The 'Devil In the Ozarks' Killer Was Caught — Here's How He Survived After His Prison Escape

The murderer in the documentary Devil in the Ozarks, Grant Hardin, was finally caught after he escaped from the Arkansas Department of Corrections last May. According to 5News, Hardin was caught just two miles from the prison by law enforcement.

Hardin is a former police chief who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2017 for killing James Appleton in Gateway, AR. During his sentence, he was also convicted of raping an elementary school teacher back in 1997. The rape and murder are the subject of Devil in the Ozarks, and he was serving his sentence at the Arkansas Department of Corrections' North Central Unit in Calico Rock.

The Devil in the Ozarks killer was caught on June 6, 2025. According to CBS News, the authorities had thought he may have fled Arkansas before he was found just two miles from the corrections facility. Law enforcement used dogs, helicopters, and drones to find Hardin, sometimes with heavy rain as an obstacle.

The former cop escaped from the prison by wearing clothes that looked like a law enforcement uniform. Hardin had been planning the escape for six months while working in the prison's kitchen. The prisoner used a black Sharpie and a fake badge made from a can lid to alter the look of black aprons he'd found in the kitchen and used to make his fake uniform. He wrote, "POLICE" on the back, per People.

"Hardin stated he would hide the clothes and other items he was going to need in the bottom of a trash can in the kitchen due to no one ever shaking it down," read a report on the capture.

He escaped by “pulling a cart, wearing altered clothes (died black), a vest, and a black hat. The cart contained what appeared to be a home-made ladder made of pallets and a box," read the report. "Hardin stated when he walked up to the gate, he just directed the officer to 'open the gate,' and he did."

Hardin said that he'd had a bag of food with him when he escaped, but he'd gotten separated from it on the second day of his escape. He said that he had planned to survive in the wooded area for six months, and he drank water from the creek and distilled water from his CPAP machine. He also ate bird eggs, berries, and ants to survive. The prison escapee got caught when he got hungry and left his hiding spot.

The escapee reportedly walked right past the warden's house as he made his way into the woods.

"Hardin went to the ICC building and pretended to place something in a vehicle parked in the area, then went behind the building and crossed the road to Deputy Warden's house and down a trail into the woods."

Hardin was serving a 30-year sentence for killing Appleton. He was also serving two 25-year sentences for raping the school teacher. The rape and murder were the focus of the 2023 true crime documentary on HBO, Devil in the Ozarks.