We are taught from a young age to respect authority, beginning with our parents and grandparents and later extending to teachers. As we grow older, we are taught to particularly respect authority figures such as policemen.

The vast majority of those who take the oath to serve and protect the public do so admirably and some pay the ultimate price. A small amount, however, instead commit the ultimate crime. It is those few who become a source of ire to those in blue.

One of the worst of those who was entrusted to serve and protect is Dan Hiers. In 2004, the thirty-two-year-old respected Charleston, South Carolina, police officer was charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts against a minor. As awful of an act as that is, Hiers was soon accused of committing a worse crime, that of murder.

Dan Hiers went from being one of the finest to one of the worst. His fate today is murky. Some sources say he is in custody across the globe, but those reports have not been confirmed by the United States Marshalls, the primary law enforcement agency tracking the fugitive.

Dan Hiers

 

Dan And Mila

Nearly every night during the following year, Hiers made international phone calls to Mila and even traveled to Brazil to further court the Latin teen. Mila’s father was opposed to the relationship because of the age difference, but he eventually relented as his daughter convinced him she had found the man of her dreams and that she would have great opportunities in America.

With her family’s blessing, the sixteen-year-old Mila moved to America and wed Hiers in August 1997.

Wedding Day

The newlyweds settled in Hiers’ home town of Goose Creek, South Carolina, eighteen miles north of Charleston.

Mila began working in the shoe department at the Northwood Mall Sears store. She loved her work, her life in America, and her husband.

Happy Couple

In 1998, one year after wedding Mila, Hiers became an officer with the Charleston Police Department. The couple had no children of their own, but the new cop seemed to connect with kids and organized several youth community activities. This affinity led to Hiers’ becoming the liaison between the Charleston Police Department and the West Ashley High School. The idolized policeman assisted school officials with troubled youth and identifying potential issues.

Hiers was a role model for many children, particularly those without a father in their lives. He is believed to have betrayed that trust in the worst way.

Police Officer

Most of the students at Charleston’s Japan Karate Institute were children, but a few adults had also decided to take up the martial arts. One of them was Dan Hiers who befriended many of the young students, including eight-year-old Lauren Ramsey.

Lauren’s parents were divorced and her father was no longer in her life. Her mother, Leslie Frye, was struggling to make ends meet, and Hiers offered his assistance by taking Lauren shopping and purchasing clothing and school supplies for her. Leslie greatly appreciated the help and felt Hiers was the father-like figure her daughter needed.

Karate Classmates

Lauren Ramsey And Dan Hiers

Hiers also taught Laruen gun safety and often took her to and from karate classes in his police car while Leslie was working. Along the way, he would let Lauren play with the lights and siren. When they stopped to talk to people, Hiers would introduce her as his police partner.

Dan Hiers helped Leslie Frye financially and her daughter Lauren Ramsey emotionally. But he also is alleged to have helped himself to Lauren in a manner in which no adult is allowed.

Posing Proudly

Lauren says Hiers touched, fondled, and massaged her in the most private areas. She believes he began doing so approximately two weeks after they met.

At first, Lauren says Heirs told her the touching would help her in karate class by loosening her muscles and allowing her to punch and kick harder. When she protested as the incidents became more frequent and intense, Hiers said he was allowed to touch her because he was a police officer.

After watching a video in school about inappropriate touching, however, young Lauren realized she had been violated. She did not feel she could tell the police because Hiers was one of their own. Nor could she tell her teacher who worked on school projects with him. Lauren did, however, feel comfortable telling one person: her mom.

Leslie immediately went to the Charleston Police.

Lauren Tells Of The

Inappropriate Actions

In November 2004, decorated Charleston policeman Dan Hiers was arrested by his fellow officers and charged with lewd and lascivious acts committed on a minor. His employment was suspended pending the investigation.

Authorities discovered the married Hiers was found to have used escort services and frequented strip clubs. Several high school girls also claimed he had dated them.

Because of his previously exemplary record as a police officer, Hiers was granted bond to get his affairs in order. After additional charges were filed against him in early March 2005, he agreed to surrender to his former colleagues on March 15.

