Officials in Arkansas are searching for a former police chief convicted of murder and rape who escaped from prison Sunday.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections said in a release that Grant Hardin, who previously served as the police chief for the town of Gateway in northwestern Arkansas, escaped from where he was being held at around 3:40 p.m. local time Sunday and the search for him continued into the night.
Hardin has been held at the prison since 2017, when he began serving a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder. He also was later sentenced to 50 years in prison for the rape of an elementary school teacher in 1997.
The department said it is working with local, state and federal officials to find him, and anyone with information about his location should contact local law enforcement immediately.
The release states the officials determined Hardin was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to look like law enforcement when he escaped, but he wasn’t wearing a department uniform, and all department-issued equipment has been accounted for. It said officials are using a “variety of means” to track Hardin down and are investigating what led up to his escape.
The Associated Press reported that Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to shooting and killing 59-year-old James Appleton, who worked for Gateway’s water department and was speaking to his brother-in-law, the mayor at the time, when he was shot in the head.
Hardin served as police chief for a few months in 2016.
