Arkansas prison escapee, dubbed the ‘Devil in the Ozarks’, caught and sent to high-security prison

Grant Hardin, a convicted murderer who was on the run after escaping from prison, known as the “Devil in the Ozarks,” has been relocated to Varner SuperMax prison near Little Rock, Arkansas, following his recapture by prison authorities on Friday.

After almost two weeks of searching in the mountainous region of northern Arkansas, law enforcement officers found Hardin only 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) northwest of the facility he had fled. Despite attempting to flee upon sighting the officers on Friday afternoon, Hardin was swiftly apprehended and subdued, according to Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas prison system.

In their attempts to locate Hardin, authorities employed drones, bloodhounds, and a helicopter. However, the search was hindered by the high water levels in creeks and streams surrounding the prison due to heavy rainfall, limiting both Hardin’s movements and those of the search party in the rough terrain, Champion explained.

“The direction he went, specifically around Moccasin Creek, saw high water due to the abundance of rain the last few weeks, which more than likely limited his options to get around the area,” Champion said. “Search teams had looked through this area before, but the high water previously limited their ability to fully investigate.”

Residents of the nearby town of Calico Rock, like Roger Simons, said they were surprised to learn that Hardin had stayed so close to the prison.

“Most of us in the area kind of figured he was either gone or dead, and none of us really thought he was still in the area,” said Simons, a local bartender. “We thought he was long gone — that’s what I would have bet my money on.”

Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a fatal shooting. He escaped by impersonating 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. Authorities say they are investigating why Hardin’s identity was not checked before he was allowed to leave.

Benton County Prosecutor Bryan Sexton, who oversaw Hardin’s convictions for murder and rape, said he had been in close contact with law enforcement officials who were “consistent” with their belief that Hardin remained in the northern Arkansas region.

Hardin is a former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border whose notoriety led to a TV documentary called “Devil in the Ozarks.” Sexton said his escape had significantly disrupted the lives of trial witnesses and Hardin’s victims, whom he kept updated on the pursuit for the fugitive.

“Every one of them to a person informed me that they had to make changes in their lives because they had had concerns for their safety,” Sexton said.

After Hardin’s recapture, “they could get closure in their lives and secondly go back to their normal lives, which had been disrupted the whole time he was out,” Sexton said.

Cheryl Tillman, the sister of a man shot by Hardin in 2017, told The Associated Press that Hardin’s capture was a “big sigh of relief” for her whole family.

“We don’t have to walk around, turning around all the time, thinking somebody’s on our back,” Tillman said, emphasizing her appreciation for the officers who helped capture Hardin.

Sexton said he was more assured now that Hardin was being sent to a more secure facility.

The Varner Unit, established in 1987, has the capacity to house 1,714 inmates. It is the site where former President Bill Clinton’s gubernatorial chief of staff, a death penalty opponent, faced charges for trying to smuggle a knife and tattoo needles into death row.

Within Varner, a special “supermax” unit houses the most high-risk prisoners such as a man who fatally shot a soldier at a military recruiting station and death row inmates such as convicted child rapist and murderer Zachary Holly. Damien Wayne Echols of the West Memphis Three was also incarcerated there prior to his release.

“By reputation, Varner is the most secure prison in the Arkansas system,” Sexton said. “I think that all things considering, putting him (Hardin) in the most secure facility we can is probably a wise thing to do.”