Tennessee Deputies Arrest 2 Parents in 5-Year-Old Saylor Hayes Case, Hold Them Without Bond
Updated
Updated · WMBF · Sep 2
Tennessee Deputies Arrest 2 Parents in 5-Year-Old Saylor Hayes Case, Hold Them Without Bond
3 articles · Updated · WMBF · Sep 2
Summary
Carter County deputies arrested John Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Hayes, 31, after spotting their black SUV at a Tennessee home; both are jailed without bond on fugitive-from-justice charges pending a 9 a.m. Thursday extradition hearing.
South Carolina had charged the pair with unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning 5-year-old Saylor Hayes, a severely nonverbal autistic child later found dead in water near Hagley Landing.
Arrest warrants say Saylor was left unsupervised about 15 meters from water, and her parents then urged deputies to use Project Lifesaver and allegedly steered searchers away from the water despite knowing her tracker was not on her.
Washington County deputies said Saylor's transmitter had been working on Aug. 11, but investigators later found it inside a vehicle at the family's Virginia property; local officials said the band must be physically cut off.
Georgetown County's coroner reported no visible trauma, and an autopsy is set for Friday as authorities await a cause and manner of death.