Parents Arrested in Death of Nonverbal Girl Found in South Carolina River
The parents of a nonverbal 5-year-old girl whose body was pulled from the Waccamaw River near Pawleys Island have been arrested in Tennessee, authorities said.
John Herb Hayes III and Geordyn Nichole Hayes were arrested in Carter County, Tennessee, and each face charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk/willfully abandoning a child, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office. The charges relate to the disappearance and death of their daughter, Saylor Hayes.
The couple is accused of leaving Saylor unsupervised near the water on Aug. 30 despite knowing she had a history of eloping and that a tracking device for her had been left at their home in Virginia, according to arrest warrants. Geordyn Hayes told authorities that Saylor wandered off from a Pawleys Island-area rental home that Sunday morning.
Saylor's body was found in the water near where she was last seen around 9:45 m. on Monday, Aug. 31, the sheriff's office said. Her disappearance prompted a large-scale search involving Georgetown County deputies, neighborhood volunteers, the Midway Fire Department, the Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol, and drones from the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office and Fire Department.
Sheriff's spokesperson Heather Pelham said Project Lifesaver equipment was deployed on land and in the airspace to try to get a signal from a device Saylor was believed to be wearing. According to an affidavit, Saylor had been equipped with a monitoring device since 2024, but it was removed before leaving Virginia.
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said in a prepared statement that Saylor's death was a "heartbreaking tragedy" that deeply affected the community. He added that law enforcement's responsibility was to follow the evidence and that parents and caregivers have a fundamental duty to protect children who cannot protect themselves.
The parents are expected to be transported to Georgetown County once extradition proceedings are completed.
Pawleys Island, where the family was staying, is a barrier island about 25 miles south of Myrtle Beach.