Updated

Updated · ABC NEWS 4 · Sep 2

911 Audio Captures 5-Year-Old Saylor Hayes Disappearance as Parents Face Child-Risk Charges

Updated

Updated · ABC NEWS 4 · Sep 2

911 Audio Captures 5-Year-Old Saylor Hayes Disappearance as Parents Face Child-Risk Charges

Q: Why was the life-saving tracking device left behind on the very day this vulnerable five-year-old vanished into the water?

There is no public, verified explanation for why Saylor Hayes’ Project Lifesaver transmitter was left behind. What is established is that the device had been removed before the family left Virginia, and when South Carolina searchers could not detect its signal, Virginia deputies traced that signal to the transmitter inside a vehicle at the family’s home. That detail matters because Project Lifesaver officials say the band is meant for continuous wear, including around water, and must be physically cut off rather than simply unclasped. Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis said caregivers are responsible for keeping it secured, and Project Lifesaver’s founder said he does not recommend removing it at any time. Authorities also said Saylor had a history of wandering and was known to be drawn to water, making the absence of the device especially significant. Investigators have since alleged in warrants that both parents knew Saylor was not wearing the transmitter. Warrants also say they encouraged deputies to use Project Lifesaver anyway and tried to steer search efforts away from nearby water. Those allegations form part of the basis for the child-risk and abandonment charges now filed against them, but they remain allegations until tested in court. So the direct answer is that the public record shows the device was intentionally not on Saylor when she disappeared, but investigators have not released a credible reason for why it was removed and left behind on that trip.

3 articles · Updated · ABC NEWS 4 · Sep 2

Newly released 911 audio records Saylor Hayes' father telling dispatchers the nonverbal 5-year-old had vanished from a Pawleys Island-area vacation rental "within a split second."
John Hayes repeatedly warned that Saylor was autistic, did not reliably respond when called, and might have headed toward nearby water, cutting the call short to search the house and shoreline.
Saylor disappeared on Aug. 30 in the Hagley community near Pawleys Island; after a search involving hundreds of volunteers and multiple agencies, her body was recovered from the water near Hagley Landing the next morning.
The recording was released after Georgetown County investigators charged both parents with unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child, alleging they failed to provide proper supervision and safeguards.