Ex-police chief and convicted killer who escaped from an Arkansas prison
has been captured
[June 07, 2025]
By JEFF MARTIN and SAFIYAH RIDDLE
A former police chief and convicted killer known as the “Devil in the
Ozarks” was captured by law enforcement 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers)
northwest of the prison he escaped from following a massive, nearly
two-week-long manhunt in the rugged mountains of northern Arkansas,
authorities announced Friday.
Grant 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, “Devil in
the Ozarks.”
Hardin briefly attempted to run from officers when he saw them approach
Friday afternoon, but he was quickly tackled to the ground, said Rand
Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas prison system.
“He’d been on the run for a week and a half and probably didn’t have any
energy left in him,” he added.
Hardin’s identity was confirmed through fingerprinting, the Izard County
Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
There’s no indication that Hardin was injured, though he will be checked
for dehydration and other medical problems.
Now, investigators are “chomping at the bit and really ready to talk to
him,” said Champion, who used his cellphone to capture an image of
Hardin being led away by officers. Hardin said nothing during those
moments.
The escape, search and eventual capture
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 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.
Champion 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 May 25.
Shortly after the escape, a bloodhound found — then quickly lost —
Hardin’s scent when heavy rains blew through the area, Champion said.
The bloodhound tracked Hardin's path for less than a quarter of a mile,
after which could have gone in any direction.
“That was one of the most frustrating things, that they were able to
track him but then they lost him because of the rain,” Champion said.
An elite and highly trained U.S. Border Patrol team had recently joined
the search, federal authorities announced this week. The Border Patrol
Tactical Team provided “advanced search capabilities and operational
support," U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
Its members are experienced in navigating complex terrain, the agency
said earlier this week. The team tracked Hardin through the region known
for its rocky and rugged landscape, thick forests and an extensive cave
network.
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A flier looking for Grant Hardin hangs on the glass of a business,
Thursday, May 29, 2025, in downtown Calico Rockt, Ark. (AP
Photo/Nicholas Ingram)
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shared photos on Facebook of Hardin
shirtless and covered in mud, laying face down with his hands tied
behind his back on Friday. The post said that Hardin was “turned
over to Arkansas State Police unharmed” by the federal agency.
A spokesperson for the agency didn't respond to a phone call and
emailed request for comment regarding the post on Friday night.
Hardin's criminal convictions
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 Feb. 23, 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.
Cheryl Tillman, Appleton's sister, was with her mother and sister at
a flea market in Ozark, Missouri, when law enforcement called to
tell her Hardin had been captured. Tillman is also the mayor of
Gateway, the 450-person town where Hardin was briefly police chief.
Tillman told The Associated Press that Hardin's capture was a “big
sigh of relief” for her whole family.
“We don’t have to walk around, turning around all the time, thinking
somebody’s on our back,” Tillman said, emphasizing her appreciation
for the officers who helped capture Hardin.
A problematic past in law enforcement
Though Hardin was police chief in Gateway for just four months, he
had served as an officer in multiple communities around northwest
Arkansas, his police records show.
In his first job as a police officer 35 years ago in Fayetteville,
Hardin struggled almost immediately, his supervisors said. He was
dismissed by Fayetteville police, but kept getting hired for other
law enforcement jobs in northwest Arkansas over the years.
Hardin worked about six months at the Huntsville Police Department
before resigning, but records do not give a reason for his
resignation.
He 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.
“He did not need to be a police officer at all,” Hyatt told
television station KNWA.
By the time he was the police chief in Gateway in 2016, “he was out
chasing cars for no reason,” Tillman recalled in the documentary
“Devil in the Ozarks.”
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