By TMZ | Created at 2026-09-04 21:42:44 | Updated at 2026-09-04 22:44:34
1 hour ago
Saylor Hayes Autopsy Results Revealed No Signs of Obvious Trauma
Published September 4, 2026 2:31 PM PDT
The autopsy for 5-year-old Saylor Hayes is complete, and officials did not find any signs of visible trauma, TMZ has learned.
The Georgetown County Morgue in South Carolina conducted the first examination. The officials said Saylor had a strap attached to her ankle that appeared “consistent with a strap of a child’s wrist tether.”
The official told TMZ no “obvious signs of trauma were observed during” the initial exam.
The autopsy was conducted today at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston by a forensic pathologist.
The autopsy revealed Pulmonary edema, which is a buildup of fluid in the lungs. The report also noted there was no external or internal trauma.
The cause and manner of death remain unknown, and a final autopsy report will be ready in 8-10 weeks after additional lab testing comes back.
As TMZ first reported, Saylor's parents, John Herb Hayes III and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, were arrested in connection with her death and are currently behind bars. The two are charged with unlawfully placing a kid at risk/willfully abandoning a child. Saylor went missing from a rental home the family was staying at ... and her body was later discovered in the Waccamaw River.
