UPDATE: Police Chief Convicted Of Rape And Murder Who Escaped From Prison Captured, Here’s Where

The old saying goes You can run, but you can’t hide.

As WLT Report previously reported, a former Arkansas police chief who is serving a 80 years prison sentence for murder and rape escaped from prison last month.

Former police chief of the town of Gateway, Grant Hardin, escaped on May 25 from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, where he has been imprisoned since 2017.

Corrections authorities did not reveal how Hardin escaped but did note that Hardin was “wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped the North Central Unit.”

Now, weeks after escaping from prison, he has been found!

CNN filled in the details:

Grant Hardin, the one-time Arkansas police chief who escaped from prison where he was serving sentences for murder and rape, has been recaptured, according to the Izard County Sheriff’s Office.

Hardin, 56, had been on the run for more than 10 days after breaking out of the prison on May 25, wearing what authorities described as a makeshift law enforcement uniform. Once the police chief of the small town of Gateway, Arkansas, he was serving a 30-year sentence for murder and two 25-year sentences for two counts of rape when he escaped.

He was captured Friday afternoon, just 1.5 miles west of the prison grounds, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office. Tracking dogs picked up a scent in the area and Hardin was “apprehended a short time later” by Arkansas law enforcement officers and US Border Patrol, according to a news release from the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

Hardin was brought back to the North Central Unit, from which he escaped, to be identified via fingerprinting and for initial physical assessments following his capture.

He was then transferred to the Varner SuperMax Unit in Gould, Arkansas, where he arrived Friday evening and will be housed moving forward, according to Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

Here are images of Hardin being captured:

Grant Hardin, murderer and rapist, escaped from an Arkansas prison nearly two weeks ago. USBP Special Operations Group deployed to assist in the manhunt and tracked him down less than 2 miles from the prison. Hardin was turned over to Arkansas State Police unharmed.@USBPSOG pic.twitter.com/EaysSlT54o

— Chief Michael W. Banks (@USBPChief) June 7, 2025

Another angle:

#BREAKING: Grant Hardin, convicted murderer and rapist who was once police chief, was found roughly a mile and a half from the prison he escaped from in Arkansas. This follows a two week manhunt after Hardin wore a fake uniform and somehow managed to go unnoticed. Sources tell… pic.twitter.com/BFl6cUvNIP

— Brooke Taylor (@Brooketaylortv) June 6, 2025

NBC News provided more details on Hardin’s crimes:

Hardin, who has a background in law enforcement, was in prison for killing Gateway city water employee James Appleton in 2017 and raping teacher Amy Harrison in 1997. He was sentenced to 30 years for Appleton’s murder and 50 years for the sexual assault.

Both cases were featured in the 2023 Max documentary “Devil in the Ozarks.”

Rand Champion, a Corrections Department spokesperson, had said that Hardin’s background in law enforcement made the search more difficult.

Hardin was the police chief of Gateway, Arkansas, for about four months in early 2016. From August 1990 to May 1991, he worked for the Fayetteville Police Department. A department spokesperson said he was let go while still going through the training program.

NBC affiliate KNWA of Fayetteville reported that he also worked as a police officer, county constable, and corrections officer.