Missing 11-month-old boy rescued after being buried alive in dog crate

An 11-month-old boy who officials said was taken by his father on Monday was found buried alive in a dog crate on Tuesday, according to police in South Carolina.

Koah Sharpe was reported missing on Monday after the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said that his father Michael Comer took the baby.

Comer was found and arrested on a burglary charge and resisting arrest late Monday night but police said that Sharpe was not with him.

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During a news conference on Tuesday, Lexington County Sheriff Bryan Koon told reporters that Sharpe was found alive in a dog crate that was wrapped in a towel.

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“Just a few moments ago we found little Koah Sharpe, 11-months-old, buried alive, clinging to life, crying… He was buried in a dog crate, wrapped in a towel that, by the grace of God, probably provided enough air for him to survive — our estimation is for the last 24 hours under that dirt,” Koon said.

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Koon said the wire crate was about two feet by two feet and buried in a shallow hole.

Sharpe, described as “a bright boy with reddish blond hair, blue eyes, approximately 20 pounds and often has a pacifier,” was in the care of Comer’s mother on Monday, police said.

“Michael came over. She had to run an errand. Another caregiver was coming. She left him in Michael’s care. By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone and Koah was gone with him,” Koon explained.

Deputies went to Comer’s father’s home Monday and found the doors open and baby belongings in the house but no sign of Comer or the child, Koon told reporters.

There was a search party of nearly 100 police officers, firefighters and other officials looking for Sharpe, according to Koon.

Searchers found a site close to Comer’s father home on Tuesday in the woods with freshly disturbed earth, according to police.

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“As they probed it and laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying. So, as you can imagine, the race was on,” Koon said. “Everybody was done there trying to get him out. Certainly he is out and under the care of EMS now at the hospital.”

Sharpe is currently receiving care at a hospital and “hopefully will make a full recovery,” according to the sheriff.

“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.

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Koon said that authorities are currently working with the prosecutor’s office regarding Comer’s charges.

“We want to thank everybody and just celebrate the fact today that an 11-month-old baby is alive,” Koon added.

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Comer’s mother, Patricia Comer, told NBC News that Sharpe’s mother has full custody of the child. But Sharpe’s mother lets Patricia supervise the child on weekends and there was no custody agreement preventing Comer from watching the child unsupervised.

“I did not know he would do anything like this,” Patricia added of her son. “He’s always been so good with Koah. Who would think their own child would do something like this?”