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5-Year-Old's Cause of Death Remains Mystery
4 Sep
Summary
- Autopsy reveals no signs of external or internal trauma.
- Pulmonary edema noted; cause of death still unknown.
- Parents charged with child endangerment; body found in river.
The complete autopsy of 5-year-old Saylor Hayes has yielded no definitive answers regarding her death. Initial examinations conducted by the Georgetown County Morgue and later at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston revealed no apparent external or internal trauma.
Medical findings did indicate pulmonary edema, a condition characterized by fluid accumulation in the lungs. However, this finding alone does not establish the cause or manner of death. A comprehensive final autopsy report is anticipated in approximately 8 to 10 weeks, pending the results of additional laboratory testing.
Saylor's parents, John Herb Hayes III and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, have been arrested and are currently in custody. They face charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning a child. Saylor had been reported missing from a rental home before her body was tragically discovered in the Waccamaw River.
