Searchers rescued an 11-month-old South Carolina boy from a buried dog crate on November 10, about a day after authorities say his father took him, according to Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.
Koah Sharpe survived what investigators estimate was roughly 24 hours underground. Emergency personnel took him to a hospital after the rescue, and the child is expected to make a full recovery, Koon said at a news conference on Tuesday. The discovery ended a search involving local, state, and federal authorities near Batesburg-Leesville.
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said in an earlier appeal that investigators believed Koah’s father, Michael Comer, took the child on November 9. Koah was under the care of his paternal grandmother on Monday when his father arrived at the home. The grandmother reportedly left the child with Comer to run an errand while another caregiver was on the way. When the other caregiver arrived at the home, Comer and the baby were gone.
Deputies arrested Comer late that same night on a burglary charge, but Koah was not with him, the department said. Its appeal identified the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives among the agencies helping search for the baby. More than 100 local, state, and federal officers and firefighters joined in the search.
The search turned toward the woods near the home of Comer’s father. Searchers noticed pine straw and recently disturbed soil, then heard Koah crying as they began digging, Koon said, per WWLTV.
“So as you imagine, the race was on,” Koon said during the news conference. “Everybody’s getting down there trying to get him out.”
Koon described a small wire dog crate, roughly two feet by two feet, with a towel around it. He said the crate containing the baby was buried under about a foot of soil. He suggested the towel may have created an air pocket that helped the child survive.
Comer, 25, faces burglary and resisting arrest charges, and investigators are working with prosecutors to determine additional charges.
Provided by Dallas Express
