The parents of Saylor Hayes, a nonverbal five-year-old girl found dead in a South Carolina lake, appeared in a Tennessee courtroom for the first time on Thursday. John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, waived extradition to South Carolina, where they will face charges.
Authorities arrested the parents on Tuesday night in connection with their daughter's disappearance and subsequent death. They each face a charge of unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child. Arrest warrants allege that the parents placed Saylor at an unreasonable risk of harm by failing to provide adequate supervision for a nonverbal, autistic child with a known affinity for water and a history of elopement.
Further accusations state that after Saylor was discovered missing, her parents allegedly encouraged search efforts to be directed toward tracking technology, despite knowing the child was not wearing the monitoring device. This alleged misdirection complicated the search for the young girl.
Saylor's body was recovered Monday morning. Deputies, K-9 units, boats, Georgetown County Emergency Management, and hundreds of residents participated in the search effort throughout the night.
Video has also emerged showing Geordyn Hayes appearing to frantically search for her daughter and appeal for help before Saylor was found. The parents are currently being held in a Tennessee jail awaiting transfer to South Carolina authorities, who have 10 days to pick them up. A status hearing is scheduled for September 14 in Tennessee if the transfer does not occur by then.
