Parents Arrested After Saylor Hayes Is Found Dead in Pond

The parents of a nonverbal 5-year-old girl have been arrested after authorities found the child dead in a pond near the South Carolina rental home where the family had been staying.

John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Haynes, 31, were arrested Tuesday night in connection with the disappearance and death of their daughter, Saylor Hayes, the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina said.

Both parents are now charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child.

According to arrest warrants, investigators allege the couple exposed Saylor to “an unreasonable risk of harm” by failing to provide the level of supervision and safety precautions needed for a nonverbal, autistic 5-year-old who was known to be drawn to water and had a history of wandering away.

The warrants state that Saylor had previously been issued a Project Lifesaver transmitter by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, where the family resides, but she was not wearing the device when she left the rental home on Sunday.

“The child was subsequently left unsupervised within approximately 15 meters of a body of water,” the warrants say. Authorities added that the tracking device was later found inside a vehicle at the family’s Virginia home.

Investigators also claim the parents interfered with or misdirected the search for the missing child.

“After the child was discovered missing, the defendant encouraged search efforts to be directed toward the use of tracking technology, despite knowing the child was not wearing the monitoring device,” authorities alleged in the warrants.

‘The defendant further directed search efforts away from the nearby body of water’ where Saylor’s body was eventually located. 

In a statement announcing the charges Tuesday night, Georgetown Sheriff Carter Weaver called Saylor’s death ‘a heartbreaking tragedy that has deeply affected our community and everyone who worked so hard to find her.’ 

Saylor’s disappearance over the weekend spurred a massive search effort, with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division sending out a helicopter and an underwater drone as the US Coast Guard sent a vessel to help with the search.

Hundreds of neighbors also jumped in to search their own properties and the surrounding areas, with one neighbor telling WMBF how they tried to lure the little girl by walking with pets and getting an ice cream truck to play music throughout the neighborhood.

When the young girl’s body was later found in the water behind the rental property, authorities began an ‘extensive investigation’ and decided to charge Saylor’s parents, Weaver said. 

‘Parents and caregivers have a fundamental responsibility to protect children who cannot protect themselves,’ he said. 

‘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.’ 

The sheriff then went on to call the girl ‘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,’ Weaver declared. 

An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday morning, but there were no visible signs of trauma to the body, Georgetown County Coroner Chase Ridgeway told WPDE. 

The cause of death and manner of death remain undetermined pending the completion of the autopsy and any other necessary testing. 

In the meantime, the girl’s parents are scheduled to be transported back to South Carolina once the extradition proceedings are complete. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.