A former police chief serving time for murder and rape was recaptured Friday, nearly two weeks after a dramatic escape from an Arkansas prison.
Grant Hardin, dubbed the “Devil in the Ozarks,” was apprehended around 3:45 p.m. near Moccasin Creek, just over a mile from the Calico Rock prison where he had been held since 2017. Authorities say Hardin escaped the North Central Unit on May 25 by disguising himself in what appeared to be a law enforcement uniform.
Izard County Sheriff Brandon Long confirmed the arrest in a statement, assuring the public that “there is no longer an active threat to public safety.” Hardin’s identity was verified through fingerprint analysis before the public was notified.
The arrest followed an intensive manhunt led by Arkansas law enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol officers, who located Hardin using tracking dogs that picked up his scent in the rugged terrain of Izard County.
Hardin was serving a 30-year sentence for the 2017 murder of 59-year-old James Appleton, a man with whom he had longstanding conflicts. The killing came shortly after Hardin’s brief stint as police chief in Gateway, Arkansas.
Following his murder conviction, DNA evidence linked Hardin to a 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in northwestern Arkansas. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and received an additional 50 year sentence.
Authorities say details of the escape and subsequent recapture remain under investigation.
