In 2025, five major manhunts — from a 10-inmate jailbreak in New Orleans to escapes and fatal attacks in Arkansas, Washington, Montana and at Brown University — put communities and campuses on high alert. Each case exposed security shortcomings and required coordinated multi-agency responses. By autumn and winter, all suspects were accounted for: the Orleans prisoners were recaptured, Grant Hardin was arrested, Travis Decker’s remains were confirmed, Michael Paul Brown was taken into custody, and the Brown University suspect was found dead.
Manhunts Across the U.S. in 2025: Five High-Profile Cases That Put Communities on Edge
New Orleans jail escapee Gary Price is escorted to a helicopter by police who captured him.
Across the United States in 2025, five major manhunts transformed quiet neighborhoods, rural areas and college campuses into intense crime scenes. Each case exposed security gaps, demanded coordinated multi-agency responses and kept communities on edge until suspects were located or accounted for.
1. Orleans Justice Center Jailbreak (May)
On May 16, ten inmates escaped the Orleans Justice Center by tearing a hole behind a toilet and slipping out of the facility in the early morning hours. The inmates left a handwritten taunt on a cell wall reading, "To easy LOL." Jail staff did not realize the prisoners were missing until about 8:30 a.m., a delay officials later acknowledged at a City Council meeting.
The breakout revealed chronic security failures at the aging facility, including staffing shortages and neglected maintenance. A New Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office employee was charged with allegedly assisting the escape by cutting off water in the cell block; two other suspected accomplices were later arrested. By October, all ten escapees had been recaptured, and the incident prompted intense review of jail oversight and leadership.
2. Grant Hardin Escape From Calico Rock, Arkansas (May–June)
On May 25, 56-year-old Grant Hardin, a former police chief and convicted killer, walked out of Calico Rock prison wearing a makeshift corrections-style uniform and passed through a sally port after being mistaken for staff. Nicknamed the "Devil in the Ozarks," Hardin had pleaded guilty to a 2017 murder and to a 1997 cold-case rape.
Grant Hardin allegedly used a black marker and soup can to disguise himself before escaping prison.
The escape launched a large manhunt across rugged Ozark terrain involving state police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI and other federal partners. Hardin was captured on June 6, less than two miles from the prison. Officials praised the coordinated law enforcement response and credited a Border Patrol tracking team with playing an important role in the arrest.
3. Travis Caleb Decker — Washington State (May–September)
Investigators began a large-scale search in late May after Travis Caleb Decker failed to return his three daughters — Paityn (9), Evelyn (8) and Olivia (5) — following a scheduled visitation. The girls were later found near Rock Island Campground along Icicle Creek; autopsies determined they died from suffocation.
An Army veteran with extensive survival training, Decker eluded multi-county and federal search teams combing vast wilderness. His remains were discovered in September and DNA confirmed his identity, bringing the prolonged manhunt to a close.
4. The Owl Bar Massacre, Anaconda, Montana (Aug.)
On Aug. 1, a mass shooting at The Owl Bar in Anaconda left four people dead. Authorities identified 45-year-old Michael Paul Brown, a former U.S. Army soldier, as the suspect. A weeklong, multi-agency search through steep, heavily wooded terrain tracked Brown, who initially fled on foot and later used a stolen vehicle.
In this handout 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.
Brown was taken into custody roughly five-and-a-half miles from the crime scene near a barn west of Anaconda. Officials credited community tips and a coordinated response of about 130 personnel from local, state and federal agencies for the arrest. The victims were identified as Daniel Edwin Baillie, Nancy Lauretta Kelley, David Allen Leach and Tony Wayne Palm.
5. Brown University Campus Attack (Dec.)
On Dec. 13, a deadly classroom attack inside Brown University’s Barus and Holley engineering building during a finals-week review killed two students and wounded nine others. The slain students were identified as Ella Cook, a College Republicans vice president from Birmingham, Alabama, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an aspiring neurosurgeon from Virginia.
Authorities later named 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, a Portuguese national, as the suspected gunman. During the nationwide search he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire. Investigators said they were retracing his movements and reviewing surveillance and tips as part of the broader inquiry; the attack prompted campuses across the country to reassess safety and emergency-response procedures.
What These Cases Reveal
Taken together, the five 2025 manhunts highlight vulnerabilities in jail operations, prison security, campus safety and rural search-and-rescue coordination. They also underscore the importance of timely reporting, interagency communication and community tips in resolving high-risk searches.
