VA 5-Year-Old Found Dead After Disappearing On South Carolina Trip

WASHINGTON COUNTY, VA — A 5-year-old Virginia girl was found dead Monday after disappearing from a rental home in coastal South Carolina, authorities said.

Saylor Hayes, who was from the Bristol area of Washington County, had been staying with her family in the Hagley Estates neighborhood of Pawleys Island when she wandered away from the home late Monday morning, according to authorities.

Agents with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources found Saylor around 9:45 a.m. Monday in the water near the area where she was last seen, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina.

Saylor had been enrolled in the Washington County Sheriff's Office's Project Lifesaver program since June 2024, which helps authorities locate people at risk of wandering. Participants wear transmitters that emit individualized radio frequencies that can be tracked by trained personnel.

After Saylor disappeared, South Carolina authorities contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office for information about her transmitter. The agency provided its assigned frequency, but search crews in South Carolina were unable to detect a signal.

Washington County personnel then checked Saylor's Virginia home, where they detected the frequency and traced it to her transmitter inside a car on the property.

Saylor was not wearing the device when she disappeared in South Carolina, authorities said.

"What makes this situation especially heartbreaking is that Saylor did not have her transmitter with her when she went missing," Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis said. "Had Saylor been wearing her Project Lifesaver transmitter, we believe the technology could have assisted search teams in locating her much sooner."

Washington County authorities said they will not release additional information about how or why Saylor's transmitter was removed.

In South Carolina, the search for Saylor continued through the night with deputies, K9 teams and boats. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division deployed a helicopter and underwater drone, while the U.S. Coast Guard and other state and local agencies provided additional resources. More than 200 residents also searched properties and watched neighborhood docks.

The circumstances surrounding Saylor's death remain under investigation.