Authorities in Tennessee have arrested the parents of a nonverbal, autistic girl who was found dead in the water near their vacation home in South Carolina. Police accuse them of leaving the girl alone near the body of water where she was eventually found.
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John Hayes, 70, and Geordyn Hayes, 31, both of Bristol, Virginia, were arrested in Carter County, Tennessee, on Tuesday night after authorities there got a tip they would be traveling to the area.
They were wanted on outstanding felony warrants from South Carolina that charged them in connection with the death of their daughter, 5-year-old Saylor Hayes, the sheriff’s office said.
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Their daughter was found Aug. 31 in the waters of Pawleys Island, near the vacation home from where she had wandered. The search for Saylor involved several agencies and hundreds of people.
According to the arrest warrants, which were posted to the sheriff’s department social media account, the nonverbal autistic girl had been equipped with a monitoring device, but it was left behind in Virginia.
The girl, with a “known affinity to water,” was left unsupervised within 15 meters of the water. The parents also led searchers away from the water once the girl went missing, the warrant said.
Authorities charged John and Geordyn Hayes with unlawfully placing a child at risk/willfully abandoning a child for their actions in the disappearance and death of Saylor.
“Parents and caregivers have a fundamental responsibility to protect children who cannot protect themselves,” said Georgetown County, South Carolina, Sheriff Carter Weaver. “When the evidence establishes probable cause to believe that a child has been unlawfully placed in circumstances that endanger that child’s safety, law enforcement has a responsibility to act.”
The couple will be extradited from Tennessee back to South Carolina.
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