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The ex-wife of escaped Arkansas inmate Samuel Hartman believes he and his alleged accomplices had a getaway plan "for a long time."
Hartman, a 38-year-old inmate at the East Arkansas Regional Unit, was sentenced to life in 2013 after being convicted of raping a minor, but he escaped on a work detail in a field near the detention facility, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
"I honestly think they've had this planned for a long time," Tonya Hartman, Samuel's ex-wife since 2005, told Fox News Digital. "I have no idea where they would have went [sic]. All of this is just completely crazy to me, and I can't believe they even did something like this."
Authorities are also searching for Hartman's 38-year-old partner, Misty Hartman, and 60-year-old mother, Linda Annette White, in connection to Samuel's escape.
ARKANSAS AUTHORITIES HUNT FOR ESCAPED INMATE SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR RAPING MINOR
Samuel and at least one of his alleged accomplices are accused of firing at officers as they were being chased.
Tonya added that she believes the trio "must have had it planned for a while in order to actually escape from prison." She and Samuel Hartman have one child who is a year and one day older than Samuel's child with Misty Hartman, Tonya said.
The U.S. Marshal Service is now involved in the search for Samuel, according to authorities.
Hartman and his accomplices may be driving in a white 2021 Chevy truck with Arkansas license plates. (Arkansas Department of Corrections)
"We don't, unfortunately, have any updates at this point but… the U.S. Marshals are definitely cooperating and helping us," Arkansas Department of Corrections Pubic Information Officer Cindy Murphy told Fox News Digital. "They are, along with other federal agencies and our Arkansas state police, of course, working closely with us."
In a phone call recording between Samuel Hartman and White obtained by prosecutors, Hartman can be heard telling his mother that he touched the victim by "accident," and that the touching was "innocent," court documents state.
ARKANSAS CONVICTED RAPIST ESCAPES FROM PRISON NEAR LITTLE ROCK
"I'd just keep denying everything to the end. That's what I would do, regardless," White told her son in a recorded phone call, court records state.
She also told her son that "kids, they tell all kinds of sh*t all the time."
Samuel is considered armed and dangerous and may or may not have a beard. He has ties to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.
Samuel, Misty and White may be driving a white 2021 Chevy Trail Boss with four doors, black rims and an Arkansas license plate with the number 398ZVY.
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Samuel has a lengthy list of disciplinary violations ranging from multiple possession or manufacturing of contraband items to battery to sexual activity between 2017 and 2020.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Hartman or his accomplice to contact a local law enforcement agency or (870) 295-4700.
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