A 5-year-old girl with autism who loved the water has been found dead in a South Carolina river, with her parents now jailed in another state. Authorities say Virginia residents John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, were arrested late Monday in Carter County, Tenn., after their daughter, Saylor, was found dead near a Pawleys Island boat ramp following a massive search, per NBC News. The child was reported to have wandered away from a rental home on Sunday, per ABC News. The couple are now charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk/willfully abandoning a child.
Affidavits allege they left Saylor, who is nonverbal and known to wander, unsupervised within 50 feet of water, then directed the search effort away from the river, WJHL and NBC report. Police say they had also removed the girl’s Project Lifesaver tracking device before the out-of-state trip—then pushed searchers to rely on that tracker anyway. The device was ultimately found in a vehicle at the family’s home in Virginia. The local Washington County Sheriff’s Office noted it could not be temporarily removed and had been “physically cut.” The couple are being held without bond pending extradition.