Caves and mountain hideouts searched in hunt for ‘Devil in the Ozarks’ rapist on the run | EUROtoday

In the rugged Ozark Mountains, a search is underway for an ex-lawman dubbed the “Devil in the Ozarks,” who has exploited the world’s many hideouts.

These vary from deserted cabins and campsites within the intensive forests to a community of subterranean caves.

Grant Hardin, the fugitive in query, is acquainted with these hidden cave methods, based on Darla Nix, a restaurant proprietor in Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Nix, whose sons grew up round Hardin, describes him as a survivor, remembering him as “very, very smart” and largely quiet.

The search continues as authorities navigate the difficult terrain, each above and beneath floor.

For the searchers, “caves have definitely been a source of concern and a point of emphasis,” mentioned Rand Champion, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

“That’s one of the challenges of this area — there are a lot of places to hide and take shelter, a lot of abandoned sheds, and there are a lot of caves in this area, so that’s been a priority for the search team,” Champion mentioned. “It adds to the challenge of a search in this area, for sure.”

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Hardin, the former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. He was the subject of the TV documentary “Devil in the Ozarks.”

He escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit — a medium-security prison also known as the Calico Rock prison — by impersonating a corrections officer “in dress and manner,” according to a court document. A prison officer opened a secure gate, allowing him to leave the facility.

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Authorities have been using canines, drones and helicopters to search for Hardin in the rugged northern Arkansas terrain, Champion said. The sheriffs of several counties across the Arkansas Ozarks had urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles and call 911 if they notice anything suspicious.

In some ways, the terrain is similar to the site of one of the most notorious manhunts in U.S. history.

Bomber Eric Rudolph, described by authorities as a skilled outdoorsman, evaded law officers for years in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It was a five-year manhunt that finally ended in 2003 with his capture for with his capture in 2003.

Rudolph knew of many cabins in the area owned by out-of-town people, and he also knew of caves in the area, former FBI executive Chris Swecker, who led the agency’s Charlotte, North Carolina, office at the time, said in the FBI’s historical account of the case.

“I believe it is rather doubtless that he not solely had campsites and caves, however he was additionally spending a while in these cabins,” Swecker said.

“He was anticipating a great conflict and he had clearly lined up caves and campsites where he could go,” he added.

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Rudolph pleaded responsible to federal expenses related to 4 bombings in Georgia and Alabama, together with one in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta through the 1996 Olympic Games.

There are greater than 2,000 documented caves in northern Arkansas, state officers say. Many of them have entrances just a few toes vast that aren’t apparent to passersby, mentioned Michael Ray Taylor, who has written a number of books on caves, together with “Hidden Nature: Wild Southern Caves.”

The secret is discovering the doorway, Taylor mentioned.

“The entrance may look like a rabbit hole, but if you wriggle through it, suddenly you find enormous passageways,” he mentioned.

Local residents would possibly uncover some caves as youngsters, so a fugitive would wish to select one which deputies within the search did not additionally uncover as teenagers, Taylor mentioned.

It could be fairly attainable to cover out underground for an prolonged interval, however “you have to go out for food, and you’re more likely to be discovered,” he mentioned.

Hardin pleaded responsible in 2017 to first-degree homicide for the killing of James Appleton, 59. Appleton labored for the Gateway water division when he was shot within the head Feb. 23, 2017, close to Garfield. Police discovered Appleton’s physique inside a automotive. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in jail.

He was additionally serving 50 years for the 1997 rape of an elementary college trainer in Rogers, north of Fayetteville.

He had been held within the Calico Rock jail since 2017.