Missing 11-Month-old Boy Taken by Father Found Buried Alive After 24 Hours: Sheriff - 6ABC

An 11-month-old South Carolina boy was rescued Tuesday afternoon after spending roughly 24 hours buried alive in a dog crate in the woods, according to local law enforcement.

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon told reporters during a Tuesday press briefing that the infant, Koah Sharpe, was discovered “clinging to life” beneath a shallow layer of dirt about 50 yards into a wooded area near the home of the suspect’s father. Deputies and search parties deployed to the area after tracing the movements of the child’s father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, 6abc Philadelphia reported.

The ordeal began on Monday afternoon when Koah’s mother left the child in Comer’s care at her home while she ran an errand, according to Sheriff Koon. Another caregiver arrived shortly afterward, but both the father and the infant were already gone.

Relatives filed a missing person report later that day, though authorities did not issue an Amber Alert because Comer did not have access to a vehicle, the New York Post reported, noting that the Justice Department requires law enforcement agencies to have specific vehicle and license plate details before broadcasting statewide emergency alerts.

Investigators tracked Comer across multiple locations on Monday as he moved by bumming and calling for rides. Deputies eventually located him late Monday night hiding in an outbuilding in Batesburg-Leesville and arrested him on charges of burglary and resisting arrest, though he initially offered no information regarding the baby’s whereabouts.

By Tuesday afternoon, a search party consisting of nearly 100 first responders from local, state, and federal agencies was combing the woods near Batesburg. Crews noticed an area of freshly disturbed dirt and pine straw.

Missing 11-Month-old Boy Taken by Father Found Buried Alive After 24 Hours: Sheriff - 6ABC — Photo: nypost.com

“As they probed it and laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying,” Koon said.

Rescuers pulled the 11-month-old from a 2-by-2-foot dog crate where he had been wrapped in a towel and buried under soil. The sheriff said that the towel likely preserved the infant’s life by creating a temporary air pocket during the 24 hours he spent underground.

“By the grace of God, [the crate] probably provided enough air for him to survive our estimation of the last 24 hours under that dirt,” Koon told reporters.

Koah was immediately transported to a local hospital for emergency medical care. Officials stated he was clinging to life but expressed optimism that he would make a full recovery.

Comer remains in custody at the Lexington County Detention Center. Local authorities are working alongside the local solicitor’s office to formulate additional criminal charges stemming from the infant’s disappearance and burial.

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While investigators have not yet established a definitive motive for the abduction, Koon acknowledged that investigators are reviewing prior domestic violence incidents involving Comer and the child’s mother. Court records show Comer was placed on probation just one month prior following a guilty plea for aggravated breach of the peace.

“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 said.