GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WMBF) – The body of a missing 5-year-old girl who was nonverbal has been recovered after an intensive search.
Agents with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources recovered Saylor Hayes’ body around 9:45 a.m. Monday in the waters near the area where she was last seen.
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office thanked everyone who helped in the search and extended its condolences to Hayes’ family.
Sailor Hayes(Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office)
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office first posted about her disappearance at 12:31 p.m. Sunday after she wandered from her family’s rental home along Old Waccamaw Drive in the Hagley Community.
Sheriff Carter Weaver said Hayes and her family are from Virginia.
Search efforts
The sheriff’s office spent hours searching on Sunday and continued the search through the night into Monday.
Deputies tried to track her using Project Lifesaver, a tracking technology typically used to locate people enrolled in the program who may wander.
Multiple agencies and methods were deployed during the search, including drones, K-9s, divers, search crews along the water, and a Charleston County Sheriff’s Office helicopter equipped with Project Lifesaver equipment.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division sent a helicopter and underwater drone to assist with the search for several hours, and the U.S. Coast Guard sent a vessel to help with searches as well.
In addition, hundreds of neighbors from the area searched their own properties and surrounding areas and guarded docks, the sheriff’s office said.
A cause of death has not yet been released.
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