Shocking Autopsy Results in Saylor Hayes’ Mystery Death

We're following a big twist in the case of the five-year-old girl who was found dead after her parent said she wandered away on vacation. "I need help my little boy or five-year-old girl. It's a very autistic state." We just learned the cause of death for Sailor Hades. Her parents are being held without bond and facing accusations they misled investigators as they searched for the little girl. We'll talk about what the corner found and what still remains a mystery for investigators. We're on the case presented by Lawncrime. I'm Christy. It's been more than 70 days since the body of five-year-old Sailor Hays was pulled from a river in South Carolina and it still feels as we go through the story that there's something more going on than what's been made public. You remember that this case began when the parents of Sailor called 911, they claimed their daughter ran off while they were about to go to the beach. This was at the end of August while they were on vacation. Then her body was found the next day in a river. Authorities they accused the parents of misleading them as they searched for young Sailor and those parents are in custody and they have been denied bond. The corner in Georgetown County, South Carolina just released the findings of their investigation into Sailor's death and it does answer some questions that have surrounded this case but it also raises a major question that we still don't have an answer to as we try to determine what her parents allegedly did. The accusations are strong enough to keep them both in jail. They have been in jail since their arrest in early September and they have been denied bond. Now I want to remind you how this case started. Sailor Hays, she was just five years old, young girl on vacation with her parents and Paulie's Island South Carolina the last week of August. The family is from Bristol, Virginia. Her parents said that they were staying at a friend's house near the beach. Her parents are John and Jordan Hays. Now the age difference between the two, that is something that comes up every time we talk about this story. So let's just put it out there. John is 71. Jordan is 31. That is a 40 year age gap. Jordan actually would joke about their age difference on social media and she documented a lot of her family life online including what it's like being a parent to a young girl who is nonverbal and on the autism spectrum, young Sailor. Now the post that she made right here, this in a lot of ways is just a sad case of foreshadowing for what investigators say happened while they were on vacation in South Carolina. You can see Jordan here pointing out that her daughter is attracted to water just like her. On Sunday, August 30th, a 911 call came in from John Hays, Sailor's dad saying that his daughter had gone missing. The call is about four and a half minutes long. I'm going to play some parts of it for you here and it came in at 1139 in the morning. I need help. My little four year old five year old girl is very autistic, just great. I'm at. She's took off. I need help. Find her. Please. I'm as possible. I don't see her anywhere. Now that is the voice of John Hays and he claimed that they were about to go to the beach. Sailor was in her bathing suit. He put her in her car seat. Then he goes inside to grab some juice and when he came out, Sailor was gone. Can you say she's five years old? Yes, she's autistic. She's very autistic. Okay, she white-black Hispanic. Brown hair, gray eyes. What's your last wearing, sir? Six. She's wearing her bathing suit. Sort of bluish. Sailor! Sailor, what's your name? Sailor. She's bad. This is real bad. What? Okay. Okay. Okay. Jordan and John Hays have said that their daughter has an attraction to water and they were concerned that that is where she may have gone. Okay, I need to look for, I don't, I can't give you one. I need to go to the water. Yeah, I need to go look at the water. I've got to look around, man. I'm going to leave this respectful, but I've got to find her. Yes, I need, I need, you need to, I can have a better location, okay? Well, okay. Sailor! She doesn't park. Okay, she's non-verbal. That's the problem. Does she come to her name? Oh. Not really, half the time. Not really. I don't think she should go out of here. We were getting ready to go to the beach, so we had her in the car, buckled in and I went inside to get her juice and some more stuff and to leave. I think back out she's gone. I'm going to split jacket. Now the house was located not right on the beach, but there was a river right behind it that made what it appears to be easy access to the water for sailor haze. Investigators launched a search on land and in water. They even searched with drones from the air and they couldn't find her until the next day when they say they found sailor's body in the river right near the home where they were staying. This story, no matter what happens, is obviously a tragedy. But the story became more than just an accident according to investigators the next day because they took sailor's parents into custody. The couple was arrested on charges of a lawfully placing a child at risk, slash woefully abandoning a child. Authorities arrested the couple in Tennessee. They weren't far from where they live in Bristol, Virginia. It appears they were headed back in that direction just about an hour south of Bristol, which is right along the Tennessee border. The couple was then brought back to South Carolina to face the charges. Now we have the arrest warrants that accused this couple of allegedly misleading investigators as they looked for sailor. And another key part to this story is the tracker