A former South Carolina cop, who was one of the federal government’s most wanted criminals, has been captured in China.
Ex-Charleston police officer Daniel Hiers was on the run for 13 years after molesting a child and killing his wife.
Now he is being held in custody in Shanghai, according to Live5.
“He’s one of the top 15,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals said.
“Those are always big.”
Hiers was working as an English teacher at a prominent Shanghai school before he was arrested.
A former student at the school where Hiers worked moved from Shanghai to California.
She decided to check out the U.S. Marchal’s Most Wanted list, according to shanghaist, an English language Chinese news outlet.
On September 10, the student, whose surname is Wang, sent a message to Live 5’s Facebook page stating there was a particularly popular English teacher at her university on the U.S. Marshal’s Most Wanted list.
Wang sent a link with an article that included a photo of Hiers.
She said female students liked him because he was tall and handsome and that Hiers attempted to pursue one of her friends.
She also said he was hired as a bodyguard for an unnamed star.
Live5 contacted several police agencies to verify whether or not Hiers was in custody in China.
A spokesman for the U.S. Marshal’s service stated they were aware of the information and are “fully engaged with international partners” on the matter.
In 2004, the Charleston Police Department suspended Hiers after the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office arrested him for molesting a 10-year-old girl.
Hiers quit the Charleston Police Department in 2005 and was supposed to surrender on those charges in March, but he never showed up to court.
When Hiers’ mother went to his home to look for him, she found Hiers wife, Ludimila, with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Neighbors said they saw Hiers leave the house a few hours before her body was found.
Just a few days after the murder, Hiers was spotted on surveillance video at a convenience store withdrawing cash from an ATM. Hiers’ case was then covered on the popular television show “America’s Most Wanted.”
It wasn’t until five days later that Goose Creek Police finally obtained an arrest warrant, charging Hiers with his wife’s murder.
But Hiers was never arrested in the U.S.
So far, it’s unclear how long it will take before Hiers is extradited back to South Carolina, where he will stand trial for his wife’s murder.
Scott Hiers, Daniel’s brother, said his family has no comment.
