burns
03-15-2006, 08:24 AM
South Carolina - A year after Ludimila Hiers was shot in the head as she slept, the question remains: Where is her husband, former Charleston police officer Dan Hiers Jr.?
Hiers, 33, is wanted on charges he pulled the trigger on his 24-year-old wife and molested a girl he had befriended in karate classes.
He is among the heavy hitters on "America's Most Wanted," having been selected as a member of the "Dirty Dozen" and the No. 1 fugitive of 2005. The U.S. Marshals Service named Hiers one of its top 15 most wanted fugitives, alongside a member of the Outlaws motorcycle club and major drug traffickers.
He was the subject of Fox News' Geraldo Rivera and crime bloggers such as Mugshots.com, which claims to have the largest collection of mug shots on the Internet.
"I find it interesting that no psychic has come forward," Goose Creek Police Lt. Dave Soderberg said.
Yet with all the publicity, the last confirmed sighting of Hiers was at a Walterboro convenience store March 15, 2005, hours before his wife's body was found in the couple's home at 132 Severn St.
A video camera recorded Hiers using the ATM. The couple's car later ended up in Laredo, but police don't know if Hiers was ever in the Texas border city.
Hundreds of people have called in tips on Hiers' whereabouts, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Stec. Information continues to come in to the fugitive task force, although Stec won't discuss details.
Unfounded tips have placed Hiers in Mexico, Canada, New York and North Carolina.
Soderberg remains convinced that Hiers had help disappearing.
"You can't walk away like that and not have money," he said.
As more time passes, it becomes increasingly likely that Hiers has changed identities and is working somewhere or living with someone to help support him,
Soderberg said.
Hiers was out on bond on a November 2004 child-molestation charge when he disappeared.
He was suspended from the Charleston Police Department, where he had worked since 1998, and later resigned. More charges followed involving the same girl, but in a different jurisdiction. Hiers failed to surrender on those charges a year ago today.
His mother came to Goose Creek to try to locate him. That led to the discovery of Mila Hiers' body. Investigators have no motive for the shooting.
Mila Hiers' family in Brazil marked the sad anniversary with an open letter to Goose Creek police.
"We miss Mila every single day and we struggle against our memories, sadness, feelings and depression. We are very sad. It is horrible to be unable to do anything and to be so far away," wrote Mila's sister, Alessandra Cohe de Araujo Salles.
The family asked that the public remember them in prayer and pleaded for anyone with information on Dan Hiers to notify police.
Reach Nita Birmingham at 745-5858 or nbirmingham@postandcourier.com. http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=75619§ion=localnews
Hiers, 33, is wanted on charges he pulled the trigger on his 24-year-old wife and molested a girl he had befriended in karate classes.
He is among the heavy hitters on "America's Most Wanted," having been selected as a member of the "Dirty Dozen" and the No. 1 fugitive of 2005. The U.S. Marshals Service named Hiers one of its top 15 most wanted fugitives, alongside a member of the Outlaws motorcycle club and major drug traffickers.
He was the subject of Fox News' Geraldo Rivera and crime bloggers such as Mugshots.com, which claims to have the largest collection of mug shots on the Internet.
"I find it interesting that no psychic has come forward," Goose Creek Police Lt. Dave Soderberg said.
Yet with all the publicity, the last confirmed sighting of Hiers was at a Walterboro convenience store March 15, 2005, hours before his wife's body was found in the couple's home at 132 Severn St.
A video camera recorded Hiers using the ATM. The couple's car later ended up in Laredo, but police don't know if Hiers was ever in the Texas border city.
Hundreds of people have called in tips on Hiers' whereabouts, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Stec. Information continues to come in to the fugitive task force, although Stec won't discuss details.
Unfounded tips have placed Hiers in Mexico, Canada, New York and North Carolina.
Soderberg remains convinced that Hiers had help disappearing.
"You can't walk away like that and not have money," he said.
As more time passes, it becomes increasingly likely that Hiers has changed identities and is working somewhere or living with someone to help support him,
Soderberg said.
Hiers was out on bond on a November 2004 child-molestation charge when he disappeared.
He was suspended from the Charleston Police Department, where he had worked since 1998, and later resigned. More charges followed involving the same girl, but in a different jurisdiction. Hiers failed to surrender on those charges a year ago today.
His mother came to Goose Creek to try to locate him. That led to the discovery of Mila Hiers' body. Investigators have no motive for the shooting.
Mila Hiers' family in Brazil marked the sad anniversary with an open letter to Goose Creek police.
"We miss Mila every single day and we struggle against our memories, sadness, feelings and depression. We are very sad. It is horrible to be unable to do anything and to be so far away," wrote Mila's sister, Alessandra Cohe de Araujo Salles.
The family asked that the public remember them in prayer and pleaded for anyone with information on Dan Hiers to notify police.
Reach Nita Birmingham at 745-5858 or nbirmingham@postandcourier.com. http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=75619§ion=localnews