The Decorated Cop Is Arrested

An uneasy feeling settled over the Charleston Police Department when Hiers did not arrive that afternoon. After calls to his home went unanswered, his attorney reached his mother and apprised her of the situation.

At 5:20 p.m., a friend accompanied Linda Hiers to her son’s Goose Creek home.

No Dan

Upon entering the home’s bedroom, the friend came upon a gruesome scene. Mila was found lying lifeless on the bed. She had been shot once in her head, likely as she slept.

Ballistics tests showed the bullets were from the same caliber of handgun owned by her husband.

Mila Is Murdered

Dan Hiers was not at his home, nor was Mila’s car, a red 2005 Chevrolet Aveo. A neighbor recalled seeing Hiers leaving the home driving the vehicle at approximately 1:50 p.m.

At 3:30 p.m., just under two hours before Mila’s body was found, a surveillance camera at a Colleton County convenience store fifty miles from Goose Creek showed Hiers withdrawing hundreds of dollars from an ATM machine.

Captured On Camera Only

Three months later, in June 2005, Mila’s car was found abandoned in a hospital parking lot in the Mexican border town of Laredo, Texas.

Investigators, however, found nothing definitively indicating that Hiers had fled south of the border.

Last Seen In Laredo

Dan Hiers’ motive in murdering his wife is unclear. Mila stood by him throughout his ordeal, telling her family and friends she loved him and believed he was innocent of the charges against him. It has been theorized she may have learned of his affairs on the day he was to surrender and came to the realization that she was married to a monster and perhaps told him she planned to leave him.

Another theory is that Hiers killed Mila because he did want her to see him exposed as a pervert. He had told family and friends he was worried about the embarrassment his impending trial would cause her.

Motive Unknown

Over the following several years, multiple reported sightings of Hiers in the Colorado Spring, Colorado, area and Toronto, Canada, initially seemed promising but ultimately led nowhere. Other reported sightings in England and Australia also produced nothing concrete.

Finally, over thirteen years after going on the lam, Dan Hiers’ luck ran out– maybe.

Dan On The Run

Several media outlets have reported that Hiers was captured in Shanghai, China, in September 2018. It was communicated that an American woman now living in California who had attended college in China recognized Hiers after viewing the United States Marshals Service 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list. The woman said he was popular with women in Shanghai but had run into trouble after sending pornographic images to her friend after she rejected his advances. That certainly sounds like our man Dan.

Some reports state Hiers was teaching English to Chinese children, but others say that cannot be verified.

Captured In China?

Following the reports of Hiers’ capture in China, the United Marshals Service released the following statement: “The U.S. Marshals Service is and has been aware of information being reported and re-reported in the news and on social media regarding 15 Most Wanted fugitive Dan Hiers. We are fully engaged with our international partners on this matter. This is the only information we will be providing at this time.”

In another statement, a United States Marshals spokesperson also said, “We are aware of the reports that he’s been arrested. We are working with our international partners.”

In the days and weeks after Hiers was reported to have been apprehended, however, several media outlets reported the Marshals refused to confirm that he had been captured. A 2022 article in South Carolina’s Post and Courier reiterates that they are still unable to confirm his arrest in China.

Is Hiers In China?

Dan Hiers is no longer on the United States Marshall’s 15 Most Wanted List, but he is still classified as a “major priority case.” If he is in Chinese custody, it may be a while before he is returned to America, if at all. The countries do not have an extradition treaty and the coronavirus outbreak likely further delayed the already lengthy proceedings for extraditing fugitives who have fled abroad.

Perhaps the best solution would be to put Hiers in a cell with inmates infected with the virus.

Recently Removed From The Marshalls’ Most Wanted List

But Still Listed As Wanted

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11294339/ludimila-hiers#

SOURCES:

• ABC News
• America’s Most Wanted
• Associated Press
• The Daily Beast
• The Hunt
• Post and Courier
• The Slate
• True Crime Daily
• United States Marshals
• UPI