The mother of a five-year-old autistic girl whose body was found in a pond has been facing child abuse and endangerment-related allegations since last year, records show.

Court documents obtained by the Daily Mail show that Geordyn Hayes, 31, mother of five-year-old Saylor Hayes, was charged in February 2026 with one count of child abuse and disregard for life, along with one count of cruelty and/or injury to a child.

The records indicate the first charge was originally filed as a Class 6 felony before later being reduced to a misdemeanor count of delinquency of a minor.

Hayes was released on bail in connection with that charge and entered a deferred disposition plea. Under that arrangement, if she satisfies court-ordered conditions such as probation or community service, no conviction will be entered and she will not be formally prosecuted. She is scheduled to return to court in August 2027.

The cruelty or injury to a child charge was resolved as Nolle Prosequi, meaning prosecutors opted not to pursue that count. It was dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that it could be brought again later.

The documents do not give details as to the identity of the child she allegedly abused, and Hayes has not been charged with any crimes related to the death of her daughter.

Hayes and her husband John, 70, were left panicking after Saylor wandered from her family’s rental home on Pawleys Island, South Carolina, on Sunday sparking an urgent search around nearby bodies of water. 

Her body was found Monday morning, in a waterway near to where she ran away. 

Saylor’s family said she was autistic and non-verbal. Although she had been previously fitted with a device to track her location because she often ran away, she was not wearing the device when her body was found. 

The band has to be physically cut off for it to be removed, and the band was found in Washington County, Virginia, reports WPDE. 

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 Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation into the tragedy remains ongoing and no arrests have been made. 

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. 

The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina said it contacted law enforcement in Virginia after Saylor went missing, and it was found when they were provided the assigned frequency.

Sheriff Blake Andis said the Project Lifesaver device is a voluntary program, and said his team ‘strongly believe in this program’ to help find missing children.

‘When our personnel searched for Saylor’s assigned frequency, the equipment did exactly what it was designed to do. It detected her transmitter and led our personnel to its location,’ the sheriff said.

‘What makes this situation especially heartbreaking is that Saylor did not have her transmitter with her when she went missing. Had Saylor been wearing her Project 

‘Lifesaver transmitter, we believe the technology could have assisted search teams in locating her much sooner. While no technology can guarantee an outcome, every minute matters when a vulnerable child or adult is missing. We cannot emphasize enough how important it is for enrolled clients to wear their transmitters consistently.’ 

The extensive search also saw multiple agencies deployed, including the use of drones, divers, K-9s, and helicopter crews, as well as search teams of local residents.

A neighbor told WMBF that during the search, they tried to lure the little girl by walking with pets and getting an ice cream truck to play music throughout the neighborhood. 

‘It was really sad, I mean I’m emotional now,’ said Crystal Cooper, one of the volunteers, upon hearing Saylor’s body had been found. 

‘It’s just heartbreaking, like really heartbreaking.’

Georgetown County Coroner Chase Ridgeway said an autopsy has been scheduled for Friday morning, but there were no visible signs of trauma on the body, according to WPDE.

The cause of death and manner of death remain undetermined pending the completion of the autopsy and any other necessary testing.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Heather Pelham said in a statement: ‘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 family is originally from Virginia, and had been on vacation in South Carolina when the tragedy unfolded.

Hayes’s husband, 70, had shared snippets of their life to his TikTok account, branded ‘Senior Dad Life.’

His videos attracted thousands of views as he shared heartfelt moments raising Saylor and her younger brother at his advanced age, including making them a homemade slip and slide and cooking dinners with the toddlers. 

The Daily Mail has contacted Hayes’s attorney Daniel Robinson for comment.  

Pete Hegseth’s former colleagues at Fox News are rallying behind his wife, Jen Hegseth, after a New York Times report cast her as an unusually influential — though unofficial — figure within the Pentagon.

“Pete is blessed to have someone like Jen Hegseth partnering with him,” said Sean Duffy, the former Fox News host who now serves as Transportation Secretary. “She’s really smart and Pete is better because of Jen.”

