Grant Hardin, a former police chief of Gateway, Arkansas, convicted of rape and murder, has escaped from the North Central Unit prison in Calico Rock, Arkansas, officials confirmed.
Hardin, 56, who served as Gateway’s police chief for about four months in 2016, fled the prison on Sunday around 3:40 p.m. local time. The Arkansas Department of Corrections stated he was no longer in his prison uniform but was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement.
Hardin remains at large as a multi-agency manhunt intensifies. Authorities have urged anyone with information to contact local law enforcement immediately.
In 2017, Hardin pleaded guilty to first-degree murder after fatally shooting James Appleton, a 59-year-old employee of the city’s water department. Appleton was killed while speaking to the then-Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman. Hardin received a 30-year sentence for the crime.
While imprisoned for murder, DNA evidence linked Hardin to the 1997 rape of Amy Harrison at an elementary school in Rogers, Arkansas. Harrison was assaulted at gunpoint while leaving a classroom. Hardin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 50 years for the rape.
Hardin’s escape comes weeks after a major breakout in a Louisiana prison, highlighting ongoing security challenges in correctional facilities.
