Alberta woman mistakenly freed from jail denies knowing about fake documents enabling her release

RCMP logo shown in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Mackenzie Dawn Hardy, 24, the Alberta woman at the centre of a Canada-wide manhunt for being mistakenly freed from jail last month, claims she wasn’t aware of fraudulent reports that granted her release.

“No, I did not know they were fraudulent. I thought my bail got granted,” said Hardy. “I was pissed when I found out. I was really mad … it’s stressful because I thought I was free.”

The RCMP confirms officers are still searching for Hardy who was released from a jail near Edmonton last month because of fraudulent reports that her charges were stayed. In an email, RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff says she was let go from Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre on April 25, 2025, and that “the release itself did not involve the RCMP.”

An email from Alberta’s Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services states that “an individual was released from custody following receipt of documentation that was believed to provide the authority for release.”

Hardy says she learned about the fake documents a week after she was released. She tells CTV News that she has been in contact with RCMP members and will turn herself in on Friday, delaying the process because she was scared.

“I’ve heard in the past people have got shot at and they’ve beaten up people pretty bad because of escapes,” said Hardy.

Doug King, criminal justice professor at Mount Royal University, says in his decades of teaching, he has never heard of a case like this before.

“The idea that someone would use forged documents or falsified documents to get out of remand is outrageous,” he said.

“It takes more than the person to say, ‘This is my document.’ It takes someone on the outside to have helped her.”

The RCMP says Hardy faces a number of charges including possession of stolen property, driving while impaired and fleeing a peace officer. Most of these charges stem from March 11, 2025, when she was found in a stolen vehicle by Red Deer RCMP Crime Reduction members.

Since Hardy’s release, she has surfaced on social media, posting a number of TikTok videos about her ordeal.

In one of them, she says, “apparently with these videos I’m making it’s going to get me caught” adding “the cops are just pissed because I’m one step ahead of them.”

In another video, she shares that her boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer and has one year to live. Hardy says her being released from jail was a “gift from God.”

Investigators say her social media posts could be used as evidence and a tool to help find her.

“Every video she makes and posts is going to be seen as an aggravating circumstance to her criminal charge of escaping custody. She is just digging herself a hole,” said King. He believes there will be consequences for her actions.

“Based on the charges she was facing, possession of stolen property, impaired operation, that kind of stuff, she probably went from a six-month stint in incarceration to probably an indictable offence. It’s going to get you years now.”

There is a Canada-wide warrant out for Hardy’s arrest.

The province added that the matter is also being investigated by the “ministries of Justice and of Public Safety and Emergency Services” adding “some immediate procedural changes have already been implemented but cannot be publicly disclosed to ensure their security and integrity are protected.”

The RCMP says Hardy isn’t a threat to the public and tells CTV News that there isn’t documentation to confirm that there was correspondence with Hardy and officers about her turning herself in.