13-day manhunt in the mountains results in the capture of Arkansas’ wanted killer and rapist | American criminal case

A former police chief, notorious criminal nicknamed “Devil in the Ozarks” who confessed to murder and rape, was captured by police 1.5 miles northwest of the prison he escaped from after a 13-day search in the mountains of Northern Arkansas, as announced by the authorities on Friday. Grant Hardin’s identity was confirmed via fingerprinting, according to the Izard county sheriff’s office in a posted Facebook message. Hardin, who used to be a police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, had been serving time for murder and rape charges. His criminal activities were featured in the 2023 TV documentary, “Devil in the Ozarks.” Hardin had been in Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. He managed to escape by impersonating a corrections officer in both look and action, convincing a guard to let him leave the facility. Rand Champion, a state prison system spokesperson, has termed this oversight as a “lapse” that is currently being investigated. The search for Hardin involved the use of bloodhounds, horse-mounted units, drones, helicopters, and an elite border patrol team, known as BORTAC, specialized in navigating the complex Ozarks terrain. The Ozark mountain region’s challenging landscape made the search complex. Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder in the shooting death of James Appleton and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Additionally, Hardin’s DNA matched evidence from a 1997 elementary school teacher’s rape in Rogers, for which he received a 50-year sentence.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/06/arkansas-devil-in-the-ozarks-caught