Escaped assassin Grant Hardin might survive for months in Ozarks, knowledgeable warns

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A survivalist is issuing a warning for hikers and outdoorsmen in the Ozarks of Arkansas: keep away from the world.

Shawn Hendrix's warning comes amid an ongoing seek for jail escapee and former Gateway Police Department Chief Grant Hardin, 56, who fled from a medium-security jail in Calico Rock on Sunday, Could 25, in keeping with the Arkansas Division of Corrections (ADC).

Nicknamed the "Satan within the Ozarks," Hardin was serving a long time in jail for homicide and rape.

"I believe that the large factor that will get him caught or lifeless within the subject is getting injured … or a foodborne sickness — he drinks some unhealthy water," Hendrix informed Fox Information Digital. "Now, if he will get dysentery or some sort of actually unhealthy foodborne or waterborne sickness, that would take him out actual fast. So, let's hope that he drinks some unhealthy water and has some actually horrible illness that will get him out of the woods as a result of my greatest concern is that when you're a hiker or a camper or hunter on the market, you are not going to see it coming."

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ADC shared a brand new picture of Grant Hardin displaying him with facial hair since he has been on the run for over per week. (ADC)

Hendrix added that Hardin has proven little regard for human life prior to now, and "each individual within the woods proper now is a chance for tools for this man." Arkansas authorities have warned that the escapee could also be armed and harmful.

"I positively would keep away from the world," he mentioned.

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Hardin escaped jail by means of a sally port, carrying a makeshift ADC-style uniform, ADC communications director Rand Champion mentioned final week, noting the uniform he was carrying was not official.

Hardin escaped jail by means of a sally sport, carrying a makeshift ADC-style uniform, ADC communications director Rand Champion mentioned final week, noting the uniform he was carrying was not official. (ADC)

The previous police chief pleaded responsible to fatally shooting a man in the face contained in the sufferer's work truck in 2017. After submitting DNA samples when he was booked for the homicide case, his DNA was linked to the 1997 cold-case rape of a instructor. He pleaded responsible in that case in 2019, according to KNWA.

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"This man is simply so evil. I imply, this man is a sociopath," Hendrix mentioned. "[Hardin] has no look after people or anyone however himself. He is law-enforcement educated. He has a historical past of points out and in of the police. I believe there's a complete larger story of how this man was a cop for 27 years, proper? … I'd not need to be out searching for this man."

Hardin is described as a 6-foot White male, weighing roughly 259 kilos.

Federal officers say Hardin has "intensive data of the Ozark Mountain area." (Andre Seale/VW PICS/Common Pictures Group through Getty Pictures)

Hendrix mentioned at that weight, Hardin has a caloric reserve that would assist him survive for weeks alone in wooded areas of the Ozarks, which have a whole lot of caves and pure sources that embrace meals, water, berries and different pure meals provides.

DEVIL IN THE OZARKS’ WHO ESCAPED PRISON LIKELY STILL IN ARKANSAS AREA: OFFICIALS

Lights glowing on the ferris wheel in Branson, Missouri within the Ozarks. (Lainey Stelly/Getty Pictures)

"There's simply lots of, you recognize, berries, cattails, fish, you recognize, there's like pure native fruits like persimmon, perhaps even plums in that space," Hendrix defined. "So there's lots of … pure issues to stay off the land. If he has a gun, I do not learn about utilizing a gun to shoot an animal simply due to how loud it might be, however there [are] methods to get meals. … He is such a heavy particular person [at] 260 kilos. He is received a few months of reserves."

Police looking for Hardin within the wilderness will probably be searching for "hid" proof of an individual dwelling within the woods, reminiscent of a burnt-out fireplace or different supplies which have been lined up, or an underground fireplace.

<source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/672/378/disgraced-former-police-chief-escapes-from-arkansas-prison.png?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/1344/756/disgraced-former-police-chief-escapes-from-arkansas-prison.png?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/931/523/disgraced-former-police-chief-escapes-from-arkansas-prison.png?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/05/1862/1046/disgraced-former-police-chief-escapes-from-arkansas-prison.png?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"> Officers with the Arkansas Division of Corrections are looking for an inmate, who's a former police chief, that they mentioned escaped from its North Central Unit. (Arkansas Division of Corrections )

The FBI and U.S. Marshals are providing a mixed $25,000 for any info resulting in Hardin's seize. They're asking anybody with info to name 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip on-line at tips.fbi.gov.

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Champion mentioned throughout a information convention final week that authorities are pretty assured within the route they consider Hardin took when he escaped and mentioned authorities believed he was nonetheless within the Ozarks space, however a federal grievance filed in opposition to Hardin on Could 30 suggests one other risk: he could also be out of state.

Based mostly on two unconfirmed sightings, together with one in Missouri on Could 26, a day after Hardin escaped, federal officers consider he is not in Arkansas anymore, as The Arkansas Democrat Gazette first reported.

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"He has intensive data of the Ozark Mountain area, the place he's believed to be presumably hiding in caves or rugged terrain that he's acquainted with," Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert J. Hammons wrote within the prison grievance, in keeping with the Gazette.

Fox Information Digital has reached out to the U.S. Lawyer's Workplace for the Jap District of Arkansas.

Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox Information Digital and FOX Enterprise. E mail tricks to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.