An 11-month-old boy in South Carolina was rescued after spending approximately 24 hours buried alive inside a dog crate by his father.
The search concluded on Tuesday afternoon when authorities in Lexington County located the infant, Koah Sharpe, shallowly buried in the woods. Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon stated during a press briefing that the baby was discovered wrapped in a towel inside the crate, making “the most joyful sound you ever heard of a crying baby” as emergency personnel cleared the dirt.
Authorities began searching for Koah and his father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, on Monday afternoon. The infant had been left in Comer’s care at the child’s mother’s home while she ran an errand. According to the sheriff’s department, another caregiver arrived at the house later, but both the father and son were already gone.
Deputies located Comer late Monday night in the Batesburg-Leesville area, but the child was not with him. Comer “didn’t have much to say about the whereabouts of the baby at that time,” Koon said.
“Of course, he didn’t have much to say about the whereabouts of the baby at that time,” Koon told ABC News.
A search party consisting of nearly 100 first responders deployed to locate the infant. On Tuesday afternoon, searchers identified freshly disturbed dirt in the woods approximately 50 yards from Comer’s father’s house.
“As they probed it and laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying,” Koon said.
“As you imagine, the race was on, everybody’s getting down there trying to get him out,” Koon told ABC News.
Based on what investigators learned of the father’s whereabouts, it is believed the baby had been buried for 24 hours, Koon said. The sheriff says he believes the towel helped create an “air pocket.”
“Hopefully at 11 months old, he will not remember much of this as he grows older, just to have a great inspiring story to tell,” Koon told ABC News.
The infant is currently receiving medical care at a hospital, where authorities reported he is “hopefully will make a full recovery.”
Comer was initially taken into custody on charges of burglary and resisting arrest, and authorities are working with the local solicitor’s office to determine additional charges, Koon said.
“We want to thank everybody and just celebrate the fact today that an 11-month-old baby is alive,” Koon told ABC News.
