Overview
- The child, 5-year-old Saylor Hayes, was found in the Waccamaw River near Hagley Landing on Monday morning after an intensive search that used boats, helicopters, divers, drones and hundreds of volunteers.
- Authorities arrested Saylor’s parents in Tennessee the next day on charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child, and the couple have waived extradition to Georgetown County, South Carolina.
- Law enforcement says Saylor had been enrolled in the Project Lifesaver program but was not wearing the transmitter when she disappeared, and Washington County, Virginia deputies later detected that device inside a vehicle at the family’s Bristol home.
- Arrest affidavits accuse the parents of directing search efforts toward the tracking technology despite knowing the child lacked the device and of directing searchers away from the nearby water; the charges do not allege homicide at this stage.
- An autopsy is scheduled for Sept. 4 to determine cause and manner of death, investigators note prior child-related allegations in Virginia in their probe, and officials say forensic results could change the scope of the case.