Investigators allege the Virginia couple failed to adequately protect the 5-year-old and misled authorities during the search near Pawleys Island.
PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. — The parents of 5-year-old Saylor Hayes have been arrested after the nonverbal Virginia girl was found dead in waters near the family’s South Carolina rental home, with investigators alleging the couple failed to provide safeguards appropriate for a child known to wander toward water.
John Herb Hayes III and Geordyn Nichole Hayes were arrested Sept. 1 in Carter County, Tennessee, on South Carolina warrants charging each with unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office. The charges came one day after Saylor’s body was recovered following an overnight search involving hundreds of people and numerous law enforcement and emergency agencies. The allegations have not been proven in court, and authorities said the parents were awaiting extradition to Georgetown County.
Saylor was reported missing Aug. 30 after authorities were told she had wandered away from a rental home along Old Waccamaw Drive in the Hagley community near Pawleys Island. Authorities described her as severely nonverbal and autistic, with a history of wandering, also known as elopement, and a known affinity for water. Search teams worked through the night before South Carolina Department of Natural Resources agents recovered her body at about 9:45 a.m. Aug. 31 in waters near the area where she was last seen.
The arrest warrants allege that Saylor was left without adequate supervision and safeguards despite those known risks. Investigators also accuse her parents of directing search crews toward tracking technology even though they knew their daughter was not wearing the monitoring device used to help locate her. According to reports citing the warrants, investigators allege the parents also directed search efforts away from a nearby body of water. Authorities have not said that the charges establish criminal responsibility for Saylor’s death, and the exact cause and manner of death remain undetermined.
Saylor had been enrolled since June 2024 in the Washington County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office Project Lifesaver program, according to Sheriff Blake Andis. The program provides a small radio-frequency transmitter for people who may wander because of cognitive conditions or other special needs. When Georgetown County authorities initially sought information from Virginia officials during the search, they received the individualized frequency assigned to Saylor’s device. Searchers in South Carolina, however, could not detect the transmitter.
Washington County deputies later checked the family’s property in Virginia and found the Project Lifesaver transmitter inside a vehicle there, Andis said. He said the device is attached with a specialized band intended for continuous wear and cannot simply be unclasped by the person wearing it. The band must be physically cut to remove the transmitter. Andis said responsibility for ensuring that the transmitter remains secured rests with a parent, guardian or caregiver because participation in the program is voluntary.
The search for Saylor involved extensive resources on land, in the air and on the water. Authorities deployed drones, police dogs, divers and shoreline search crews. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office provided a helicopter equipped with Project Lifesaver technology, while the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division sent a helicopter and underwater drone. The U.S. Coast Guard also provided a vessel. Hundreds of residents searched properties and surrounding areas or watched docks as officials continued looking for the girl through the night.
Georgetown County Coroner Chase Ridgeway said there were no visible signs of trauma on Saylor’s body. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday, Sept. 4, at the Medical University of South Carolina. Ridgeway said the cause and manner of death would remain undetermined until the autopsy and any additional testing were completed. Authorities therefore had not publicly established how Saylor died as of Wednesday, and the charges against her parents should not be interpreted as a final finding on the cause of her death.
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said caregivers have a responsibility to protect children who cannot protect themselves and that law enforcement must act when investigators establish probable cause that a child was placed in dangerous circumstances. The sheriff’s office said its investigation would continue despite Saylor’s death and the arrests. Officials emphasized that the case would now move through the justice system, where prosecutors would be required to prove any criminal allegations.
The arrests marked a major change in a case that began as an urgent missing-child search. Early efforts centered on finding Saylor as quickly as possible, including attempts to locate the radio signal associated with her Project Lifesaver device. Information later obtained from Virginia authorities established that the transmitter was not with Saylor in South Carolina, raising questions about why searchers initially believed the technology could help locate her. Investigators have made that issue part of the allegations described in the arrest warrants.
John Hayes and Geordyn Hayes remained subject to extradition proceedings in Tennessee before they could be returned to Georgetown County to face the South Carolina charges. No publicly confirmed pleas or final court disposition had been announced as of Sept. 2. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Saylor’s disappearance and death remained active, while the coroner’s office awaited the autopsy and any additional testing needed to determine how she died.
Author note: Last updated September 2, 2026.