The parents of Saylor Hayes, a nonverbal 5-year-old girl found dead after disappearing in South Carolina over the weekend, made their first court appearance Thursday.
Their appearance came as newly surfaced legal documents revealed details about previous child abuse charges involving the couple.
Saylor’s body was discovered Monday morning following an overnight search involving deputies, K-9 teams, boats, Georgetown County Emergency Management and hundreds of local residents.
John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, were arrested Tuesday night in connection with their daughter’s disappearance and death.
Both have been charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk or willfully abandoning a child, and authorities have accused them of misleading search efforts.
Authorities allege in arrest warrants that the parents placed Saylor ‘at an unreasonable risk of harm, affecting her life and safety by failing to provide supervision and safeguards appropriate for a nonverbal, autistic five-year-old child with known affinity to water and [a] history of elopement.’
‘After the child was discovered missing, the defendant encouraged search efforts to be directed toward the use of tracking technology, despite knowing the child was not wearing the monitoring device,’ authorities also claim.
John and Geordyn appeared in a Tennessee courtroom for the first time on Thursday, where they waived their rights to attorney and waived extradition to South Carolina, meaning they have agreed to return to the state for prosecution.
Saylor Hayes, a nonverbal five-year-old girl, was found dead after she went missing in South Carolina over the weekend
Her parents, John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Haynes, 31, were taken into custody Tuesday night in connection with their daughter’s disappearance and death
The parents appeared in a Tennessee court on Thursday for the first time since they were arrested. The mom is pictured
The father is pictured in court. Both parents waived their rights to attorney and waived extradition to South Carolina
The two will remain in a Tennessee jail while waiting for South Carolina authorities to pick them up. State officials have 10 days to do so.
A status hearing has been scheduled for September 14 in Tennessee if the parents are not picked up in time.
According to court documents reviewed by the Daily Mail, Saylor’s mother was charged with one count of abuse of a child and disregard to life, and one count of cruelty and/or injury to a child, in February 2026.
Documents show the first charge was initially classified as a Class 6 Felony, but was amended to a misdemeanor charge of delinquency of a minor.
She was bailed on that charge and entered a deferred disposition plea, which means that providing certain conditions are met, such as probation or community service, the court will not enter a conviction and she will not be formally prosecuted. Hayes is next due in court in August 2027.
The charge of cruelty or injury of a child was disposed Nolle Prosequi, meaning authorities chose not to prosecute that specific charge, and it was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it can be resubmitted at a later date.
The documents do not give details as to the identity of the child she allegedly abused.
Additional court documents obtained by WJHL also revealed that in August 2023, the parents were charged with two counts of abuse and neglect of children after two of their kids tested positive for methadone and methamphetamine.
The parents’ arrest warrants claim that Saylor was previously fitted with a device called Project Lifesaver but did not have the device attached to her body when she was found
Court documents revealed that two of the Hayes family’s children tested positive for methadone and methamphetamine
The documents stated that a girl tested positive for methadone, while a boy tested positive for both methadone and methamphetamine.
The Department of Social Services (DSS) conducted a drug screen on the parents, and Geordyn tested positive for methamphetamine and methadone, while John tested positive for methadone, the documents claim.
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The parents had methadone clinic cards, but when authorities asked how it was that their children became exposed to the drugs, Geordyn and John allegedly replied that they did not know, according to the court documents.
The parents’ recent arrest warrants claim that Saylor was previously fitted with a device called Project Lifesaver, which is designed to track the locations of vulnerable people with conditions that make them prone to wandering or ‘eloping.’
However, she did not have the tracker attached to her body when she was found, and the sheriff’s office said the tracker band was found in Washington County, Virginia, where her family is from, more than 300 miles away.
In footage taken by GAB News just hours before Saylor’s body was found, Hayes appeared frantic as she speculated what could have happened to her daughter.
‘She would go in somebody’s house, you know, she loves food, she’s always going for the refrigerator,’ the mother told onlookers.
As a bystander said they had been searching for her daughter, Hayes continued: ‘Yeah, we looked on the camera, we didn’t see her… we didn’t see her on the camera.’
She said she and her husband were ‘just praying that she’s somewhere, and she fell asleep maybe.’
The family is originally from Virginia, and had been on vacation in South Carolina when the tragedy unfolded
In footage taken by GAB News just hours before Saylor’s body was found, Hayes appeared frantic as she speculated what could have happened to her daughter
Saylor’s disappearance spurred a massive search effort consisting of a helicopter, an underwater drone, a boat and hundreds of volunteers
In a statement announcing the charges against Saylor’s parents Tuesday night, Georgetown Sheriff Carter Weaver called the girl’s death ‘a heartbreaking tragedy that has deeply affected our community and everyone who worked so hard to find her.’
Saylor’s disappearance spurred a massive search effort, with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division sending out a helicopter and an underwater drone as the US Coast Guard sent a vessel to help with the search.
Hundreds of neighbors also jumped in to search their own properties and the surrounding areas, with one neighbor telling WMBF how they tried to lure the little girl by walking with pets and getting an ice cream truck to play music throughout the neighborhood.
The young girl’s body was later found in the water behind the rental property.
An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday morning, but there were no visible signs of trauma to the body, Georgetown County Coroner Chase Ridgeway told WPDE.
The cause of death and manner of death remain undetermined pending the completion of the autopsy and any other necessary testing.
But after authorities conducted an ‘extensive investigation,’ they decided to charge Saylor’s parents, Weaver said.
‘Parents and caregivers have a fundamental responsibility to protect children who cannot protect themselves,’ he said.
‘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 sheriff then went on to call the girl ‘a vulnerable five-year-old child who depended upon the adults responsible for her care and protection.
‘She deserved to be safe. She deserved to be protected,’ Weaver declared.
‘Nothing we do can bring Saylor back,’ the sheriff noted.
‘What we can do is pursue the truth, seek accountability through our justice system and continue doing everything within our authority to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.’