Duffy made the remarks during an appearance on the Katie Miller Podcast with his wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, in a preview clip of the forthcoming interview obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail.

Katie Miller, who is married to Trump adviser Stephen Miller, dismissed the Times article as a “hit piece” targeting Jen Hegseth. She argued that there is nothing particularly unusual about a public official turning to his spouse for guidance, even when that spouse does not hold a formal Pentagon role.

The Duffys also defended the Hegseths’ close political partnership. Rachel Campos-Duffy said spouses often play a distinctive role in the lives of powerful political figures because they can be among the few trusted confidants who are not necessarily pursuing a political agenda of their own.

‘Every political marriage,’ Campos-Duffy said, has one person in the politician’s life who has ‘no angle except what’s best for that person’ – the wife.

Couple Defends Jen Hegseth

She acknowledged that Jen Hegseth may be more visible at her husband’s place of work compared to other political spouses.

‘Maybe she’s a little more out front inside of the Pentagon,’ Campos-Duffy said.

‘But the best politicians have really smart wives who help them decide and debate and discern what the best moves are.’

Duffy then offered a glimpse into his own marriage, explaining that Rachel does not sit in on every meeting or have access to all of the information he receives as a senior government official.

But, he said, she still plays an important role as someone he trusts to challenge him and offer advice.

‘Sometimes she’ll come and say, hey, you need to do this and this and this,’ Duffy said.

He argued that the same dynamic applies to Pete and Jen Hegseth, praising the defense secretary for having his wife alongside him.

Duffy did acknowledge that there are clear limits to how involved Jen can be in her husband’s work, particularly when it comes to classified information.

‘She probably can’t get into every SCIF with all the knowledge and information that Pete has,’ he said, referring to the secure facilities where highly classified information is discussed.

NYT Report on Jen Hegseth’s Role

Campos-Duffy likewise stressed that Jen was not involved in actual military decision-making.

‘It’s not like she’s in making… you know, bombing decisions in Iran,’ she said.

The fiery defense comes after a New York Times investigation painted a striking picture of Jen’s role alongside her husband and described her as his most influential adviser and his de facto producer at the Pentagon.

According to The Times, interviews with more than 20 current and former administration officials and people close to Jen found that she has taken an unusually hands-on role around the Pentagon, despite initially having no official position there.

She has helped prepare Hegseth for public appearances, joined meetings with journalists, interviewed prospective staff and brainstormed ideas for Defense Department videos, while also attending high-level meetings with foreign officials.

The report highlighted one particularly sensitive meeting with British defense officials after the US temporarily halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

British officials reportedly held back on discussing the risks to their personnel while Jen was present, with a more detailed conversation taking place after she left. The Pentagon has disputed that she was present for classified discussions, saying she was there only for introductions.

Jen’s Reported Media Involvement

 Her involvement has also extended to the Pentagon’s media operation, an area where she has particular experience.

Jen previously worked as an executive producer at Fox News and was involved in Hegseth’s television career before they married in 2019. The Times reported that she played a role in decisions over which reporters received access to her husband and pushed to revoke credentials from journalists she believed had written negatively about him.

After legal concerns were raised about targeting individual reporters, the Pentagon introduced a new media rotation system that removed outlets including The New York Times, NBC News, NPR and Politico from their workspaces and replaced them with organizations including the New York Post, -, One America News and HuffPost.

She has also reportedly helped shape Hegseth’s TV appearances and Pentagon media strategy. Sources said Jen approved, alongside senior Pentagon officials, an upgrade that turned a room near the press briefing area into a makeup and television preparation studio for senior officials and VIPs.

The extent of her involvement has drawn sharp criticism.

John Ullyot, Hegseth’s former Pentagon chief spokesman, told The Times: ‘It’s bonkers that a defense secretary would involve his wife in his sensitive official duties, including sharing details of an impending military operation, and face zero consequences.’

