There are plenty of hideouts in the rugged terrain of the Ozark Mountains, from abandoned cabins to campsites in the vast forests where searchers are hunting for a convicted former police chief known as the “Devil in the Ozarks.”
Others are not only off the grid but beneath it, in the hundreds of caves that lead to vast subterranean spaces.
Click to Gallery
A plaque honoring water department employee James Appleton, who was fatally shot in 2017, hangs at the entrance of Gateway City Park in Gateway, Ark. on May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
A sign can be seen outside Gateway Town Hall in Gateway, Ark. On May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
Cheryl Tillman, mayor of Gateway, Ark., and sister of James Appleton, who was fatally shot in 2017, works on her laptop at Town Hall on May 28, 2026. Grant Hardin, who briefly served as police chief, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
FILE - An armed search team enters the forest near Nantahala, N.C., July 16, 1998, as authorities continue their search for bombing suspect Eric Rudolph. (AP Photo/Alan Marler, File)
This undated photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Corrections Communications Department shows inmate Grant Hardin. (Arkansas Department of Corrections Communications Department via AP)
CORRECTS SOURCE This image provided by the Arkansas Department of Corrections shows Grant Hardin, a former police chief and convicted killer, escaping the North Central Unit prison wearing a disguise in Calico Rock, Ark. (Arkansas Department of Corrections via AP)
Local, state and federal law enforcement have continued to scour the region around the prison throughout the third day of the search.
“Until we have credible evidence that he is not in the area, we assume that he’s probably still in the area,” Rand Champion, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, said at a press conference Wednesday.
Fugitive Grant Hardin, 56, “knows where the caves are,” said Darla Nix, a cafe owner in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, whose sons grew up around him. Nix, who describes Hardin as a survivor, remembers him as a “very, very smart” and mostly quiet person.
For the searchers, "caves have definitely been a source of concern and a point of emphasis," said Champion.
“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 said.
The area around the prison is "one of the most cave-dense regions of the state,” said Matt Covington, a University of Arkansas geology professor who studies caves.
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 wearing an outfit designed to look like a law enforcement uniform, according to Champion. A prison officer opened a secure gate, allowing him to leave the facility. Champion said that someone should have checked Hardin's identity before he was allowed to leave the facility, describing the lack of verification as a “lapse” that is being investigated.
It took authorities approximately 30 minutes to notice Hardin had escaped.
Champion said that inmates are evaluated and given a classification when they first enter the prison system to determine where they are housed. There are portions of the Calico Rock facility that are maximum-security.
While incarcerated, Hardin did not have any major disciplinary issues, Champion said.
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.
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.
“He was anticipating a great conflict and he had clearly lined up caves and campsites where he could go,” Swecker said.
Rudolph pleaded guilty to federal charges associated with four bombings in Georgia and Alabama.
There are nearly 2,000 documented caves in northern Arkansas, state officials say. Many of them have entrances only a few feet wide that are not obvious to passersby, said Michael Ray Taylor, who has written multiple books on caves, including “Hidden Nature: Wild Southern Caves.”
The key is finding the entrance, Taylor said.
“The entrance may look like a rabbit hole, but if you wriggle through it, suddenly you find enormous passageways,” he said.
It would be quite possible to hide out underground for an extended period, but “you have to go out for food, and you're more likely to be discovered,” he said.
Hardin had a checkered and brief law enforcement career. He worked at the Fayetteville Police Department from August 1990 to May 1991, but was let go because he didn’t meet the standards of his training period, a department spokesman said.
Hardin worked about six months at the Huntsville Police Department before resigning, but records do not give a reason for his resignation, according to Police Chief Todd Thomas, who joined the department after Hardin worked there.
Hardin later worked at the Eureka Springs Police Department from 1993 to 1996. Former Chief Earl Hyatt said Hardin resigned because Hyatt was going to fire him over incidents that included the use of excessive force.
“He did not need to be a police officer at all,” Hyatt told television station KNWA.
He continued to have trouble in his brief stint as an officer in Gateway, according to the 450-person town's mayor Cheryl Tillman.
While Hardin was the town's sole officer, “there was things that I seen that wasn’t good. He was always angry,” said Tillman, who wasn't mayor at the time.
Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder for the killing of James Appleton, 59. Appleton, who was Tillman's brother, worked for the Gateway water department when he was shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton’s body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
He was also serving 50 years for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, north of Fayetteville.
He had been held in the Calico Rock prison since 2017.
A plaque honoring water department employee James Appleton, who was fatally shot in 2017, hangs at the entrance of Gateway City Park in Gateway, Ark. on May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
A sign can be seen outside Gateway Town Hall in Gateway, Ark. On May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
Cheryl Tillman, mayor of Gateway, Ark., and sister of James Appleton, who was fatally shot in 2017, works on her laptop at Town Hall on May 28, 2026. Grant Hardin, who briefly served as police chief, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)
FILE - An armed search team enters the forest near Nantahala, N.C., July 16, 1998, as authorities continue their search for bombing suspect Eric Rudolph. (AP Photo/Alan Marler, File)
This undated photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Corrections Communications Department shows inmate Grant Hardin. (Arkansas Department of Corrections Communications Department via AP)
CORRECTS SOURCE This image provided by the Arkansas Department of Corrections shows Grant Hardin, a former police chief and convicted killer, escaping the North Central Unit prison wearing a disguise in Calico Rock, Ark. (Arkansas Department of Corrections via AP)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A person of interest was in custody Sunday after a shooting during final exams at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, though key questions remained unanswered nearly 24 hours after the attack.
