Ex-South Carolina police officer wanted for wife’s murder extradited from China after 21 years on the run

A former police officer wanted for sexual abuse and murder has been brought back to the United States from China after over 20 years on the run, the U.S. Marshals Service said Thursday. 

Dan Hiers Jr., 53, was suspended from the Charleston Police Department in South Carolina in 2004 after he was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. He was arrested by the North Charleston Police Department in November 2004 for committing lewd acts on a child under 16 and released on bond. He was scheduled to surrender at the sheriff’s department on March 15, 2005 but failed to appear, the U.S. Marshals said in a news release. 

That same day, Hiers’ wife Ludmila was found dead in her home. Police alleged that Hiers had shot her in the back of the head while she was sleeping, the U.S. Marshals said. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but Hiers disappeared. 

The last confirmed sighting of Hiers was that day. 

A warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was added to the other charges Hiers faced. His case became notorious and was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” and “The Hunt with John Walsh.” He was listed on the U.S. Marshals’ “15 Most Wanted” list. 

For over a decade, the case remained cold. Then, in 2018, Hiers was arrested in Shanghai after authorities there learned he was living under the assumed name David Williams, CBS affiliate WCSC reported. A WCSC reader identified Hiers, telling the affiliate that he was working as a foreign English teacher in Shanghai. 

At the time, the U.S. Marshals said they were “fully engaged with our international partners on this matter.” 

Almost a decade later, the agency took Hiers into custody. The U.S. Marshals said the extradition followed a “lengthy investigation.” 

Hiers has been returned to the United States, the U.S. Marshals said. Photos shared by the agency show a man whose face has been blurred surrounded by law enforcement and officials on a tarmac and airplane jetway. It’s not clear what airport Hiers was taken to. The U.S. Marshals said he has been brought back to South Carolina. 

The U.S. Marshals Service said the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation “played a critical role in the investigation.” 

“Dan Hiers was in a position of public trust, but he betrayed that trust in the worst possible way,” U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces S. Serralta said in a statement. “His return to South Carolina is both significant and rewarding, and we thank our domestic and international partners for their tireless persistence in bringing this fugitive to justice.”