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Across the country this year, refugees fleeing have turned quiet areas, rural towns and college campuses into crime scenes. Five major manhunts, each chaotic in their own way, sent police on the run, opened locks and highlighted how quickly suspects can disappear.
New Orleans prison: 10 inmates escape
Ten inmates, including several suspected murderers, escaped through a hole in the back of a restroom at the Orleans Justice Center early on May 16, prompting a manhunt at multiple facilities in Louisiana and beyond.
The inmates taunted authorities as they walked out, leaving handwritten messages on the cell wall, including one that read, “To easy LOL.”
NEW ORLEANS OFFICIALS SENTENCE FOR ‘COMBINED’ 10 PRISONERS
New Orleans prison escapee Gary Price is escorted by police to a helicopter. (Louisiana State Police)
Prison staff did not realize the inmates were missing until 8:30 a.m., hours after the escape, officials later acknowledged at a City Council meeting.
The outbreak exposed deep security failures inside the aging jail, from staff shortages to long-neglected maintenance issues. An employee of the New Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office has been charged with aiding and abetting the escape by shutting off the water in the cell, and two suspects have been arrested on suspicion of aiding inmates.
“First of all, that prison was considered a train wreck in terms of basic inmates,” former state prison inmate Cameron Lindsay previously told Fox News Digital.
“It seems that no investigation was done. Prisoners should never be able to tear down a toilet from the wall and go straight to the fence. I can’t believe that.”
By October, all 10 offenders had been arrested, but the incident prompted scrutiny of the prison’s leadership and management.
‘Devil in the Ozarks’: The prison break of former police chief Grant Hardin
Former police chief and convicted murderer Grant Hardin, 56, broke out of Calico Rock prison on May 25 by impersonating a corrections officer – a violation that occurred when a guard thought he was working.
Nicknamed the “Devil in the Ozarks,” Hardin escaped the sally port wearing a makeshift uniform for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, prison officials said, noting it was not an official uniform.
THE KNOWN ‘DEVIL IN THE OZARKS’ IS FINALLY CAUGHT AFTER WEEKS LONG HUNTS THAT DRAWN MANY ORGANIZATIONS
Grant Hardin allegedly used a black marker and a soup bowl to disguise himself before escaping from prison. (US Border Patrol)
The former police chief pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a man inside the victim’s pickup truck in 2017. After submitting DNA samples when he was booked for murder, his DNA was linked to the cold rape of a teacher in 1997. He pleaded guilty to that charge in 2019, according to KNWA.
“This guy is terrible. I mean, this guy is a sociopath,” survivor Shawn Hendrix previously told Fox News Digital. “[Hardin] he doesn’t care about people or anyone but himself. Trained in law. He has a history of problems in and out of the police. I think it’s a big deal that this guy has been a cop for 27 years, right? … I don’t want to go out looking for this guy.”
The escape sparked a massive manhunt in the rugged Ozark area involving state police, the US Marshals Service and the FBI. Hardin was kidnapped on June 6, about two weeks later, less than two miles from the prison.
“Thanks to the great work of local, state and federal law enforcement, Arkansans can breathe a sigh of relief and I can confirm that violent criminal Grant Hardin is back in custody,” said Gov. Sarah Sanders after her arrest. “I thank all of the law enforcement officers who participated in his capture and a special thank you to the Trump administration and Secretary Kristi Noem, who sent a team from the Border Patrol that participated in the pursuit and capture of Hardin.”
The search is on for the fugitive father of Travis Decker
After killing his three daughters, Travis Caleb Decker disappeared in rural Washington, setting off the biggest manhunt Chelan County has ever seen.
Detectives began searching for Decker in late May after she failed to return her daughters, Paityn, 9; Evelyn, age 8; and Olivia, 5, to their mother after a planned visit. The bodies of the children were later found near the Rock Island Campground near Icicle Creek with bags over their heads. Autopsies determined that the girls died of self-inflicted burns.
IMPORTANT FATHER TRAVIS DECKER CONFIRMED DEAD AS DNA MATCHES LEFT FOUND IN WASHINGTON STATE: OFFICIALS
In this photo provided by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office deputies participate in the search for Travis Decker at an undisclosed location in Washington state, Friday, June 6, 2025. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office photo via AP; Chelan County Sheriff’s Office)
An Army veteran with survival training, Decker managed to elude capture as teams from multiple states and federal agencies combed the wilderness.
His remains were finally found in September, ending the search.
“To Whitney, we’re sorry it took so long to close the case we wanted,” Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said at a press conference, referring to Decker’s wife and the mother of the three slain girls. “But I hope you can rest easy at night knowing that Travis has been accounted for. He is dead, our DNA results have confirmed that and this will bring us closer to our case.”
Montana bar shooting campaign
A mass shooting at The Owl Bar in Anaconda left four people dead on Aug. 1, sparking a week-long manhunt in rugged terrain after the suspected gunman fled the scene.
Authorities identified Michael Paul Brown, 45, a former U.S. soldier, as the suspect in the two-four killings and said he was being followed for days before he was taken into custody 5 1/2 miles from the scene, near a barn west of Anaconda.
During the search, officials warned Brown that he was armed and extremely dangerous as law enforcement expanded operations into the rugged, heavily forested area.
ARMY SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN ARRESTED AFTER A LONG WEEK FOLLOWING THE DEADLY MISTAKE IN MONTANA BAR THAT KILLED 4 PEOPLE.
The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana, where Michael Paul Brown allegedly killed four people. (Fox News Digital)
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte praised the coordinated response of local, state and federal authorities at a press conference, saying police “didn’t waste a second” in trying to find the suspect. Attorney General Austin Knudsen said about 130 employees assisted in the search and received tips from the public to assist Brown’s lead investigators.
The victims were identified as Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; Nancy Laurent Kelley, 64; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74, all of Anaconda.
Investigators said Brown initially fled the bar on foot and was later believed to be using a stolen vehicle, which allowed him to evade arrest for several days before being arrested.
Some residents told Fox News Digital that they had previously described Brown as volatile, with people saying they had warned neighbors he might “snap” before the shooting.
The hunt is on for the Brown University shooters
A deadly attack in a classroom inside Brown University’s engineering building at Barus and Holley killed two students and injured nine others during the final week of review on Dec. 13, prompting a multi-faculty search.
LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERT WARNS FAST DETAILS ‘CHANGE FREQUENTLY’ AS MANHUNT INTENSIFIES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY.
A separate photo shows Claudio Neves-Valente, identified as the Brown University gunman, wearing the same jacket as a man previously named as a person of interest in the case. (Provincial Police Department)
The victims were identified as Ella Cook, vice president of the College Republicans from Birmingham, Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a neurosurgeon from Virginia.
Authorities later identified Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, 48, from Portugal, as the suspected gunman. He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a warehouse in Salem, New Hampshire, during a search. Investigators believe he was responsible for the shooting of the MIT professor days later.
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The manhunt and its aftermath left campuses across the country reevaluating security measures, as investigators worked to track Neves-Valente’s movements using surveillance video, tips from the public and physical evidence.
Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca, Bonny Chu, Andrea Margolis, Stephen Sorace, Michael Ruiz, Julia Bonavita and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicide and immigration crime. Send news tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
