Parents Arrested After Nonverbal Autistic Girl, 5, Drowns Near Pawleys Island Rental

A 5-year-old nonverbal girl with autism drowned near a Pawleys Island, SC rental home. Her parents are charged with child endangerment after allegedly misdirecting searchers.

Parents Charged After Autistic 5-Year-Old Drowns Near Pawleys Island Rental Home

A nonverbal five-year-old girl with autism wandered away from a vacation rental on Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and was found dead in a nearby body of water — and her parents now face child endangerment charges, Law & Crime reports.

Geordyn Hayes, 31, and John Hayes, 70, are each charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child in connection with "the disappearance and subsequent death" of Saylor Hayes, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office. Both are currently held at the Carter County Detention Center in Tennessee, listed as fugitives from justice.

Saylor went missing Sunday morning near the Waccamaw River

Authorities say Saylor was staying with her parents at a rental property on Old Waccamaw Drive in Hagley Estates on Pawleys Island — a street that runs adjacent to the Waccamaw River on South Carolina's Atlantic coast. On Sunday morning, the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office announced she was missing and appealed to local residents for help locating her.

Deputies attempted to track the child using Project Lifesaver, a search-and-rescue program used by public-safety agencies to locate "at-risk" individuals prone to wandering due to autism, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, or other cognitive conditions. Saylor had been enrolled in Project Lifesaver through the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Virginia since June 2024.

There was a significant problem, however. When Washington County deputies went to Saylor's Virginia home after being contacted by the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office, they found her Project Lifesaver transmitter inside a vehicle on the property — meaning she was not wearing it when she disappeared.

Parents allegedly misdirected the search

According to arrest warrants, Geordyn Hayes and John Hayes "encouraged search efforts to be directed toward the use of tracking technology, despite knowing that the child was not wearing the monitoring device." The pair also allegedly "directed search efforts away from the nearby body of water."

Saylor had a "known affinity to water and history of elopement," the warrants state, and she had been left "unsupervised within approximately 15 meters of a body of water" when she wandered off.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office noted that Project Lifesaver is a voluntary program, and that parents or caregivers are "responsible for ensuring the transmitter remains properly secured to the client." The device is designed for continuous wear and cannot be removed without physically cutting the band.

Body discovered Monday morning after hundreds-strong search

After a search involving hundreds of people and several agencies, Saylor was found dead Monday morning in waters near the area where she was last seen.

The defendants were arrested in Tennessee on Tuesday. It remains unclear why they were in that state. They are expected to be extradited to Georgetown County, South Carolina. An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday.

Georgetown County 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."

"Parents and caregivers have a fundamental responsibility to protect children who cannot protect themselves," Weaver 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."

"Saylor was a vulnerable five-year-old child who depended upon the adults responsible for her care and protection," Weaver added. "She deserved to be safe. She deserved to be protected."

Source: Law & Crime