The uneven terrain of the Ozark Mountains is filled with potential hideouts where search teams are searching for a former officer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks.”
Grant Hardin, the former chief of police in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, escaped on Sunday from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, where he had been incarcerated since 2017. The Arkansas Division of Correction did not release specific details about how the escape occurred but said Hardin was disguised in a “makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement.”
Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton. Hardin was briefly Appleton’s police chief in 2016. According to an affidavit, Appleton, who worked for Gateway’s water department, was speaking with his brother-in-law, then-Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Authorities found Appleton’s body inside a car.
He was sentenced to 30 years for the murder and was also serving 50 years for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher.
The search team responsible for locating Hardin is now concerned that the cavernous layout of the Ozarks may present additional challenges to finding the fugitive.
“That’s one of the challenges of this area — there are a lot of places to hide and take shelter, a lot of abandoned sheds, and there are a lot of caves in this area, so that’s been a priority for the search team,” said Rand Champion, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. “It adds to the challenge of a search in this area, for sure.”
Local, state, and federal officials have kept the search concentrated to the area believing that Hardin has not gotten that far and may be taking advantage of the subterranean spaces in the hundreds of caves in the region. Authorities have deployed canines, drones, and helicopters to search for Hardin in the area, Champion said. County law enforcement across the Arkansas Ozarks have urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles and to contact 911 if they see anything suspicious.
Hardin had no disciplinary issues while he was incarcerated.
