Grant Hardin, nicknamed ‘Devil in the Ozarks’, had escaped from prison after impersonating a corrections officer
A former police chief who is also a convicted killer and rapist nicknamed the “Devil in the Ozarks” was captured by law enforcement 1.5 miles north-west of the prison he escaped from following a 13-day 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, 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, 2023’s Devil in the Ozarks.
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 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.