that sailor was supposed to be wearing. It is a tracker that is through a nonprofit called project life saver. And this is not just an Apple air tag or life 360, something where you just look on your phone and you can see where an individual is. It is far more, let's just say official than that, regulated, far more regulated than that too. Sailor was fitted for this device according to authorities in 2024 where she lived in Virginia. And this nonprofit works with local law enforcement agencies and it is designed for people who are at risk of running away. So you might think of someone who is elderly and they have dementia or someone like sailor Hayes, a young girl who is on the autism spectrum. Investigators then if there is an issue can be called in to use a specific device that picks up the unique frequency of the type of tracker that sailor should have been wearing to try and track them down. John and Jordan allegedly told investigators that sailor had this device on and we can see in images. Just like that TikTok where sailor's mom talks about how her daughter has an affinity for water, we can see that the device appears to be around her ankle. The problem is even though her parents were telling investigators in South Carolina she had that device on, authorities found the device back in Bristol, Virginia. It was not on sailor at the time that she died. Deputies also accused this couple of pointing them away from where they would find sailor's body. Now to this point, I mean those accusations are very concerning to say the least, but authorities haven't said why they believe John and Jordan were pointing them away from where they would find sailor's body and autopsy found that sailor had evidence of pulmonary edema at the time of her death, which is a term for a buildup of fluid in her lungs restricting airflow. But it wasn't until now that we learned what authorities say is her cause of death and we'll talk about that here in just a moment. A major point of concern for authorities as they investigated the Hayes family were the allegations that this couple was already facing at the time that sailor died. Jordan is currently still charged in a child abuse case from earlier this year. Online court records out of Virginia show that sailor's mom was arrested on February 17th and there's an entry online that lists a charge of cruelty/injured child labor and the other entry says abuse of a child disregarding life. Both their felonies and both entries are still active. WCYBTV near Bristol reports that these charges are in connection with an incident involving a juvenile male. So not sailor and one of the entries shows a final preliminary hearing was held in that case on August 14th and the other list the status as dispositional so it is possible that part of the case has been settled now as far as John Hayes and whether he was involved in any criminal cases it shows that he was arrested in July of 2023 on a child abuse charge for disregarding life and we don't know the details of that case yet but it does appear that the charge was dismissed in February of this year so this couple's arrested in Tennessee about an hour south of Bristol following their daughter's body being found they were brought back to Georgetown County South Carolina for a bond hearing and I want to play some of that bond hearing for you Jordan was incredibly emotional and it's also interesting that at that time only John had an attorney not Jordan and his representation argued that the couple is only accused of taking their eyes off of sailor and nothing more and they deserved a bond. I see Mr. Axe Roth stand up behind you is there anything that he wishes to say out loud give all the time he needs? Your Honor I just confirmed Mr. McCoy stand up, we wanted to get out I was going to have support for PR on the court probably has a charge record so if you know all coming up they wave the extra edition they're maintained there in a sense like we're all just proceeding we will represent John on this like I'm tired Mr. Has with the chief public from the last night and all of them we would come down here and do and represent John I don't want to make a conflict between the parties there might be no conflict between the parties but at this point we'll look out for legal purposes representing John I would ask the court for the PR block so let them get out they're people they don't have much means and they want to stand up this was an accident you know the way the media was portrayed with the way the newspapers were portrayed or the radio on this and what it was it was an accident and we went before to understand that we came down here for John this morning because they have a funeral appointment come up and and they want to get back to their family I would think the court has John's criminal record in front of them we don't have it the court is in John we don't think they're danger we don't think he's a danger we would ask the court to actually release them I would ask our PR bond the court seems maybe a reasonable surety bond but we will represent him full we will represent John he's the third full of you on this bill okay very good um well respectfully there's no way on the surfe that I'm going to grant a PR bond in this tax run that that's not going to happen on my watch um all right due to the egregious nature of these charges in the past criminal history which I would advise the attorneys to look into like I have this morning your bond is denied for both individuals have a better day thank you you hear the judge there and he says quote there is no way on this earth that I am going to grant a PR bond very serious words from that judge and he denied the bond for