Ex-police chief and convicted killer who escaped from Arkansas jail captured

A former police chief and convicted killer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” was captured 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) northwest of the prison grounds by law enforcement official safter he escaped from a prison, triggering a massive manhunt in the mountains of northern Arkansas, authorities announced on Friday.

Grant Hardin’s identity was confirmed through fingerprinting, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Hardin, the 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.”

An elite and highly trained U.S. Border Patrol had joined the search in the Ozark Mountains for Hardin federal authorities announced this week.

The Border Patrol Tactical Team known as BORTAC provided “advanced search capabilities and operational support” in the hunt for Hardin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. Its members are experienced in navigating complex terrain, the agency said. The Ozark Mountains region is known for its rocky and rugged landscape, thick forests and an extensive cave network.

Searchers had been using bloodhounds, officers on horseback, drones and helicopters in their hunt for Hardin since he escaped nearly two weeks ago, on May 25.

Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a fatal shooting for which he was serving a 30-year sentence. In order to escape, he had 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.

Hardin’s DNA was 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. Eventually, his notoriety led to a TV documentary, “Devil in the Ozarks.”

Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the state prison system, 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. A deputy U.S. Marshal has said in court papers that investigators theorize that he has likely fled Arkansas, but searchers are continuing to hunt for Hardin around the prison at Calico Rock.