Jen Chairs Military Spouse Commission

He added: ‘Any president deserves better judgment from his national security leaders.’ 

Senator Chris Coons has also questioned her participation in sensitive meetings, saying, ‘This is not normal,’ and arguing that Hegseth could not simply pass classified information to his wife.

Her defenders, however, see her involvement as evidence of her value to Hegseth.

The Pentagon has described her as an ‘accomplished leader’ and ‘devoted military spouse,’ calling her a ‘vital asset’ and ‘true force multiplier.’

Jen has now taken on an official Washington role of her own.

She was recently named chair of the President’s Military Spouse Commission, an unpaid position focused on improving the lives of military families and spouses.

The appointment gives her a formal platform beyond her role as Hegseth’s wife, even as questions continue over the extent of her influence inside the Pentagon.

Hegseth has credited Jen with helping him turn his life around during a period when he was drinking heavily.

In a December 2024 interview with Megyn Kelly, he described Jennifer and Jesus as his ‘two Js,’ saying his wife had ‘changed my life’ and ‘saved me.’

A 20-year-old riding an illegal e-bike has been jailed after a crash that killed a teenage boy who had survived cancer as a young child.

Leon Jones admitted causing death by dangerous driving following the collision with 17-year-old Spencer Crofts on the Wirral Peninsula on November 30, 2024.

The court was told Jones had been riding at up to 33mph in a 20mph area and had been doing a wheelie moments before the fatal crash.

Investigators also found that Jones had taken cannabis before the incident.

Evidence presented in court indicated that both Jones’s e-bike and Spencer’s scrambler bike were being ridden dangerously on Hoole Road in the Woodchurch Estate.

Jones has now been sentenced to five years and four months’ imprisonment following the death of Spencer, who was described as his ‘best friend’.

He has also been disqualified from driving for five years, with the disqualification period starting when he is released from custody, together with an extended re-test.

Jones was separately sentenced for an arson offence committed on June 28 this year involving a mobility scooter belonging to a man whose wife was seriously ill and receiving end-of-life care inside their home.

He was given consecutive sentences, resulting in a total custodial sentence of five years and ten months.

Police said Spencer and Jones were described as ‘best friends’ which ‘made the outcome (of the trial) all the more upsetting’.

Spencer’s family previously opened up about how his sudden death had ‘destroyed’ them.

His aunt Chayne Crofts said he overcame a serious illness as a younger child.

She said: ‘Spencer was one of the most loving, emotional kids you’ll ever meet. He loved his family.

‘He never wanted anyone to be sad. He’d go out of his way to help people. When he was three he had leukaemia. He’s always been everyone’s favourite since then.’

On how Spencer’s death has affected them, including his other aunt Melissa Crofts, she said at the time: ‘It’s destroyed the whole family. We’re a very close family.

‘I’m still in shock. None of us are well. We can’t eat or sleep. We’re heartbroken, it’s so sudden. He was just a baby, he didn’t deserve that.’

Jones, aged 18 at the time of the incident, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after suffering serious multiple injuries. 

Floral tributes were left at the scene for Spencer following the crash, describing him as loyal and genuine ‘with the biggest heart’. 

Detective Sergeant Kurt Timpson, of Merseyside Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Spencer Crofts, who continue to live with the devastating consequences of this incident. 

‘This case demonstrates the very real dangers associated with the use of illegal and unroadworthy vehicles on our roads. 

‘Tragically, the actions of those involved resulted in the loss of a young life. 

‘The defendant and Spencer were described as best friends, making the outcome all the more upsetting. 

‘Merseyside Police will not tolerate the dangerous use of illegal bikes on our roads and in our communities. 

‘We hope this sentence serves as a warning to others about the potentially devastating consequences of such behaviour.’

The force said it is ‘continuing to target offenders and seize illegal bikes’ as part of Operation Gears – its response to the ‘dangerous and anti-social use of illegal bikes’.