A baby was found alive in South Carolina after apparently being buried in a dog crate for about 24 hours, authorities said Tuesday.
Eleven-month-old Koah Sharp had been missing since Monday, when he was taken by his father, Michael Comer, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. Comer traveled to multiple locations around Lexington County, the sheriff said, citing investigators. Comer was arrested Monday night and is charged with attempted murder, unlawful conduct toward a child, custodial interference and burglary, according to arrest warrants.
Sharp was later located inside the crate, which was wrapped in a towel, about 50 yards from the home of his grandfather, who is Comer’s father, Sheriff Bryan Koon said at a news conference. Search parties, involving almost 100 law enforcement and public safety officers, had been scouring the area for the infant since he went missing. One group spotted what Koon described as a patch of “freshly disturbed dirt” in a wooded area, Koon said.
As officers started digging, they could hear Sharp cry, Koon said.
So, as you imagine, the race
“So, as you imagine, the race was on. Everybody’s getting down there, trying to get him out,” the sheriff said.
The officers discovered Sharp “clinging to life,” who called the infant’s cries “the most joyful sound you ever heard of a crying baby.”
Sharp was immediately taken to a hospital for medical treatment and was released Tuesday night, Koon said. The infant is now with family members and, according to information provided to investigators by his medical team, is expected to make a full recovery.
Koon said that Sharp had been
Koon said that Sharp had been in the care of his grandmother, Patricia Comer, on Monday. Michael Comer stayed with the baby at her house while she went out to run an errand, and, by the time a scheduled caregiver arrived shortly after, Comer was gone with his son.
The father was later found hiding in an outbuilding in Batesburg-Leesville, which resulted in the burglary charge, the sheriff’s department said.
CBS affiliate WLTX reported that, when Patricia Comer learned the infant had been found, she jumped out of her car and shouted, “He’s alive!”
The investigation into what happened to Sharp
The investigation into what happened to Sharp was still in its early stages when Koon spoke at Tuesday’s conference.
Comer was sentenced to probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence and aggravated breach-of-peace charges related to an arrest in July, the Associated Press reported, citing Lexington County court records. Prosecutors dropped a gun charge as part of the plea deal.
