US News
Parents charged in South Carolina following disappearance and death of 5-year-old daughter
Authorities allege the parents failed to supervise their nonverbal, autistic child and misled search teams after her monitoring device was removed.
The short version
- John Herb Hayes III and Geordyn Nichole Hayes were arrested in Tennessee and charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child.
- Their 5-year-old daughter, Saylor Hayes, was found dead in waters near a Pawleys Island, South Carolina rental home after wandering away.
- Arrest warrants accuse the parents of steering rescuers toward tracking equipment and away from nearby water despite knowing the child's tracking transmitter had been removed.
- Both parents are held in Tennessee awaiting extradition proceedings to Georgetown County, South Carolina.
Key facts
- Five-year-old Saylor Hayes went missing from a rental home in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and was discovered dead in nearby waters the following day.[ABC News]
- Her parents, John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, of Bristol, Virginia, were arrested in Carter County, Tennessee, and face charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child.[ABC News]
- Arrest warrants state the parents failed to provide adequate supervision for a severely nonverbal, autistic child known to wander and drawn to water.[ABC News]
- Authorities allege the parents directed search teams to use tracking technology and away from a nearby body of water, despite knowing her tracking device was not on her.[ABC News]
- The Washington County Sheriff's Office reported finding the girl's cut Project Lifesaver transmitter inside a vehicle at her Virginia residence.[ABC News]
What remains uncertain
- It is not yet known whether the parents have retained legal counsel for their defense or extradition proceedings.[ABC News]
Sources
- Parents charged in connection with disappearance, death of 5-year-old girlABC News - Top Stories