THE AUTOPSY IS IN — BUT IT DIDN’T ANSWER THE BIGGEST QUESTION IN THE SAYLOR HAYES CASE

Everyone was waiting for one thing:

What really happened to 5-year-old Saylor Hayes?

After days of searching, arrests and disturbing allegations surrounding the circumstances of her disappearance, preliminary autopsy findings have now been released.

And one detail immediately stood out.

FLUID WAS FOUND IN HER LUNGS

According to the Georgetown County coroner, the preliminary autopsy found pulmonary edema — a buildup of fluid in the lungs.

That finding is consistent with drowning.

But there is a crucial distinction.

The coroner has not yet officially determined Saylor’s cause or manner of death.

No visible external or internal trauma was found during the examination, and additional laboratory testing is still pending. The final autopsy report is expected to take approximately 8 to 10 weeks.

So the autopsy did not suddenly prove a completely different cause of death.

Instead, it left investigators with another major question:

How did Saylor end up in the water?

THE TRACKER DETAIL IS STILL AT THE CENTER

Saylor was enrolled in Project Lifesaver because of her history of wandering.

But when she disappeared from the family’s vacation rental on August 30, investigators say the tracking transmitter assigned to her was not with her.

Authorities later found the transmitter inside a vehicle at the family’s home in Virginia.

Investigators allege her parents knew she was not wearing the device when she disappeared and that they nevertheless requested search assistance using the tracking system.

That detail has become one of the most closely examined parts of the investigation.

THEN CAME THE WATER

Saylor’s body was recovered the following morning from water near Hagley Landing.

Her parents, John Herb Hayes III and Geordyn Nichole Hayes, were subsequently arrested and charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk and willfully abandoning a child.

Those charges are allegations, and the parents have not been convicted.

At a later bond hearing, a magistrate denied bond to both parents.

But even now, investigators still have to establish exactly what happened during the critical period between Saylor disappearing and being found in the water.

THE DETAIL THAT CHANGES THE STORY?

It may not be a shocking contradiction in the autopsy at all.

It may be the fact that the preliminary examination is consistent with drowning — while the official cause and manner of death remain unresolved.

That means the investigation is far from over.

The final toxicology and forensic findings could provide answers that the preliminary examination could not.

And until those results arrive, one question continues to hang over the entire case:

How did a vulnerable 5-year-old girl end up alone in the water — and why wasn’t the tracking device she was supposed to be wearing with her?

Those are the questions investigators are still trying to answer.