An 11-month-old boy who authorities said was kidnapped by his father Monday was found buried alive in a dog cage Tuesday, a discovery a South Carolina sheriff called joyous.
Koah Sharpe was found alive in a dog cage wrapped in a towel, Lexington County Sheriff Bryan Koon told reporters.
“That, by the grace of God, probably provided him with enough air to survive – our estimate is that the last 24 hours were under this earth,” he said.
Koah, described as a 20-pound boy with red hair and a pacifier, was taken by his father, Michael Comer, on Monday, the sheriff’s office said.
The box was found buried Tuesday around 1:30 p.m., Koon said, near Comer’s father’s home.
Comer was arrested Monday evening in Lexington County on burglary charges after being found in an outbuilding, but the baby was not with him, the sheriff’s office said.
On Monday, the boy was in the care of Comer’s mother, Comer came and the woman left to run an errand but another caregiver was on the way, Koon said.
“By the time the caregiver arrived, Michael was gone and Koah was gone with him,” Koon said.
Officers went to Comer’s father’s home around noon Monday and found the doors open and the baby’s belongings in the house, but no sign of Comer or the baby, Koon said.
The South Carolina Division of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in the search for the child.
A search team of nearly 100 police, firefighters and other officials searched for the boy, Koon said.
On Tuesday, searchers found a site not far from Comer’s father’s house, about 50 yards into some woods with freshly turned over dirt, Koon said.
“As they surveyed it, laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying,” the sheriff said. “So, as you can imagine, the race was on.”
The baby was taken to the hospital where he was treated Tuesday afternoon, Koon said. The sheriff said he hopes the child makes a full recovery.
“He was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the world of babies, I guess,” Koon said.
The crate, which measured about 2 feet by 2 feet, was buried in a shallow hole, Koon said.
Wrapping the metal crate in a towel probably created an air pocket, he said.
Koon said authorities were working with the prosecutor’s office regarding the charges.
It was not immediately clear whether Comer had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The phone number for Comer’s parents could not immediately be found Tuesday.
Koon said the cool weather may also have improved the baby’s chances of survival.
“A lot of things were going in Koah’s favor, and the good Lord has looked down on him in the last 24 hours,” he said.
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