‘Non-verbal’ lady, 5, discovered lifeless after going lacking carrying only a swimming costume
Saylor Hayes, 5, was last seen wearing a light blue one-piece bathing suit with a tracking device on her ankle when she went missing from her family’s rental home in Pawleys Island, South Carolina
Saylor Hayes, who was non-verbal, sparked a desperate overnight search(Image: Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
A five-year-old girl who was reported missing has been found dead after straying from her family’s holiday home.
Saylor Hayes, who was non-verbal, sparked a desperate overnight search involving hundreds of people after vanishing on Sunday. Her body was retrieved from a waterway near where she was last spotted in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, at around 9.45am on Monday, authorities confirmed.
Agents with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources found the little girl following an intensive search involving helicopters, drones, K-9s and divers. Saylor, who was visiting from Virginia with her family, had wandered off from their rental property in the Hagley Community.
Emergency services scoured the area and sadly found the little girl’s body(Image: Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
She was last seen wearing a light blue one-piece swimsuit and had a pink and white lanyard with a tracking device attached around her ankle.
Crews tried to pick up a signal from the device using Project Lifesaver equipment which is designed to assist in locating vulnerable individuals with cognitive conditions who may be prone to wandering.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division also deployed a helicopter and underwater drone, while the US Coast Guard dispatched a vessel to scour the area. Hundreds of locals joined the massive search effort, checking properties and guarding docks as crews searched nearby waterways throughout the night.
The US Coast Guard dispatched a vessel to scour the area(Image: Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
Some volunteers even took pets for walks around the neighbourhood and brought in an ice cream van to play music in a frantic attempt to lure Saylor towards the search teams, WMBF reported.
Crystal Cooper travelled roughly 80 miles to assist in finding the youngster. She told WMBF: “I just got so emotionally invested in it yesterday [Sunday] because this little girl needed us and my momma heart was in it.
“You know, we felt if we left, we were giving up on her; we were leaving her, in a sense. I guess that’s the parent in us, you know. So we would all be like ‘Oh we gotta go, we gotta go,’ and then we were here for like another hour, we’re standing here still.”
The girl’s cause of death has yet to be confirmed(Image: Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
Local resident Ronald Gagliardi said: “Decided to come in this morning to continue the search, although they found her now, which is, you know, it’s devastating, but it’s at least a positive thing for the family that, you know, she was recovered.”
“It was really sad. I mean, I’m emotional now,” she said. “It’s just – it’s just heartbreaking, like really heartbreaking.”
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: “Hundreds of residents from the area searched their own properties and surrounding areas and guarded local docks. The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office thanks everyone who assisted in the search and sends its deepest condolences to the young girl’s family.”
The cause of Saylor’s death has not yet been disclosed.
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