Former South Carolina police officer Dan Hiers Jr., 53, was returned to the United States from Shanghai after a U.S. Marshals operation that secured his extradition. He faces murder and child sexual conduct charges in South Carolina.
Authorities allege Hiers shot his 24‑year‑old wife, Ludimila Hiers, in the back of the head while she slept on March 15, 2005, in their Goose Creek home. The killing occurred hours before he was due to surrender for additional child sex charges in Dorchester County.
Hiers was suspended from the Charleston Police Department in 2004 following accusations of sexual abuse of a minor. He was arrested on November 24, 2004, on a charge of attempting a lewd act upon a child under 16 and was later charged with additional offenses in March 2005.
He failed to appear in court, and the case remained unresolved until his inclusion on the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted list in June 2005, marking him as a top‑priority fugitive.
The extradition effort involved cooperation among the U.S. Marshals Service, the Department of Justice, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and Chinese law‑enforcement authorities. The operation concluded with Hiers’ arrest in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Hiers is now in U.S. custody awaiting trial on the murder charge in Goose Creek and the criminal sexual conduct with a minor charge in Dorchester County. The timing of his first court appearance has not yet been announced.
The return of Hiers ends a decades‑long pursuit that included multiple media investigations. Law‑enforcement officials expressed gratitude for the international collaboration that brought the fugitive back to face justice.