The attack Saturday afternoon set off hours of chaos across the Ivy League campus and surrounding Providence neighborhoods as hundreds of officers searched for the shooter and urged students and staff to shelter in place. The lockdown, which stretched into the night, was lifted early Sunday, but authorities had not yet released information about a potential motive.
Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, said Sunday afternoon that the person in custody was in their 20s and that no one has been charged yet. Perez, who previously said the person was in their 30s and that no one else was being sought, declined to say whether the detained person had any connection to Brown.
The person was taken into custody at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Providence, where police officers and FBI agents remained Sunday, blocking off a hallway with crime scene tape as they searched the area.
The shooting occurred during one of the busiest moments of the academic calendar, as final exams were underway. Brown canceled all remaining classes, exams, papers and projects for the semester and told students they could leave campus, underscoring the scale of the disruption and the gravity of the attack.
As police scoured the area for the shooter, many students remained barricaded in rooms while others hid behind furniture and bookshelves. One video showed students in a library shaking and wincing as they heard loud bangs just before police entered the room to clear the building.
College President Christina Paxson teared up while describing her conversations with students both on campus and in the hospital.
“They are amazing and they’re supporting each other,” she said at a news conference. “There’s just a lot of gratitude.”
The gunman opened fire inside a classroom in the engineering building, firing more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and authorities also found two loaded 30-round magazines, the official said. One of the firearms was equipped with a laser sight that projects a dot to aid in targeting, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.
One student of the nine wounded students had been released from the hospital, said Paxson. Seven others were in critical but stable condition, and one was in critical condition.
Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that a recent graduate, Kendall Turner, was critically wounded. The school said her parents were with her.
“Our school community is rallying around Kendall, her classmates, and her loved ones, and we will continue to offer our full support in the days ahead,” the school said.
Providence leaders said residents would notice a heavier police presence, and many area businesses announced Sunday that they would remain closed. A scheduled 5K run was postponed for a week.
Mayor Brett Smiley invited residents to gather Sunday evening at a city park where an event had been scheduled to light a Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah.
“For those who know at least bit of the Hanukkah story, it is quite clear that if we can come together as a community to shine a little bit of light tonight, there’s nothing better that we can be doing,” he told reporters.
Smiley said he visited some wounded students and was inspired by their courage, hope and gratitude. One told him that active shooting drills done in high school proved helpful.
“The resilience that these survivors showed and shared with me, is frankly pretty overwhelming,” he said. “We're all saddened, scared, tired, but what they've been through is something different entirely.”
Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom at the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department. The building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices, according to the university’s website.
Engineering design exams were underway. Outer doors of the building were unlocked but rooms being used for final exams required badge access, Smiley said.
Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was in the lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops. Once she realized they were gunshots, she darted for the door and into a nearby building where she waited for hours.
Surveillance video released by police showed a suspect, dressed in black, walking from the scene.
Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show “Survivor,” said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before shots rang out.
The engineering and thermal science student shared candid moments on “Survivor” as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.
Brown senior biochemistry student Alex Bruce was working on a final research project in his dorm across the street from the building when he heard sirens outside.
“I’m just in here shaking,” he said, watching through the window as officers surrounded his dorm.
Brown, the seventh-oldest higher education institution in the U.S., is one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, with roughly 7,300 undergraduates and more than 3,000 graduate students.
Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists Jennifer McDermott in Providence and Alanna Durkin Richer and Mike Balsamo in Washington contributed.
Passers-by walk past crime scene tape at an entrance to Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following the Saturday, Dec. 13, shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A bouquet of flowers rests on snow, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, on the campus of Brown University not far from where a shooting took place, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A pedestrian walks across the intersection of Waterman St. and Hope St. Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, after a shooting on Saturday in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)
Pedestrians walk past and glance at the scene of a shooting at Brown University Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, after a shooting on Saturday in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)
Police caution tape lays askew at Brown University's Ittleson Quad Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, after a shooting on Saturday in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)
Police tape off hotel rooms where the person of interest was arrested in a shooting in Coventry, RI., (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)
Police tape off hotel rooms where the person of interest was arrested in a shooting in Coventry, RI., (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)
A police officer hangs yellow crime tape at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Emergency personnel gather on Waterman Street at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Police vehicles rest in intersections in a neighborhood near Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a shooting at the university Saturday, Dec. 13. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A police vehicle rests at an intersection near crime scene tape at Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Mayor Brett Smiley speaks to reporters during a Brown University news conference, in Providence, R. I., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)
Law enforcement officials carry rifles while walking on a street in a neighborhood near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Brown University President Christina H. Paxson attends a news conference addressing the investigation following a shooting on Brown University's campus Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)
Students are escorted by law enforcement officers to a building at Brown University after a shooting, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I.. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Law enforcement officials carrying weapons gather near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A law enforcement official walks past articles of clothing on a sidewalk near an entrance to Brown University, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Providence, R.I., during the investigation of a shooting. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
