CALICO ROCK, Ark. – Officials with the Arkansas Department of Corrections have issued an update on the status of escaped inmate and former Gateway Police Chief Grant Hardin.
In a press release Sunday night, officials said that the search is ongoing and includes a joint effort between the DOC, Arkansas State Police and local and state law enforcement officials.
The release said that it was determined that Hardin was wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped the North Central Unit.
“He was not wearing a Department of Corrections uniform, and all DOC-issued equipment has been accounted for,” the release said.
Officials said they are investigating the events that led up to his escape and are utilizing a variety of means to track him.
Hardin remains at large and anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact local law enforcement immediately.
Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton. According to an affidavit filed in the case, Appleton worked for the Gateway water department and was talking to his brother-in-law, then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017 near Garfield. Police found Appleton’s body inside a car.
Hardin, who was Gateway’s police chief for about four months in early 2016, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers north of Fayetteville.