An urgent manhunt is underway in Arkansas after a disgraced former police chief, who was serving time for murder and rape, escaped from prison.

The Arkansas Department of Corrections said Grant Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit on Sunday afternoon in Calico Rock, AR. 

“Anyone with information about inmate Hardin’s whereabouts should contact local law enforcement immediately,” authorities said in a post on X.

Officials reported that Hardin has been incarcerated at the North Central Unit since 2017, serving a 30-year term for first-degree murder, along with an additional sentence for rape.

The Arkansas Department of Corrections is searching for an inmate who escaped from the North Central Unit on Sunday.  (iStock)

Authorities confirmed that Hardin’s DNA was a match to the DNA of the rape suspect. Harrison was attacked while she was preparing a lesson plan for the week. This case had remained unsolved for almost twenty years.

Hardin ended up pleading guilty to the rape in 2019.

“Grant Hardin, in my perspective and based on my personal experience, is among the most dangerous individuals I have encountered because he does not seem that way at first,” Smith previously commented. “He is a person capable of committing a seemingly random and horrific murder as well as a random horrific rape.”

Hardin is described as a 6′ white male, weighing approximately 259 pounds. 

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com