The Death of Saylor Hayes: a Parent's Worst Nightmare or the Work of Nightmare Parents?

What really happened to Saylor Hayes? The five-year-old was nonverbal, autistic, and known to wander toward water — which is why her family says she wore a $35 tracking device designed to help find her if she ever got away. But when Saylor vanished from a Pawleys Island, South Carolina vacation rental on August 30th 2026, investigators say that the device wasn't on her. It was later found hundreds of miles away, back at the family's property in Virginia. Tragically, Saylor Hayes' body was found in the water near that same property on August 31st. An autopsy revealed pulmonary edema, a condition caused by a build up of fluid in the lungs. In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, investigative reporter Anne Emerson speaks with 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson, whose office will handle the case against Saylor's parents, John and Geordyn Hayes, charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning a child. They have not been charged with her death, and are currently being held without bond. In his first interview since their arrest, Richardson discusses why the missing tracker could become one of the most damaging pieces of evidence against the defense and explains the "reasonableness" legal standard prosecutors will have to prove the parents failed to meet. He also explains why, based on what's known so far, prosecutors aren't pursuing homicide charges, and what would need to change for that to happen. Subscribe to Criminally Obsessed for continuing coverage of the Saylor Hayes case, true crime investigations, and exclusive interviews that go beyond the headlines.

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Episoder(134)

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