Jordan and John and they have been in the Georgetown County jail ever since the next hearing for them is slated for later this month on November 19th now since that bond hearing Jordan has reportedly gotten an attorney and that attorney has allegedly put in a request for a new bond hearing for her and that attorney claims that she cannot prepare for her defense in this case while she's in jail that's according to a local outlet post and courier now let's talk about sailor and what we learned about her cause of death the Georgetown County coroner says that she died of asphyxia due to drowning but that's not all because that does seem to match up with her body being found in the river and liquid being in her lungs the coroner adds quote child neglect as a contributing factor now along with that there is a big unknown according to the corner quote this classification reflects the inability to conclusively determine whether sailor's death was accidental or the result of a homicidal act and that certainly leaves the door open on there being much more to this story now before I talk about the law enforcement side of this where things could go from here I also want to talk about what happened to John Hayes apparently since he has been in the Georgetown County jail because he picked up another charge behind bars authorities have charged him with simple assault they alleged on September 16th which is more than a week after that bond hearing john allegedly got into an altercation with another inmate at the Georgetown County detention center wjl says the report about this fight claims that john and another inmate accused each other of being the aggressor there are no visible signs of injury after the fight but because they couldn't determine who attacked who first both john and this other inmate were charged with simple assault he was given a bond of a little over a thousand dollars on that assault charge but of course he's still in jail because he has been denied bond in the case involving the death of his daughter join us now to talk about this once again retired NYPD detective David Starnie we've gone over this case a couple times like each time there's a development what do you make of what the coroner is saying they found in this investigation well thank you for having me this is one of those cases that you know when we talk about manners of death you have several you have suicide homicide accidental and in this case it's undetermined because what the investigators have and a lot of times the matter of death is based on what the investigators the detectives give or information to the to the car and it's a medical examiner to determine that if there's something on the body that would consider itself to be out of the ordinary where wouldn't be routine sort of someone who falls something like that like an accident this is one of those cases that right now they've determined they've considered undetermined because the death is rule it seems to be a drown that's what it's coming down to is a drown with some child neglect they don't have enough right now to determine if this is an accident or a homicide that's why they they leave is undetermined and it's going to be based upon the investigators on this case whether or not they could determine if this was in fact an intentional intentional death a homicide because that was that was interesting because they previously not only did they find there was fluid in her lungs they said there was no like visible signs of trauma and it doesn't seem like from what the corner saying there was like a like trauma was discovered you know something intentional in the you know eight to ten weeks it's been since since her body was found on the part where it's I mean how common is it for a corner to write that and I know each day is different you work in New York but for a corner to say quote this classification reflects the inability to conclusively determine whether sailors death was accidental or the result of a homicidal act like how common is it to see that on on an investigation like this from a corner that particular uncommon but because it's really based on the investigator this is why as what they have now what the the corner has now is the information of the investigators apparently based on the nine one call that she fled the location she left the famed she left the parents and they were in a search they find her in the water they don't see anything different that would determine that they were that she was placed in the water or there's an injury sustained by the body to keep that saying it's off make it a homicide that's why you have what you have now and you know you know what you know and then you you don't know you're going to figure out and right now you we don't know and that's the thing and that's why they don't determine as a detective and investigator we have to figure that out and sometimes we do sometimes we don't and that'll be based on what they have right now I you know there are things here that are movie parts that are unusual like they're still in they're still on bond that's one thing you expect to be up because you don't have anything now under term and I'm going to have presumed that the the attorney is going to go and say listen there's nothing here it's not really it's not a homicide can you release my my clients because they're still in but there may be things in the works outside or underneath where people don't really see which is digital forensic evidence trying to determine is there anything that leads that if we don't have anything physical is there anything to show a conspiracy or some sort of idea that there was an attempt to end her life physically based on the current