“MOMMY’S LITTLE ANGEL” — HOURS BEFORE HER PARENTS WERE ARRESTED, HER MOTHER POSTED THIS TRIBUTE

A 5-year-old nonverbal girl vanished from a South Carolina vacation rental.

The next morning, her body was found in nearby water.

Then investigators uncovered details about the search that raised even more questions.

Her name was Saylor Hayes.

Saylor was a nonverbal autistic child with a known history of wandering and a known attraction to water. She was staying with her parents at a rental property in Pawleys Island when she disappeared on August 30. A massive search was launched involving multiple agencies, drones, divers, helicopters and volunteers.

But there was a problem.

Saylor was enrolled in Project Lifesaver, a program designed to help authorities locate vulnerable people who may wander.

She wasn’t wearing the transmitter.

Investigators later found the device inside a vehicle back in Virginia.

Authorities allege that Saylor’s parents knew she was not wearing it — yet search efforts were directed toward the tracking technology.

Even more troubling, arrest warrants allege that searchers were directed away from a nearby body of water where Saylor’s body was ultimately discovered.

And then came the heartbreaking detail that caught people’s attention.

Just hours before her arrest, Saylor’s mother, Geordyn Nichole Hayes, 31, reportedly shared a tribute to her daughter calling her:

“Mommy’s little angel.” 🪽

Saylor’s father, John Herb Hayes III, 70, and her mother were arrested in Tennessee on September 1.

Both face charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk and willful abandonment.

Authorities say the charges stem from the circumstances surrounding Saylor’s disappearance and death — but the charges themselves do not establish that either parent directly caused her death.

A preliminary autopsy has since indicated that Saylor’s death was consistent with drowning, with no visible trauma reported. A final autopsy report is still pending.

Now investigators are left trying to reconstruct the final hours of a little girl who could not call for help.

Why wasn’t her tracking device with her?

Why were searchers reportedly led toward a device that wasn’t on Saylor?

Why were they allegedly directed away from the nearby water?

And what exactly happened between the moment Saylor disappeared and the moment she was found?

Her mother called her “Mommy’s little angel.”

But behind those heartbreaking words is a case investigators say still demands answers.