Months of Planning, Lax Oversight: Report Outlines How ‘Devil in the Ozarks’ Escaped Prison
Michael Hardin, known as the “Devil in the Ozarks,” escaped from Calico Rock prison after months of planning. A new report details lax oversight, staff failures, and the security gaps that allowed his 13-day flight.
It was a major embarrassment for Arkansas’s prison system. Michael Hardin, a former police chief convicted of murder and rape, escaped from the Calico Rock prison on May 25 and remained free for nearly two weeks.
The search gripped the state and drew national attention. Hardin, already notorious as the subject of the television documentary Devil in the Ozarks, stirred both fear and fascination as he disappeared into the hills. On June 6, officers finally found him just 1.5 miles northwest of the prison, ending 13 days of uncertainty and bringing relief to residents and officials alike.
Yet one question lingered: how had he managed to get out? An internal review released by prison officials is now beginning to provide answers.
A Six-Month Plan
According to the report, Hardin escaped by disguising himself in a uniform he had fashioned to look like law enforcement attire. Working in the prison kitchen, he said he spent six months preparing, using black Sharpie markers and discarded laundry to create the outfit. He even crafted a badge from the lid of a can.
The review noted that Hardin hid the uniform and other supplies at the bottom of a kitchen trash can, confident they would not be discovered. “No one ever shook it down,” the report quoted him as saying.
Hardin told investigators that the prison kitchen staff had been “very lax on security,” which allowed him to collect the tools he needed without drawing attention. He insisted that he acted alone, without help from staff or fellow inmates.
Among his preparations was a makeshift ladder built from wooden pallets, intended to help him scale the prison fence. In the end, he never needed it. “When he walked up to the gate, he just directed the officer to ‘open the gate,’ and he did,” the report states.
Life on the Run
Hardin, once the police chief of the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, knew the region well. After leaving Calico Rock, he survived on supplies smuggled from the kitchen, including food and distilled water from his CPAP machine, which he used to treat sleep apnea.
He also relied on creek water, berries, bird eggs, and even ants. According to the review, Hardin told investigators he was prepared to hide in the Ozark woods for as long as six months if necessary before attempting to move west.
Security Failures
Two employees have already lost their jobs, including a kitchen worker who allowed Hardin onto a back dock without supervision and a tower guard who opened the gate without checking his identity. Others have been suspended, and one was demoted.
Lawmakers heard this week how a series of small failures combined into one major breakdown. The prison system now faces its own internal review, an investigation by the Arkansas State Police, and hearings before a legislative subcommittee, each examining how a convicted killer managed to walk into the Arkansas hills.
When lawmakers meet in September, they expect answers. Representative Howard Beaty, a Republican who co-chairs the legislative council’s subcommittee on charitable, penal and correctional institutions, said the panel intends to press officials about two separate reports on Hardin’s escape.
Aftermath and Reforms
Hardin now sits in a maximum security prison, awaiting trial on fresh escape charges. He has pleaded not guilty, and a court date is set for November.
Prison officials insist that lessons have been learned. Electric locks on the gates have been replaced with manual checks by officers. New cameras are being installed to cover blind spots like the loading dock Hardin used. Contraband searches, once limited to cells, will now include mechanical rooms and storage areas as well.
