The body of 5-year-old Sailor Hayes was found Monday morning near Pawleys Island, South Carolina, two days after she wandered away from a rental home in the Hagley Estates community, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office. A massive, multi-agency search involving hundreds of volunteers had been underway since Sunday.
The search for 5-year-old Sailor Hayes has come to a heartbreaking end. Officials with the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday morning that her body was found on the second day of an intensive search effort near Pawleys Island, South Carolina.
How She Was Found
According to the sheriff’s office, agents with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources located Sailor at approximately 9:45 a.m. Monday in the waters near where she was last seen. She was found close to the area she wandered from on Sunday.
Deputies say Sailor left the home her family was renting in the Hagley Estates community on Pawleys Island on Sunday morning, setting off an urgent, regional search that would stretch through the night and into the following day.
A Massive Search Effort
What followed was an extraordinary show of coordination and community support. Search crews worked through the night Sunday, with deputies conducting ground searches while boats patrolled the nearby shoreline.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division assisted for several hours, deploying both a helicopter and an underwater drone. The U.S. Coast Guard joined the effort with a vessel of its own. Additional support came from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, the Horry County Fire Department, and other Georgetown County rescue agencies.
As the search entered its second day Monday morning, authorities expanded their efforts further. Divers from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources assisted with underwater operations, while the Coast Guard returned with additional marine resources. Sheriff’s Office deputies, K9 units, and boat crews continued searching both the neighborhood and surrounding waterways.
A Community That Showed Up
Beyond law enforcement, the search drew an outpouring of support from local residents. Georgetown County Sheriff Weaver expressed his gratitude to more than 200 community members who searched their own properties and monitored nearby docks in hopes of finding Sailor.
Authorities had also asked residents in the area to stay alert and check their properties throughout the search.
Investigation Ongoing
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office has not yet released additional information about the circumstances surrounding Sailor’s disappearance or the exact cause of her death. Authorities have thanked the many agencies and volunteers who took part in the search.
