Who can caught him? ‘Devil in the Ozarks’ killer remains a fugitive
Hardin, a 56-year-old former police chief, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas, May 25, where he was serving time for the 2017 murder of James Appleton and the 1997 rape of a school teacher, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
The subject of the 2023 documentary “Devil in the Ozarks” remains at large as the FBI and U.S. Marshall’s Service have a combined $25,000 reward for information leading to Hardin’s capture.
The search for Arkansas prison escapee Grant Hardin – the so-called ‘Devil in the Ozarks’ killer – is in its second week amid mountainous, rough terrain.
“Inmate Hardin impersonated a corrections officer in dress and manner causing the Corrections Officer operating a secure gate to open the gate and allow Inmate Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit,” Special Agent Dennis Simons of the Izard County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an arrest affidavit.
Rand Champion, director of communications for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, told NewsNation June 3 that the mountainous terrain of the Ozarks has made the search difficult.
“We’ve got to try and access some pretty hard-to-get-to places. And so being able to get into there has caused some challenges,” Champion told the network.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections released a photo Tuesday depicting “what officials feel he would look similar to after a week on the run,” Champion said in an email to USA TODAY Tuesday night.
He added that the mugshot was altered to represent a week’s worth of hair growth and to make Hardin slimmer due to limited food.
