The parents of a 5-year-old non-verbal girl found dead in a South Carolina waterway have been arrested. John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, were taken into custody in Tennessee on Tuesday.
They face charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk and wilfully abandoning a child. The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office stated that the charges stem from the death of their daughter, Saylor Hayes. The couple had been married for five years.
Saylor was discovered deceased in a waterway near their rental home in Pawleys Island around 9:45 a.m. Monday. An intensive search involving hundreds of people and multiple agencies preceded the discovery. The girl was found wearing a one-piece bathing suit and a white lanyard. Her cause of death is pending an autopsy, though the Georgetown County Coroner noted no visible signs of trauma.
Authorities stated that Saylor, who had a tendency to wander due to her nonverbal and autistic condition, was supposed to be wearing a Project Lifesaver transmitter but was not when she disappeared from the property. The arrest affidavit indicated that the parents are accused of putting Saylor “at an unreasonable risk of harm affecting her life and safety by failing to provide supervision and safeguards appropriate for a severely nonverbal, autistic, five-year-old child with a known affinity to water and a history of elopement.”
The monitoring device had been in use since 2024, but it had been removed before the family departed Virginia. It remains unclear who removed the tracker or when it was taken off.
Investigators also accused the parents of hindering the search efforts. According to police, they allegedly “encouraged search efforts to be directed toward the use of tracking technology, despite knowing that the child was not wearing the monitoring device” and “further directed search efforts away from the nearby body of water.”
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver commented on the case, stating, “Parents and caregivers have a fundamental responsibility to protect children who cannot protect themselves.” He added, “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. She deserved to be safe. She deserved to be protected.”
The arrests occurred hours after Geordyn Hayes posted a tribute to her daughter on social media, sharing an image of Saylor with the caption, “Mommy’s little angel.”
Saylor was reported missing shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. The search effort utilized drones, K9 units, and helicopters equipped with Project Lifesaver technology, intended to detect the signal from her bracelet. Investigators determined Saylor was not wearing the transmitter when they traced the signal to a vehicle, according to Washington County, Virginia, Sheriff Blake Andis. The transmitter's band is designed for continuous wear and must be cut to be removed.
Agents with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources located Saylor’s body in the water near where she was last seen. The parents are expected to return to Georgetown County after extradition proceedings are completed.