American murder suspect found teaching English in Shanghai under false name for years

In 2004, Dan Hiers Jr., a 53-year-old American man, was charged with sexually assaulting a girl he met in a karate class while working as a police officer in South Carolina. He was suspended by the Charleston Police Department but later released on bond. In 2005, Dorchester County Sheriff's Office filed additional charges against him, involving the same child. Hiers failed to surrender and was subsequently anticipated to be handed over to American law enforcement by Chinese authorities, as per U.S. requests.

Hiers, who had served 11 years across three South Carolina police departments, was found teaching English in Shanghai under the false name of David Williams. He had been living under a false name for years and was believed to speak Spanish and Portuguese. His arrest came after a 24-year-old Brazilian woman, known as Mila, was found dead in her Goose Creek home.

Her death was ruled a homicide, and police suspected Hiers had been responsible. He was added to the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 Most Wanted list in June 2005, and Interpol issued a red notice in August of the same year.

Over the years, Hiers' case gained widespread media attention, appearing on America's Most Wanted and The Hunt with John Walsh. Despite numerous sightings in Michigan, Colorado, and Toronto, he was never apprehended. In 2018, a former student of his who had moved to the U.S. recognized his face on the Marshals Service website and alerted authorities. Hiers was subsequently detained by Shanghai police.

In 2022, the Marshals Service removed Hiers from its 15 Most Wanted list, four years after his location was confirmed. In 2023, he appeared for a video link with The Post and Courier from a detention center in Shanghai and denied any guilt. He claimed his desire was to return and clear the charges. However, prosecutors from the First Circuit Solicitor's office, David Pascoe, have been working with the Marshals Service for a decade to bring Hiers back to the U.S. They have not ruled out seeking life without parole or the death penalty for the murder charge against him. Hiers will be held at the Hill-Finklea Detention Center in Berkeley County, South Carolina.