The parents of five-year-old Saylor Hayes have been arrested after their nonverbal, autistic daughter was found dead in water near the family's rental home in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Haynes, 31, were taken into custody on Tuesday night and each charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning a child. Authorities allege the couple failed to provide adequate supervision for a child known to be drawn to water and prone to wandering, and that they also misdirected the search effort once she went missing.

According to arrest warrants, Saylor had been fitted with a Project Lifesaver tracking device by authorities in Virginia, where the family lives, but was not wearing it when she disappeared on Sunday, having been left unsupervised roughly 15 metres from a body of water; the device was later found inside a vehicle back at the family's Virginia home. Investigators also claim the parents pointed searchers towards tracking technology despite knowing the device wasn't on her, and steered efforts away from the nearby water where her body was ultimately discovered. The search had involved a helicopter, an underwater drone, a US Coast Guard vessel and hundreds of neighbours, and an autopsy has been scheduled for Friday, with the coroner noting no visible signs of trauma so far.