A nonverbal 5-year-old was found dead after she wandered off in her bathing suit from her family’s vacation rental home in South Carolina.
The body of Saylor Hayes was found at around 9:45 a.m. Monday after “an intensive search involving hundreds of people and multiple agencies,” The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Agents with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources found Saylor’s body in the water near where she was last seen, police said.
Saylor, who is from Virginia, had wandered off from her rental home in Hagley Estates in Pawleys Island — about 30 miles from Myrtle Beach — on Sunday.
She was wearing a one-piece light blue bathing suit and had a pink and white lanyard around her ankle with a tracking device attached at the time of her disappearance.
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.
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.
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