WASHINGTON COUNTY, Va. (WMBF) – New documents are shedding more light on the February arrest in Washington County, Virginia, of Saylor Hayes’ mother.
Agents with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources recovered the body of 5-year-old Saylor Hayes, an autistic, nonverbal child, around 9:45 a.m. Monday in the water near the Hagley Landing in the Pawleys Island area.
Sailor Hayes(Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office)
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office charged her parents, John Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Hayes, 31, Tuesday with unlawfully placing a child at risk/willfully abandoning a child.
Geordyn Hayes, John Hayes (Carter County Sheriff’s Office/ Carter County Detention Center)(Carter County Sheriff’s Office/ Carter County Detention Center)
The family is from the Bristol area of Washington County, Virginia, where Geordyn Hayes faced separate charges back in February: one for child cruelty, which was later dismissed, and another, originally filed as child abuse with disregard for life, which was reduced to contributing to the delinquency of a minor and remains pending.
WMBF News obtained a copy of the incident report related to the February case.
According to the arrest warrants, the victim listed in the case is a male minor, meaning the alleged victim was not Saylor Hayes.
The warrant stated Hayes recklessly endangered the child’s life.
The report’s narrative section, which would detail the specific allegations, was redacted.
Arrested in Tennessee
The Carter County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee arrested John Hayes and Geordyn Hayes Tuesday.
Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Heather Pelham told WMBF the pair were not on the run, as the county couldn’t hold them.
The pair appeared in court briefly Thursday morning and waived extradition, agreeing to return to South Carolina to face the charges in Saylor’s death.
Geordyn Hayes (left) John Hayes (right)(WCYB)
Both remain jailed without bond in Tennessee. A judge said during the hearing that South Carolina has 10 days to come get them.
Pelham said they expect to pick them up in the coming days.
A status hearing is set for Sept. 14 in case they haven’t been picked up by then.
Allegations
The charges come against the parents after their daughter, Saylor Hayes, wandered from her family’s rental home Sunday along Old Waccamaw Drive in the Hagley Community.
According to arrest warrants, Saylor Hayes, described as severely nonverbal and autistic with a history of wandering and a known affinity for water, was left unsupervised about 15 meters from a body of water before she went missing.
Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis said Saylor Hayes has been enrolled in the agency’s Project Lifesaver program since June of 2024.
Project Lifesaver helps authorities find people who are at risk of wandering because of cognitive conditions or special needs.
People in the program wear a small transmitter that emits a radio frequency, helping authorities track people who potentially go missing.
Andis said as of Aug. 11, Saylor Hayes’ band was on her ankle and working. It’s unclear exactly when the device was removed, but deputies said it had been taken off before the family left Virginia.
A helicopter equipped with the technology was deployed to help locate Hayes and was part of the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office search.
However, Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said they couldn’t get a ping from Hayes Sunday evening.
Andis says Hayes did not have her transmitter when she went missing after wandering from her family’s rental home along Old Waccamaw Drive in the Hagley Community.
Andis said his deputies checked Hayes’ family’s home in Virginia and found the tracker inside a vehicle on the property.
According to arrest warrants, John Hayes III and Geordyn Hayes encouraged deputies to use Project Lifesaver despite knowing Saylor Hayes did not have her transmitter.
The two also allegedly tried to divert the search efforts away from the nearby water.
A cousin of Geordyn Hayes said she loved being a mom and believes what happened to Saylor was a tragic accident that happened unexpectedly.
A family member said the other two children are safe.
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