The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for details leading to the recapture of an ex-Arkansas police chief who was serving time for murder and rape. Known as “the Devil in the Ozarks,” he escaped on May 25.
Grant Hardin, 56, the former chief of the Gateway Police Department, made his escape from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison located in Calico Rock, that Sunday afternoon, as per the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
The FBI said Hardin has ties to Garfield, Eureka Springs, Holiday Island and Huntsville.
The FBI’s Little Rock Field Office is working alongside the U.S. Marshal Service, the Arkansas Department of Corrections, and the Arkansas State Police in the search and apprehension of Grant Matthew Hardin, according to an FBI wanted poster.
Hardin was sentenced to 30 years for murder plus additional time for rape.
He pleaded guilty to the 2017 murder of James Appleton, 59, a city water employee who was found shot in the face inside his work truck, KNWA reported. While Hardin was being booked into the state prison around that time, officials submitted his DNA sample into a database. His DNA ended up linking him to the rape cold case of a teacher in 1997, the outlet reported.
Hardin ended up pleading guilty in that case in 2019, according to KNWA.
The former police chief’s escape came two days after 10 prisoners escaped a correctional facility in New Orleans, eight of whom have since been re-captured while two remain at large.
Hardin is described as a 6 ft. white male, weighing approximately 259 pounds. The FBI is asking tipsters to call 1-800-CALL-FBI with any information concerning the escapee.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
