‘This is real bad’: 911 call reveals frantic moments after autistic daughter, 5, vanished in South Carolina

A 911 call made moments after a 5-year-old autistic girl disappeared from a South Carolina rental home captures her father reporting her missing and saying he needed to check the nearby water. A massive search ended Monday after authorities found Saylor Hayes’ body in waters near Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Her parents were arrested in Tennessee the following day. The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said John Herb Hayes III, 70, and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, were arrested Tuesday evening in Tennessee and booked into the Carter County Jail on fugitive-from-justice charges. PARENTS ARRESTED AFTER SOUTH CAROLINA SEARCH FOR AUTISTIC DAUGHTER, 5, ENDS IN TRAGEDY NEAR COASTAL GETAWAY The couple is accused of putting their daughter in danger or abandoning her under South Carolina law. John Hayes called 911 just before 11:40 a.m. on Aug. 30 from a rental home on Old Waccamaw Drive in Pawleys Island. POLICE DOG FOLLOWS HIS NOSE TO FIND MISSING AUTISTIC TEEN SCREAMING FOR HELP "I need help," Hayes told the dispatcher. "My little 4-year-old, 5-year-old girl, she’s very autistic, just escaped." Hayes described Saylor as white with brown hair and green eyes and said he thought she was wearing a bluish bathing suit. The dispatcher asked whether Saylor responded when called by name. PARENTS SPEAK OUT AFTER SON WITH AUTISM, 6, WAS SUSPENDED FOR BITING SANDWICH INTO SHAPE OF GUN "She doesn’t talk," Hayes said. "She’s nonverbal." "This is bad," he later said. "This is real bad." FLORIDA COUPLE ALLEGEDLY HELD FOUR CHILDREN IN TRACTOR-TRAILER CAB FOR NEARLY SIX YEARS Hayes said the family had been preparing to go to the beach and that Saylor had been buckled up in a vehicle. He said he went inside to get juice and other items before returning to find her gone. "We had her in the car, buckled in," Hayes said. "And I went inside to get her juice and some more stuff. And to leave, I came back out. She’s gone." GEORGIA TEACHER, FATHER HAILED AS HERO AFTER DYING TO SAVE GIRL FROM MYRTLE BEACH RIP CURRENT As the call continued, Hayes began searching the property and said he needed to check the water. FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X "Yeah, I need to go look at the water," he said. "I’ve got to look around. I’ve got to find her." NEW CALIFORNIA LAW EXPANDS DNA TOOLS FOR MISSING PERSONS INVESTIGATIONS Georgetown County dispatch records show a deputy arrived within minutes. Dispatchers noted that the caller was near water and later recorded that Hayes was searching the house because he could not stay on the phone while looking for Saylor. The records show officials also sought information about a Project Lifesaver tracking device. A caller reported that Saylor had the device, but Washington County, Virginia, had the code needed to use it. Dispatchers contacted Virginia authorities and worked to obtain the equipment and the device’s frequency. SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS Search crews also moved quickly into the water. Dispatch notes say command was established outside the home with personnel watching the water. The response included a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources dive team, drones, a marine unit and a helicopter. LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE That early search activity is notable because arrest warrants allege that John Hayes and Geordyn Hayes directed search efforts toward a tracking device they knew Saylor was not wearing and away from a nearby body of water. The warrants allege the device had been removed before the family left Virginia. SEND US A TIP The dispatch records do not establish what the parents knew about the device or what instructions they may have given searchers. They do show that law enforcement pursued both the tracking technology and the water during the initial response. GOT A TIP? Saylor wandered from a rental home in the Hagley Estates community of Pawleys Island late Sunday morning, the sheriff’s office said. More than 200 residents searched nearby properties and guarded local docks while deputies, firefighters, state agents and other agencies joined the effort. LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST Department of Natural Resources agents found Saylor’s body at about 9:45 a.m. Monday in waters near where she was last seen, the sheriff’s office said. A later entry in the call-for-service record noted that the child had been found and directed DNR personnel to take her to the morgue. GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL The warrants do not state Saylor’s cause or manner of death. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP The sheriff’s office said John and Geordyn Hayes will be returned to South Carolina after extradition proceedings.