As the legal officer searched Arkansas’ sturdy Ozark Mountains, the former police chief and convicted murderer fled the prison this weekend impersonating security guards, walking through the gates that were open for him, with his victim sisters on the edge.
Grant Hardin, a former police chief at the small town Gateway near the Arkansas Missori border, has served a long sentence for murder and rape, and has become known as the “Ozarks Devil.”
Hardin escaped Sunday from North Central Unit, a moderate security prison, also known as the Calico Rock Prison, according to court documents. The prison officer opened a safe gate and left the facility.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesman, Rand Champion, explained that clothing is not a standard prisoner or correctional uniform.
“There’s nothing in the prisons that look like that, so that’s one of the challenges we’ve experienced, and that’s one of the challenges we’re experiencing to see how we got it or were able to manufacture it,” he said.
The Champion said the decision to house Hardin in a medium security facility overwhelmed the “various facilities and inmate needs” and “assessment” of his crime.
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Hardin’s escape comes days after 10 people escaped from a New Orleans prison by passing through the hole behind the toilet. Eight of those fugitives were subsequently captured.
Former police chief and convicted murderer Grant Hardin escaped the prison of the North Central Unit and disguised himself in Calico Rock, the Ark. Arkansas Corrections Bureau via the AP
Escape to rough terrain
Cheryl Tillman, whose brother James Appleton was killed by Hardin in 2017, said she and other relatives were wary of Hardin’s escape as they were witnesses in his court case.
“We were there at his trial and he knows he’s seen us when it all went down,” she told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Authorities are using dogs, drones and helicopters to search the rugged Northern Arkansas terrain, Champion said.
The Champion did not discuss the exact details of the search area, but over time the search area expanded.
“Where this is where the facility is, the terrain offers a challenge,” he said. “At the same time, that’s a limitation like where he can get.”
“It’s so rocky, so that’s why it’s called Karikorok for a reason,” he added.
According to video surveillance, Hardin escaped at around 2:55pm on Sunday, the Champion said. Authorities announced their escape that evening around 5pm.
He said it is the heavy rain that fell on the area on a recent day that complicates the search efforts.
Hardin’s escape to rural state is not necessarily an advantage, according to Craig Kane, a retired US inspector who handled many cases involving escaped prisoners throughout his nearly 30-year career in federal law enforcement.
“At some point, he’ll run out of clauses,” Kane said.
“In more rural areas, most people know each other,” Kane said. It’s more likely that someone will identify Hardin and attract him.
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Izzard County Sheriff Charlie Melton and other local sheriffs urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles and call 911 if they notice any suspicious things.
Brian Sexton, who charged Hardin with both murder and rape, said his office reached out to officers who investigated Hardin and his family members affected by Hardin’s crimes.
“To have to reconnect with people who have spent most of the decade in their lives, pick up calls and be the one who reminds them of what happened is a heavy burden on me,” Sexton said.
Gateway, a town of about 450 people where Hardin was temporarily the chief of police in 2016, is located in the same large county as the headquarters of Walmart, a retail giant in Bentonville. However, the county’s gateway and northeastern part are far more rural and farther than Bentonville. The landscape becomes sturdy to the east, in the heart of the Ozark and Buffalo National River, towards Izzard County, where the escape took place.
Darlanix, a local cafe owner on a ridge near Pea, Arkansas, said her son grew up around Hardin and knew him as a nearly quiet person before being convicted.
“He’s always been one of the kids and a member of the community,” Knicks said.
Describing Hardin as “a very, very clever man,” Knicks said he expects Hardin’s quest to be challenging for law enforcement.
“He knows where the cave is. He’s just a survivor. He knows how to make it. They’re trying to fill up their hands that try to catch him,” Knicks said.
Tillman said she wasn’t surprised when he heard that Hardin had escaped. However, the news suddenly added fresh pain to her and the other family members after dealing with the grief from the murder.
“He’s just an evil man,” she said. “He’s not good for society.”
Hardin pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for fatally shooting Appleton in October 2017 when he was shot in the head near Garfield on February 23, 2017. Police found Appleton’s body in the car.
Investigators at the time did not release the motive for the murder, and Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He also serves 50 years in prison for the rape of an elementary school teacher in 1997 in Rogers, north of Fayetteville.
Hardin has been in the Calico Rock Prison since 2017, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections. The facility has around 800 prisoners.
By Jeff Martin and Saffya Riddle
