The preliminary autopsy results for 5-year-old Saylor Hayes, a non-verbal autistic child found dead in South Carolina, indicate she died of injuries consistent with drowning. The examination revealed pulmonary edema, a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs, making breathing difficult, according to the Georgetown County Coroner’s Office.
No visible trauma was found on the girl's body, which was discovered on August 31 in a waterway near the family's vacation home on Pawleys Island. The autopsy was conducted by the Medical University of South Carolina. A final autopsy report is expected in eight to 10 weeks.
The findings come shortly after Saylor’s parents, John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, were arrested in Tennessee. They face charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning a child in connection with their daughter's death.
Saylor, who was from Virginia, was found wearing only a bathing suit and a strap resembling a child’s wrist tether attached to her ankle. The girl, who had a history of wandering, was supposed to be wearing a Project Lifesaver transmitter but was not at the time of her disappearance. Her parents' arrest affidavit stated the monitoring device had been removed before the family left Virginia in 2024.
Saylor Hayes disappeared from a rental home in South Carolina on August 30. Her parents were arrested on Tuesday, September 3, and subsequently extradited. This is a developing story.