Grant Hardin, an escaped Arkansas inmate known as the “Devil in the Ozarks,” has been taken into custody, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Hardin is a convicted murderer and rapist. He was reported missing from prison on May 25.
“Hardin was taken into custody by Izard County authorities just a short distance from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock,” the Stone County Sheriff’s Office said via Facebook. “While many details will remain under investigation there is no longer an active threat to public safety.”
The Arkansas Department of Corrections said Hardin managed to escape by impersonating a law enforcement official. He passed off as one “in dress and manner, causing the corrections officer operating a secure gate to open the gate and allow Inmate Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit,” a probable cause affidavit obtained by Nexstar’s KNWA said.
Board of Corrections member Benny Magness said Hardin was captured about a mile from the unit in the woods with the help of a specialized border patrol unit.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) said Arkansans can be relieved that he’s caught.
“Thanks to the great work of local, state and federal law enforcement Arkansans can breathe a sigh of relief and I can confirm that violent criminal Grant Hardin is back in custody,” Sanders said. “I am grateful for all law enforcement who contributed to his capture and give special thanks to the Trump administration and Secretary Kristi Noem, who sent a team from Border Patrol that was instrumental in tracking and apprehending Hardin.”
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A 2023 television documentary titled Devil in the Ozarks, drew national attention to Hardin.
Hardin had been serving a 30-year sentence for murder in the fatal shooting of 59-year-old James Appleton, for which he was arrested in 2017. He also is serving a 50-year sentence for raping a Arkansas elementary school teacher in 1997.