After more than two decades on the run, a former South Carolina police officer accused of killing his wife is finally back on home soil to face a judge. Federal authorities say 53-year-old Dan Hiers Jr., a onetime Lowcountry cop, was taken into custody in Shanghai and escorted to the United States on July 23, 2026, to answer outstanding murder and child-sex charges stemming from a 2005 case that has haunted Goose Creek for years. The story first broke nationally when Hiers landed on the U.S. Marshals' 15 Most Wanted list in 2005.
Hiers is wanted in Goose Creek on a murder warrant and in Dorchester County on a warrant for criminal sexual conduct with a minor, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Investigators allege that Ludimila “Mila” Hiers, 24, was found dead at the couple’s Goose Creek home on March 15, 2005, shot in the back of the head as she slept. A federal unlawful-flight warrant was later added after authorities say Hiers vanished the same day he was supposed to surrender on related charges.
How he was found and returned
Deputy U.S. Marshals traveled to Shanghai, took Hiers into custody and escorted him back to the United States, as reported by Fox News. Officials credited a web of international cooperation that included China’s Ministry of Public Security and U.S. agencies such as the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI. Local law enforcement said the arrest effectively caps a decades-long effort to get Hiers back to South Carolina to face the charges. According to the U.S. Department of State's 'International Narcotics Control Strategy Report' (uploaded Mar 1, 2025), the State Department publishes assessments addressing international law-enforcement cooperation and extradition relationships.
Federal officials praise international cooperation
“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, noting that placing Hiers on the 15 Most Wanted list made his capture a top priority. Nicholas Collura, principal deputy assistant secretary for Diplomatic Security, praised overseas agents and their coordination with Chinese authorities in securing Hiers’ return. The U.S. Marshals Service publicly thanked the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and multiple federal partners for their roles in the operation. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's 'FY 2020 Annual Performance Report', the DOJ publishes annual reports summarizing departmental activities.
Charges, past allegations and what comes next
Hiers had been suspended from the Charleston Police Department in 2004 after he was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor, and he was arrested on November 24, 2004, on a charge of committing or attempting a lewd act on a child under 16, according to CBS News. Additional charges followed in March 2005, and authorities say Hiers failed to appear in court the same day his wife was discovered dead. The case quickly became high profile, and the Marshals added Hiers to their 15 Most Wanted list in June 2005. Officials say a schedule for his first appearance in a South Carolina courtroom has not yet been set.
Dorchester County Sheriff Sam Richardson said his office had been notified that Hiers was back in U.S. custody and praised the interagency effort that finally brought the fugitive home, as Fox News reported. As of July 24, 2026, prosecutors had not announced when Hiers will make his first court appearance in South Carolina.
