Search for nonverbal 5-year-old girl ends; Georgetown County authorities recover body

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) — The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office has ended its search for a 5-year-old girl who wandered off from a Pawleys Island-area rental home after her body was found.

The child’s mother reported that Saylor Hayes wandered off late Sunday morning, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office. Her body was found in the water near where she was last seen. She was recovered around 9:45 a.m. Monday.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Heather Pelham said deputies and neighborhood volunteers spent two days searching, with water and shoreline searches being conducted by Midway Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol. Drones from the sheriff’s office and Georgetown County Fire are continuing the search.

Project Livesaver equipment was deployed on land and in the airspace above Hagley using a Charleston County Sheriff’s Office helicopter Sunday to try and get a signal from Saylor’s device she was wearing.

“Hundreds of residents from the area searched their own properties and surrounding areas and guarded local docks,” Pelham 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.”