Joel Hardin

Joel Hardin is an American expert man tracker and author. He has worked for the Idaho Air National Guard and the United States Border Patrol before launching his own tracking company.

Early life Hardin was born in . He began tracking illegal immigrants who cross into the United States on foot. In 1972, he was sent to Bellingham, Washington where he worked in an office.

In 1974, he began to develop an advanced-tracking training program. He retired from the border patrol in 1990 and started a company providing training services based on the work he had been doing while employer.

During his career, Hardin tracked serial killer Gary Ridgway and the escaped Soviet spy prisoner Christopher Boyce. In 1989, he was part of the search team in Whatcom County, Washington assisting with the search for missing teen Mandy Stavik.

Law enforcement officials occasionally hire Hardin to track suspects. In 1998, he helped police in Washington track a criminal who had broken into 75 buildings. He determined the criminal's favorite trails and police installed sensors accordingly, which led to the capture of a suspect.

Since his retirement from the Border Patrol, Hardin is the owner & operator of Oregon Company Universal Tracking Services. The company undertakes and trains clients in human tracking. He is referred to as an expert tracker and he travels through the United States training other trackers.

Books

Tracker: Case Files & Adventures of a Professional Mantracker by Joel Hardin with Matt Condon, 2004,