A 5-year-old nonverbal girl was found dead in South Carolina after wandering away from her family’s vacation rental while wearing a bathing suit, authorities said.
The body of Saylor Hayes was discovered around 9:45 a.m. Monday following “an intensive search involving hundreds of people and multiple agencies,” according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office.
Agents from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources located Saylor’s body in the water near the area where she had last been seen, police said.
Saylor, a Virginia resident, went missing Sunday after leaving her rental home in Hagley Estates on Pawleys Island, a coastal community roughly 30 miles from Myrtle Beach.
At the time she disappeared, Saylor was wearing a light blue one-piece bathing suit and had a pink-and-white lanyard around her ankle with a tracking device attached.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office deployed Project Lifesaver equipment on land and by helicopter for hours — trying to pick up a signal from the tracking device Saylor was wearing, police said.
Project Lifesaver is an emergency search-and-rescue program designed to rapidly locate individuals with cognitive conditions, including Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism or Down syndrome, who are prone to wandering or elopement.
Other agencies deployed drones, K-9 units and divers, while crews scanned the waterways near where Saylor went missing.
The search also drew volunteers from across the region.
Crystal Cooper said she traveled about 80 miles from her home in Peedee, SC, to help with the search, WMBF News reported.
“I just got so emotionally invested in it yesterday [Sunday] because this little girl needed us and my momma heart was in it,” Cooper said.
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A neighbor who joined the search said volunteers tried everything to lure Saylor out — including walking pets through the area and bringing in an ice cream truck to play music throughout the neighborhood, WMBF News reported.
Another resident, Ronald Gagliardi, said he and others stayed out past 2 a.m. searching for the missing 5-year-old.
Gagliardi told the outlet he was heartbroken to hear the news Monday morning that Saylor’s body had been found.
“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,” he said.
“It was really sad. I mean, I’m emotional now,” Cooper also told the outlet of the news.
“It’s just — it’s just heartbreaking, like really heartbreaking.”
Authorities have not yet released a cause of death.
Following the devastating discovery, officials praised the hundreds of volunteers and multiple agencies who gave everything they had to find Saylor.
“Hundreds of residents from the area searched their own properties and surrounding areas and guarded local docks,” the sheriff’s office said.
“The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office thanks everyone who assisted in the search and sends its deepest condolences to the young girl’s family.”
As the community grieves, flowers have been left near the boat landing where search crews had been stationed, WMBF News reported.