report no will be something that investigators find out through their extensive research of the the defendants in this case that's the only way it's going to go this right now because the the story that John Hayes gives on the 911 call is that he has sailor in the car she's in her car seat she's in her swimsuit and then that matches up with when they found her body and that he says he goes into the house and he takes his eyes off of of sailor he's in the house to get some juice and then he comes out she's gone and then of course her body's found and the river was like right behind apparently where they were saying and so you have this line from the corner that talks about like child neglect playing a factor does that match up with that you know would they accuse him of neglect because you know here's your daughter she's on the spectrum she's on verbal obviously special needs and you go inside when she's in the car seat and as a five year old you can have the ability to like unbuckle yourself like what is the bar and in a case like this for a corner to say and I know we're speculating like what neglect would be well that's maybe some physical maybe some things about her weight uh any any physical parts about her that could show signs and neglect but nothing nothing tying her to her death so that may be one aspect to it and it comes back to the issue was you know the tracking device she had. That was, that's a big factor in this. But what the M.E. only has is the physical. That's where the investigator is going to try to figure out, you know, this tracking device you don't get off with just removing it. It's not like a, a watch rig and just pull the watch off and take it, take it that way. This has to be physically removed. And it was placed on by, by police. So the only way to remove it is by somebody doing it. Does, does, does this child at the wherewithal? And I don't think so to be able to remove that by herself to cut it. This is where the, I think the, the issue is, I think the judge looks at this and that's why investigators have to determine what, what was that whole thing? You said she had it, but she didn't have it. Not only was she didn't have it, it wasn't even the vicinity of where she was. So why is that? And they have an answer yet. And that's the reason why I think they're keeping her in till the investigators get that answer. Because right now that's a question I have, and I haven't seen an answer yet. Because for just, you know, people who haven't followed this case, like, to, to my understanding, like project life saver and from like what I've seen about it, it's very similar to, like if a suspect is out on GPS monitoring, like this is not, like, you know, your cell phone that tracks you, this is like law enforcement puts it on you. And then if there's an issue and say it's like an older person with dementia, you know, you call in law enforcement, and then there's a specific frequency that they try to pick up on. It's not like just looking at a phone and seeing someone on a map. So it is really just from at least what I know, like bizarre at this point that they would tell law enforcement that she had it on when it was back in Virginia. And it doesn't seem like something you would forget was not on someone and would take it off because this is something that like law enforcement, like this company or nonprofit, like works with law enforcement to put on people. It's not something like a watch you're taking off and on every day. Yeah, and I think that's the problem. Why the why? Why say that? You know, people get, you know, get very complacent. They think it's on their item is on them the whole time like a wedding ring or a watch. And you forget about it. But this is your child who has is nonverbal autistic. Would you not check it to make sure it's on her? They would think they could use this. And again, it's one of the defense side. They didn't realize it. They, you know, it's a routine thing. They didn't think about it then. But the question comes back to why was it removed? Why'd you say it was on her when it was somewhere when it was at a state in a vehicle cut? And that's the answer. No one's gotten to yet. I don't know if the investigators will get that. Maybe they will. I don't know. And that's going to be the big question because that determines whether or not there was some sort of neglected a sense. There was negligence, criminal negligence to this level because if you're removing that device, that's the only device that you have that could track her because she doesn't speak. She's a child and they've run. I mean, that's the whole thing. That's why was this planned. And that's a lot of speculation. But that's what we have to answer as far as it was as a planned reason plan action done by that because it was put on her put on by police. They went away with the vehicle. The other car at a state had it. Wouldn't you notice that somewhere along the line between in that trip that she didn't have it on? And I don't know if they have the answer to that. I don't know if the attorney's the attorney is going to allow that answer that question to be answered. Well, because the other thing too, I think about is how did law enforcement eventually say we should probably go check their property in Bristol, Virginia to see if the project lifesaver is there because they said according to law enforcement, they tell them she's wearing this tracker. They're searching the area where she would have gone and maybe there was just some point of like, there's just no possible way that she is where you're saying that she she went into because we would find the the tracker by this point. And then eventually they decide to send