John Herb Hayes, III and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, parents of Saylor Hayes, missing 5-year-old non verbal girl found dead arrested & charged for unlawfully placing child at risk and or willfully abandoning a child after its revealed girl had not been wearing her Project Lifesaver, a mandated trackable device for vulnerable individuals that could have averted her death.
The parents of a nonverbal 5-year-old girl who went missing only to end up being found dead were on Tuesday arrested and charged in relation to their child’s death.
John Herb Hayes, III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 30, the parents of Saylor Hayes, were arrested Tuesday evening in Carter County, Tennessee and each charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk/willfully abandoning a child for their actions in the disappearance and subsequent death of their child.
The body of the missing girl, who had been the subject of an intensive search involving hundreds of people and multiple agencie, was found yesterday morning in the waters near Hagley Landing, South Carolina. Leading up to the girl’s death, the family had been vacationing at a multi-million dollar residence in Pawleys Island.
Why had 5-year-old vulnerable child’s mandated trackable device been removed?
According to the arrest warrants, Saylor’s parents failed to provide supervision and safeguards appropriate for a ‘severely nonverbal’ 5-year-old child with autism, who had a known affinity for the water, WYFF4 reported.
Authorities said that Saylor was part of the Project Lifesaver program, which is used to find missing people with a cognitive condition. However, the tracking device had been removed before the family left for vacation.
Following extradition proceedings, the couple will be transported back to Georgetown County, South Carolina where they will formally face charges.
Under South Carolina law, parents are responsibile to protect children who cannot protect themselves, particularly if evidence deems that the child had been unlawfully placed at risk of or causing harm, or willfully abandoning a child. Nevermind a vulnerable child who is nonverbal and autistic.
Reiterated Sheriff Carter Weaver in announcing the parents’ arrest, ‘Saylor deserved to be safe. She deserved to be protected.
Specifically enrolled in Project Lifesaver for vulnerable kids
The parents arrest follows South Carolina authorities now revealing that the non verbal 5-year old girl, had been in Project Lifesaver, a program specifically designed to help authorities quickly locate vulnerable children and adults who may wander away.
But when Saylor disappeared Sunday, Aug. 30, she did not have her Project Lifesaver transmitter with her.
Instead, authorities say the device was later found inside a vehicle at her family’s home in Virginia — hundreds of miles from where search crews were desperately looking for her.
Saylor and her family hail from the Bristol area of Washington County, Virginia, where she had been enrolled in the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Project Lifesaver program since June 2024.
Project Lifesaver provides participants with a small transmitter that emits an individualized radio frequency. If someone enrolled in the program disappears, specially trained first responders can use equipment to detect that frequency and help locate them.
Saylor reportedly wandered away from the family’s rental home in the Hagley Estates area near Pawleys Island late Sunday morning. Had the girl been equipped with the trackable device she may have been recovered in a timely manner and still alive.
At the time of Saylor’s disappearance, authorities deployed drones, K-9 teams, divers and boats, while helicopters searched from above. Hundreds of residents also searched their properties, surrounding areas and docks.
A Charleston County Sheriff’s Office helicopter equipped with Project Lifesaver technology was even brought in to search for Saylor’s transmitter.
Except there was no signal to detect.
Cause of death of 5-year-old girl pending autopsy
Authorities in South Carolina contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia and obtained the frequency assigned to Saylor’s Project Lifesaver transmitter.
When deputies in Virginia checked Saylor’s home, they made the devastating discovery: the transmitter was inside a vehicle on the property.
Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis stressed that the Project Lifesaver equipment had not failed.
According to Andis, the program is voluntary, and a parent, guardian or caregiver is responsible for making sure the transmitter remains secured to the person enrolled in the program.
The transmitter is designed for continuous wear and is secured using a specialized band.
Importantly, authorities say the device cannot simply be unclasped or removed by the person wearing it. The band has to be physically cut to remove the transmitter.
‘What makes this situation especially heartbreaking is that Saylor did not have her transmitter with her when she went missing,’ Andis said.
‘Had Saylor been wearing her Project Lifesaver transmitter, we believe the technology could have assisted search teams in locating her much sooner. While no technology can guarantee an outcome, every minute matters when a vulnerable child or adult is missing.’
An autopsy is scheduled for Friday morning at the Medical University of South Carolina to determine the 5-year-old girl’s cause of death.
Authorities have not publicly explained stated why Saylor’s Project Lifesaver transmitter had been removed or why the girl’s parents had chosen to leave it behind in Virginia.
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