Mills and Mitchum enshrined in S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
By Cheyenne Twilley<\/i><\/p>\n
Two retired S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) law enforcement officers, Staff Sergeant Lee “Skeet” Mills Jr. and Staff Sergeant Francis Mitchum, were inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame during ceremonies, Oct. 28. The career game wardens were honored in recognition of their extraordinary service and lasting contributions to law enforcement in South Carolina.<\/p>\n
With careers spanning nearly four decades, Mills and Mitchum were more than dedicated law enforcement officers. They were pioneers who helped establish SCDNR’s Aquatic Investigations and Recovery (AIR) Team in 1977 and worked side-by-side to transform the team into one of the nation’s premier law enforcement dive programs.<\/p>\n
Having built a legacy together through decades of service, leadership, and friendship, it is only fitting that these two men receive this prestigious honor together.<\/p>\n
“These two distinguished retired SCDNR leaders represent the very best of law enforcement, public safety, and conservation,” said Dr. Tom Mullikin, director of SCDNR. “Throughout their careers, they exemplified extraordinary leadership, unwavering dedication to duty, and an enduring commitment to protecting S.C.’s people and natural resources.<\/p>\n
Mullikin added: “Their service extended far beyond the traditional responsibilities of a game warden, providing invaluable support to fellow law enforcement agencies and the communities they served. We are tremendously proud to see them receive this prestigious recognition. This honor is both richly deserved and a testament to the proud tradition of excellence within SCDNR law enforcement.”<\/p>\n
Throughout their careers, Mills and Mitchum played instrumental roles in some of the Palmetto State’s most significant underwater investigations and recovery operations, including the recovery of the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley, the Lake Keowee cofferdam collapse, and homicide investigations involving Susan Smith, Pee Wee Gaskins, and Larry Gene Bell. Their work brought answers to families, recovered critical evidence, and supported other law enforcement agencies statewide.<\/p>\n
Mills, who began his career in 1974, logged more than 3,400 dives and helped recover 174 victims. As the team’s senior dive-training officer, he developed safety procedures and established a S.C. Criminal Justice Academy-approved underwater law enforcement investigations course, helping set a new standard for specialized dive training.<\/p>\n
Mitchum, who also began his career in 1974, served as the AIR Team coordinator until his retirement in 2013. His leadership helped ensure the team had the equipment, training, and operational readiness needed to carry out some of the most challenging and dangerous assignments in law enforcement. Together, the two officers trained generations of divers and strengthened underwater investigative capabilities for agencies throughout S.C.<\/p>\n
Their contributions extended beyond underwater investigations. Both played key roles in keeping waterways safe, including clearing navigational channels on Lake Marion and the Santee River after Hurricane Hugo.<\/p>\n
While their accomplishments are remarkable, their greatest legacy may be the people they trained, the lives they touched, and the foundation they built for those who continue this important work today.<\/p>\n
“We are incredibly proud of Skeet and Francis and their decades of unwavering dedication to service.,” said SCDNR Law Enforcement Deputy Director Chisholm Frampton. “Together, they established a tradition of excellence that extends far beyond SCDNR and has greatly benefited the law enforcement profession throughout S.C. Their extraordinary contributions and lasting influence make them truly deserving of this prestigious honor.”<\/p>\n
Mills and Mitchum’s legacies live on through the AIR Team they helped build, the officers mentored, and the countless lives they touched throughout their careers. Their induction into the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame ensures that their pioneering work and commitment to serving others will be remembered for generations to come.<\/p>\n
– For more information about the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame, please visit https:\/\/scdps.sc.gov\/our-divisions\/sc-law-enforcement-officers-hall-fame.<\/a><\/p>\n – Cheyenne Twilley is SCDNR’s chief of Education, Outreach, and Information.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mills and Mitchum enshrined in S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame By Cheyenne Twilley Two retired S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) law enforcement officers, Staff Sergeant Lee “Skeet” Mills Jr. and Staff Sergeant Francis Mitchum, were inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame duringContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[44],"tags":[204,361],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-9172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-public-safety","tag-natural-resources","tag-scdnr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/SCLEO-HOF_2026_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}