Background: Law enforcement officers investigate the disappearance of a child in Georgetown County, South Carolina (WPDE/YouTube). Inset left: Geordyn Hayes (Carter County Sheriff's Office). Inset middle: Saylor Hayes (Washington County (Virginia) Sheriff's Office). Inset right: John Hayes (Carter County Sheriff's Office).
After authorities in South Carolina say a nonverbal 5-year-old girl wandered away from a rental home and ended up dead in a body of water, her parents have been arrested.
Geordyn Hayes, 31, and John Hayes, 70, are each charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child in connection with "the disappearance and subsequent death" of Saylor Hayes, per the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office. The defendants are in the Carter County Detention Center in Tennessee and listed as fugitives from justice for a crime in another state.
Authorities say that over the weekend, Saylor was at a rental property with her parents in the area of Old Waccamaw Drive on Pawleys Island, South Carolina. The street is located right by the Waccamaw River, and the island is on the Atlantic coast.
On Sunday, the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office announced that Saylor was missing, asking residents who lived in the area for help.
Deputies said they were trying to track the child with Project Lifesaver, which brands itself as "the premier search-and-rescue program operated internationally by public-safety agencies" and which is "strategically designed for 'at-risk' individuals who are prone to the life-threatening behavior of wandering or eloping due to autism, Alzheimer's disease, dementia or other cognitive conditions."
Saylor had autism, was nonverbal, and had a "known affinity to water and history of elopement," according to arrest warrants filed against the parents.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office in Virginia said Saylor was from the region and had been enrolled in their Project Lifesaver program since June 2024. The agency added that the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office contacted its team about her transmitter, and, upon going to her home in Virginia, deputies there found Saylor's transmitter "inside a vehicle on the property," meaning it was not with her when she went missing.
According to the arrest warrants, the defendants "encouraged search efforts to be directed toward the use of tracking technology, despite knowing that the child was not wearing the monitoring device." Geordyn Hayes and John Hayes also allegedly "directed search efforts away from the nearby body of water."
The Washington County Sheriff's Office in Virginia noted that "Project Lifesaver is a voluntary program" and parents, guardians, or caregivers are "responsible for ensuring the transmitter remains properly secured to the client." Given that it is designed for "continuous wear," it can't "simply be unclasped or removed by the client; the band must be physically cut in order to remove the transmitter."
On Monday morning, after hundreds of people and several agencies searched, Saylor was found dead. Officers apparently found her "in the waters near the area where she was last seen."
Deputies determined that Saylor "wandered away from a rental home in Hagley Estates in Pawleys Island" on Sunday morning, with the warrants saying she was "left unsupervised within approximately 15 meters of a body of water."
On Tuesday, the defendants were arrested in Tennessee. It is unclear why they were in that state.
They are expected to be extradited to Georgetown County, South Carolina.
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver described Saylor's death as "a heartbreaking tragedy that has deeply affected our community and everyone who worked so hard to find her."
"From the beginning, our responsibility has been to follow the evidence wherever it led," he added. "Parents and caregivers have a fundamental responsibility to protect children who cannot protect themselves. When the evidence establishes probable cause to believe that a child has been unlawfully placed in circumstances that endanger that child's safety, law enforcement has a responsibility to act."
"Saylor was a vulnerable five-year-old child who depended upon the adults responsible for her care and protection," Weaver added. "She deserved to be safe. She deserved to be protected."
An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday.
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