(STONE COUNTY, Ark.) — The manhunt continues for Grant Hardin, the escaped former Arkansas police chief serving a 30-year sentence for murder and rape, as officials enter their fourth day of search efforts.
Grant Hardin, 56, who has been in prison since 2017 for first-degree murder and rape, escaped the Calico Rock North Central Unit on Sunday at approximately 2:50 p.m., the Stone County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Hardin escaped custody through a sally port by impersonating a corrections officer “in dress and manner,” which caused another corrections officer “operating a secure gate to open the gate and allow Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit,” according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.
Surveillance footage shows Hardin pulling a cart, which was found abandoned outside the gates of the prison.
Hardin remains at large on Wednesday.
Officials said citizens in Izard County and surrounding counties should “stay vigilant, lock your house and vehicle doors and report any suspicious activity by calling 911 immediately,” according to the Izard County Sheriff’s Office.
The U.S. Marshals and Eastern Arkansas Fugitive Task Force are also assisting in the search efforts, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals said on Tuesday.
“I am very scared that this guy is going to hurt or kill somebody before this is over with,” Stone County Sheriff Brandon Long told ABC News.
Hardin, who was the former police chief of Gateway, Arkansas, worked in the prison kitchen, according to a spokesperson from the department of corrections, but it is unclear whether this job involved any access to the sally port he used to escape. He has had no significant disciplinary issues during his time at the prison, and there is no reason to believe anyone aided him in this escape, officials said.
Nathan Smith, the former Benton County prosecutor who helped put Hardin behind bars, told Arkansas ABC affiliate KHBS the escaped inmate is “a sociopath.”
“He has no moral core or center that would prevent him from doing anything,” Smith told KHBS.
Hardin is “considered to be extremely dangerous and should not be approached,” officials said.
Authorities are using helicopters, drones, K9 officers and ATVs in their search for Hardin. Rugged terrain, densely wooded areas, hills and days of rain have been “hindering the ongoing search,” a spokesperson with the department of corrections said. Deputies are continuing to monitor the roadways near the prison and are conducting security checkpoints in the area, officials said.
Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton, according to The Associated Press.
He was also convicted of the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas, a crime highlighted in the 2023 television documentary “Devil in the Ozarks.”
Cheryl Tillman, the mayor of Gateway, Arkansas, and Appleton’s sister, told KHBS that Hardin is “an evil man” and said his escape is “almost like déjà vu all over again.”
Hardin is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 259 pounds.
Authorities said anyone with information regarding his whereabouts should contact local law enforcement immediately.
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