CALICO ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Officials scoured Arkansas’ rugged Ozark Mountains for a former police chief and convicted killer who escaped from prison over the weekend.

Grant Hardin, who briefly served as police chief for the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving a decades-long sentence for murder and rape.

Known as the “Devil in the Ozarks,” he escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit, a medium-security prison in Calico Rock.

Hardin’s escape happened days after 10 men fled a New Orleans jail by going through a hole behind a toilet. Eight of those fugitives have since been captured.

Here’s what to know about Hardin and his escape:

How did he escape?

Hardin escaped from the prison Sunday afternoon 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.

The outfit was not a standard inmate or correctional uniform, said Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Officials are working to determine how he was either able to get the uniform or manufacture it himself.

This undated photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Corrections Communications Department shows inmate Grant Hardin. (Arkansas Department of Corrections Communications Department via AP)

Video surveillance shows Hardin escaped at about 2:55 p.m. on Sunday, Champion said. Officials announced his escape about two hours later.

But how he got out of the prison and escaped into a rural part of the state, as well as whether he had any help is still unclear.

Prison officials say they are investigating what led up to the escape “to help determine any assistance he may have had.”

Champion said the decision to house Hardin in a medium-security facility, which has a capacity of about 800 people, weighed the “needs of the different facilities and inmates” and “assessments” of his crimes.

Why was he in prison?

Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder for fatally shooting James Appleton, 59.

Appleton, a Gateway water department employee, was shot in the head in 2017. Police found his body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Hardin’s DNA was entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, and it matched the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for that crime. He was a police officer in Eureka Springs at that time.

His short tenure as police chief

Hardin became police chief of Gateway, a town of about 450 people, in 2016.

Virtually overnight, people in the community described in the HBO documentary “Devil in the Ozarks” a dramatic shift.

“He was out chasing cars for no reason,” said Cheryl Tillman, one of Appleton’s sisters. “He was pulling guns on the citizens here in Gateway and then as time went on with him being the police chief things just started going down hill fast.”

The documentary revealed a crucial run-in between Hardin and Appleton in the Spring of 2016 in which Appleton stood up to Hardin about fixing a police car. A Benton county sheriff’s office lieutenant described several times when they got into each other’s faces and the dislike they both felt toward one another.

The city council gave him an ultimatum: resign or be fired. He stepped down four months after taking the position and nine months later, he killed Appleton.

The ‘Devil in the Ozarks’ documentary

Hardin was the focus of a popular 2023 HBO documentary, “Devil in the Ozarks,” that featured interviews with everyone from the victim of the 1997 rape and sisters of the murder victim to Hardin’s family.

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It revealed key details about the bubbling resentment Hardin felt toward Appleton as well as revealing accounts of the moments right before and after the murder.

Then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, who was Appleton’s brother-in-law, described being on the phone with him when he was shot, while local resident John Bray spoke about driving past Appleton’s car when the shooting happened. He was the first to find his body and identified Hardin as the shooter.

“I heard what I thought was someone had fired a rifle,” he said.

“I went back and I seen it looked like he had been shot,” he added, wiping away tears.

The documentary also includes security video of Hardin at a restaurant with his family just after the shooting and the police interrogation in which he tells law enforcement he has “the right to be silent” and opted not to give a statement.

The search for Hardin

Authorities are using canines, drones and helicopters to search the rugged northern Arkansas terrain, Champion said.

Although he did not reveal the exact areas of the search, he did say it has expanded as more time has elapsed since the escape.

Officials have faced challenges searching the areas as it’s very rocky and heavy rain has fallen in recent days.

The area around the prison is a rural part of the state, which can make Hardin’s escape more difficult. In a small community, there’s a higher chance someone will recognize him and alert the authorities, said Craig Caine, a retired inspector with the U.S. Marshals who has handled many cases involving escaped prisoners.

The Division of Correction and the Division of Community Correction are following leads with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

After 24 years serving the city, and three years in her current role, Eagan City Administrator Dianne Miller will step down in July, the city announced Wednesday.

Eagan City Administrator Dianne Miller will step down from her role in July, the city announced May 28, 2025. (Courtesy of the City of Eagan)

Miller, who first began with the city as a 22-year-old graduate school intern, will take on a new role as deputy director and chief operating officer for the International City/County Management Association, according to a news release from the city.

“It has been one of the greatest honors of my career to serve alongside the talented and dedicated team here in Eagan,” Miller said in the release. “Our core values — serving the community with care, integrity, and foresight — are lived out daily by our staff. That’s what makes Eagan truly special.”

Prior to becoming the third city administrator in Eagan’s history, Miller served as assistant city administrator for 11 years and assistant to the city administrator for nine years before that.

During her time with the city, Miller was integral to the Eagan Forward initiative, sustainability efforts and capital projects like the City Hall/Police Department renovation and the development of the Eagan Art House.

Miller also led efforts to retain significant employers like Thomson Reuters and helped foster a culture of collaboration and innovation, per the release.

“Her vision, dedication and deep commitment to public service have helped shape Eagan into the thriving community it is today,” Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire said in the release. “We are grateful for her service and excited to see her continue to lead on a national stage.”

Based in Washington, D.C., the International City/County Management Association represents some 13,000 professionals in local government and conducts research on local government practices.

In her new role, Miller will have direct responsibility for human resources, information technology, the ICMA ethics program and will help guide the change in how the organization  oversees its Future of Professional Management Fund, according to a company news release.