deputies up in Bristol, Virginia to their house. And then that's where they find this tracker. The other part of the allegations that are very concerning is they say that law enforcement purposely misled mis they were purposely misled by these parents, you know, as far as you know the area where sailors body was found there is an allegation that they were like pointing law enforcement away. And we still at this point don't know like what was the interaction that made law enforcement say we think you're lying to us. But I also just think like for for you and you've been in these situations where you're making a determination of like whether we charge these individuals like I think of this family. And if you are going to take your shot as law enforcement and you're going to arrest a couple who added like an autistic daughter run into the water and like they're dealing with that heartbreak like you better have something you know you can't really just go off a hunch of hey I think that they were possibly misleading us like there has to be right like some evidence out there that is something a prosecutor can point to a judge when they get to that point and say look this is proof that this couple was pointing us away from where we would find their daughter. Well that would be probably with the control of the prosecutor's office. The following false report in New York City or New York state particularly is not easy it's only a misdemeanor. So the issue is and that comes back down to it. If they're saying it's a life saver device that was on her and then they recover the body without it that could be the misleading. If they're saying he went south and I went east can you make that criminal and that's the issue that we come into it because they did not know what they know and I hate to say it's unfortunately all the autistic children tend to go to it's a water thing there is a fascination and attract the water. So did they say no we saw her go this way and they do that way but that's where I think the prosecutor's office either was conferred with on this because to put this out and arrest family members of the death of their child does not go well because if it comes out to be that is is an absolute mistake you're going to have a lot of evidence in their possible lawsuit then you have a civil litigation so this I'm going to hope to say and believe I believe this that they confer with the prosecutor's office determine if we can arrest her or not because if this goes the way it may go and this is an accident and you can classify them I guarantee you're going to have a civil lawsuit civil lawsuit on this case. Well because and it's it's the other part too and I know like Bond and we've talked about bond in different cases before I mean there's some states you could be charged with murder and be able to post bond and be out there's plenty examples of that and I know it gets political as far as like how certain states handle bond but just looking at the bond hearing in this case this judge after and I'm not a lawyer but it seems like as far as like what the autopsy shows the evidence them saying it was an accident you listen to the 9-1-1 call like it seems like publicly like yeah like I could see someone saying like this was an accident they took their eyes off the child and she went in the judge was so matter of fact in saying like I cannot on any way on this earth offer bond in this case or grant bond in this case just what does that tell you about maybe even if it's not being presented in court like is that something the judge has been given information by prosecutors behind the scenes or something along the ways to make it seem like I just can't take this argument that it was an accident and allow them to be out because it has been 70 days since her body was found and this couple is in the county jail and and we really still don't know exactly what it was by law enforcement believes that they were misled yeah well again when you come about the criminal justice system you have discretion police have discretion the prosecutor's discretion judge of discretion the judge I do not know this judge this judge may have a buy or a feeling toward dealing with kids he has seen these things well back at other judges faces this may be where he thinks this is the best best course of action on that part the prosecutor sometimes we talk about the court the courts the prosecutor may ask for low bail the judge may remand them or keep them in or the high bail request by a prosecutor low bail to no bail that's the part of the criminal justice system that is within the controls of the prosecutor the police and the judges within the law so that's the thing is the judge within a law to keep them in without bond yes is this is the judge using his discretion apparently so because that's the feeling the judge has it I do not believe I could let these people out because is there a chance they would run way flee this could be in the back of the judge's head I don't know the judge I don't you know each judge is different each judge has a predilection of by sometimes a bias whether we like it or not toward the people of the defendants or toward the state the prosecution so we don't know in this case why the judge decided but it's within their discretion to do so yeah and and we'll see what happens next in this case you know certainly development with what the corner is now saying they are expected and court later this month so we'll see what happens retired NYPD detective David Sarni always great to have you on law and crime thanks for doing this thank you much they said that we'll do it for on the case presented by law and crime I'm Chris Stewart see you next time