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The Arkansas Department of Corrections said the photo rendering
of Grant Hardin, 56, depicts how he may look after he escaped
May 25 from the Calico Rock prison. The rendering shows Hardin
with some hair on his head and face.
Authorities have said Hardin escaped by donning an outfit
designed to look like a law enforcement uniform.
Rand Champion, a department spokesperson, said officials are
focusing their search on the north-central Arkansas region where
the prison is located. Tips from elsewhere about potential
Hardin sightings have come in, but so far none have panned out,
Champion said.
Hardin, a 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.”
Hardin was housed in a maximum-security wing of the primarily
medium security prison, formally known as the North Central
Unit. Officials are investigating whether a job Hardin held in
the kitchen aided in his escape, including whether it gave him
access to materials he could have used to fashion his makeshift
uniform.
The co-chairs of a legislative subcommittee overseeing the
prison system told the head of the state Board of Corrections
that they planned to conduct a review of any "inadequacies or
deviations" from security protocols that allowed Hardin to
escape.
Area legislators have raised questions about why Hardin was
being held at the Calico Rock facility.
The letter was sent Monday by Republican Rep. Howard Beaty and
Sen. Matt McKee to Benny Magness, who heads the state board.
“Given Hardin’s background as a former law enforcement officer
and his history of working for multiple law enforcement
agencies, it is evident that he possesses knowledge and skills
that enabled him to exploit weaknesses in our security
protocols,” the lawmakers wrote. "His manipulation of the system
by wearing a disguise resembling a uniform is disturbing and
speaks to a broader system failure."
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