Miller, whose last day is July 18, will work with the mayor, city council and department heads to ensure a smooth transition.

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A Bayport couple found dead in their home this spring died of natural causes, officials say.

Candrice and John Ellickson were found March 11 after a neighbor who hadn’t seen them in a week called to request a welfare check at their home on Lakeside Bay Drive South. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office does not list a timeline for how long the couple was deceased before being found, but police believe “it was likely a few days,” said Bayport Police Chief Jay Jackson.

Candrice “Candy” Ellickson, 77, died of a hepatic tumor and obesity, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her husband, John, died of diabetic ketoacidosis and cardiomegaly.

The neighbor who requested the welfare check told police that he received a call from another neighbor asking if he had seen the couple lately because John Ellickson “had not put his trash cans at the end of his curb as he always does,” the police report states.

The neighbor who called police said he had not seen the couple since he plowed snow at their residence a week prior. After he was contacted by the other neighbor, he said he went to the Ellicksons’ house and found the front door unlocked. He told police he yelled several times for John Ellickson, but got no answer.

When the first police officer arrived, he found the front door unlocked and both of the Ellicksons deceased, according to the police report. A search warrant was issued, and officers searching the home “immediately detected a moderate odor consistent with … deceased individuals,” the report states. Candy Ellickson was found on the couch in the upstairs living room; John Ellickson was found in an upstairs bathroom.

Officers “did not observe anything apparently out of place or that appeared suspicious in nature, and … did not immediately observe any sign of trauma to either decedent,” according to reports.

Investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were called to the scene “out of an abundance of caution due to the unusual circumstances of two people being deceased at the same time,” Police Chief Jay Jackson said.

Both of the Ellicksons’ carbon monoxide concentrations were within the normal range, he said. Family members told police that both of the Ellicksons had been sick with cold symptoms the month prior.

The couple, who were married for more than 30 years, devoted their lives to public safety, said Washington County Sheriff’s Officer Cmdr. Andrew Ellickson, John Ellickson’s son.

John Ellickson retired as deputy director of New Brighton’s Department of Public Safety; he was a 37-year veteran of the department. Candy Ellickson retired as a dispatcher for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office after 22 years of service.

“They enjoyed traveling in their retirement, especially the southwestern U.S.,” their joint obituary states. “They loved touring historical estates, watching movies, and dining out together.”

“They did everything together,’ Andrew Ellickson said. “They were inseparable in life, and we take comfort in knowing that they died together.”

Candy Ellickson is survived by three daughters, Bridget, Stacia and Megan Murray; John Ellickson is survived by two sons, Aaron and Andrew Ellickson. Between them, the couple had eight grandchildren.

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By ALEXA ST. JOHN

Kristina Smithe was running the California International Marathon in 2019, grabbing cups of water to stay hydrated, when she started to think about how much waste such events produce. On the flight home, she did the math: 9,000 runners, 17 aid stations and something like 150,000 cups used once and thrown away.

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“I was just shocked that, even in California, it’s not sustainable,” Smithe said.

That sparked her idea for something more durable — a lightweight, pliable silicone cup that could be used again and again. After working out a design, Smithe ordered her first shipment and tested them at a race in 2021.

Now her business, Hiccup Earth, has 70,000 cups that Smithe rents out to interested races to replace the typical white paper cups that can pile up like snowdrifts at busy water stops.

Billions of disposable cups are used around the world each year. These cups are often made of plastic, but even if they are made of paper, they typically have a plastic lining that makes it difficult for them to biodegrade. And making these cups, and disposing or burning them, generates planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

“That’s just a small subset of the amount of plastic waste that we produce, but it’s a pretty visible one,” said Sarah Gleeson, solutions research manager and plastics waste expert at climate nonprofit Project Drawdown. “It’s something that generates a lot of waste, and waste — depending on what exactly it’s made of — can really last in landfills for hundreds of years.”

As she was getting her business off the ground, Smithe emailed race directors to ask if their event used disposable cups.

“The answer was always yes,” she said. Her response: “If you’re looking for a sustainable solution, I have one.”

Now, she rents out the cups by the thousand, driving them to events in massive totes and leaving bins with the company logo for collection after use. Smithe picks up the used cups and washes them in a proprietary dishwasher.

At the PNC Women Run the Cities race in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in early May, Smithe helped quench the thirst of thousands of runners, dropping off 17-gallon tote bags full of her flexible blue cups.

After that race, Smithe, 35, estimated she’s taken her cups to 137 races and spared 902,000 disposable ones from the landfill. She also says her washing process needs only 30 gallons of water per 1,500 cups. An average efficient household dishwasher uses 3 to 5 gallons for far fewer dishes.

“It’s just a solution to a problem that’s long overdue,” Smithe said.

One trade-off is that the cup rentals cost race directors more than other options. Disposable cups might run just a few cents each, while 10,000 Hiccup cups would rent for about 15 cents each. That price drops if more cups are needed.

Gleeson, of Project Drawdown, sees the reusable cups as just one of many ways that innovators are looking to cut down on waste. Such solutions often have to be rooted in convenience and grounded in local or small applications to get more people to adopt them. Some cities, for instance, are experimenting with reusable food takeout containers that customers return to nearby drop-off spots later on.

While no one solution can fully tackle the problem, “The scalability is there,” Gleeson said. “I think in general, high adoption of these kinds of solutions is what is able to bring costs down and really maximize environmental benefits that you could get.”

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.