Autopsy links Saylor Hayes death to drowning as parents face child-endangerment charges

An autopsy released Friday says 5-year-old Saylor Hayes died from pulmonary edema consistent with drowning, with no visible trauma; she wandered from a Virginia vacation rental and was found Aug. 31 in a waterway near Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Her parents, John Hayes III and Geordyn Hayes, were arrested in Tennessee and extradited to Georgetown County on charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning a child in connection with her death; the couple had prior child-abuse charges in Virginia that were resolved. The final autopsy results are expected in 8–10 weeks, and it remains unclear who removed a monitoring device intended to track Saylor’s movements.