasing the likelihood of being discovered.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Escape of ex-police chief known as 'Devil in the Ozarks' has Arkansas residents on edge
As law officers search Arkansas ' rugged Ozark Mountains for a former police chief and convicted killer, the sister of one of his victims is on edge. Grant Hardin, the former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas- Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape and became known as the 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Hardin escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock by disguising himself and wearing a 'makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement,' state prison officials said in a statement. 'I don't think he will be taken alive,' said Cheryl Tillman, whose brother James Appleton was killed by Hardin in 2017. 'He won't go peacefully.' Sheriff's deputies in multiple northern Arkansas counties have been working with state prison officials to follow leads and search the rugged terrain in the Ozarks, Izard County Sheriff Charley Melton said in an update late Monday. 'To the citizens of Izard County and surrounding counties, please stay vigilant, lock your house and vehicle doors and report any suspicious activity by calling 911 immediately,' Melton said. Other sheriffs were issuing similar warnings about Hardin, who was the focus of a 2023 documentary, 'Devil in the Ozarks.' In an interview Tuesday, Tillman said she wasn't surprised when she heard that Hardin had escaped. But the news suddenly added fresh pain for her and other family members after dealing with the grief from the killing. 'He's just an evil man,' she said. 'He is no good for society.' Hardin being on the run is also alarming to Tillman and other family members since they were witnesses in his court proceedings. 'We were there at his trial when all that went down, and he seen us there, he knows,' she said. Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Appleton, 59. Appleton worked for the Gateway water department when he was shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton's body inside a car. Investigators at the time did not release a motive for the killing. Hardin, who was Gateway's police chief for about four months in early 2016, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers north of Fayetteville. Hardin had been held in Calico Rock since 2017. Tillman believes he had been planning his escape for a while. 'I'm sure it was in the makings for the eight years that he was there,' she said.
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Escape of ex-police chief known as 'Devil in the Ozarks' has Arkansas residents on edge
As law officers search Arkansas' rugged Ozark Mountains for a former police chief and convicted killer, the sister of one of his victims is on edge. Grant Hardin, the former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape and became known as the 'Devil in the Ozarks.' Hardin escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock by disguising himself and wearing a 'makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement,' state prison officials said in a statement. 'I don't think he will be taken alive,' said Cheryl Tillman, whose brother James Appleton was killed by Hardin in 2017. 'He won't go peacefully.' Sheriff's deputies in multiple northern Arkansas counties have been working with state prison officials to follow leads and search the rugged terrain in the Ozarks, Izard County Sheriff Charley Melton said in an update late Monday. 'To the citizens of Izard County and surrounding counties, please stay vigilant, lock your house and vehicle doors and report any suspicious activity by calling 911 immediately,' Melton said. Other sheriffs were issuing similar warnings about Hardin, who was the focus of a 2023 documentary, 'Devil in the Ozarks.' In an interview Tuesday, Tillman said she wasn't surprised when she heard that Hardin had escaped. But the news suddenly added fresh pain for her and other family members after dealing with the grief from the killing. 'He's just an evil man,' she said. 'He is no good for society.' Hardin being on the run is also alarming to Tillman and other family members since they were witnesses in his court proceedings. 'We were there at his trial when all that went down, and he seen us there, he knows,' she said. Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Appleton, 59. Appleton worked for the Gateway water department when he was shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton's body inside a car. Investigators at the time did not release a motive for the killing. Hardin, who was Gateway's police chief for about four months in early 2016, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers north of Fayetteville. Hardin had been held in Calico Rock since 2017. Tillman believes he had been planning his escape for a while. 'I'm sure it was in the makings for the eight years that he was there,' she said.
