When an 11-month-old infant was reported missing in South Carolina, dozens of first responders combed the countryside for the “bright boy with reddish blond hair" that the sheriff's office said had disappeared while his grandmother ran errands.
After a full day of searching, authorities found freshly disturbed soil in the woods not far from the home of the boy's grandfather. They began digging and soon unearthed little Koah Sharp, who was “clinging to life” after being buried alive in a dog crate wrapped in a towel, the sheriff said.
“Certainly, God is good,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said Tuesday at a news conference, not long after Koah was found. “He was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the baby world, I would guess.”
The child’s father, Michael Comer, 25, was arrested and was being held without bond on a burglary charge, Koon said. Investigators were working with prosecutors to confirm further charges, he said.
The towel probably created an air pocket that allowed the boy to breathe in the crate, the sheriff said. Cool temperatures also may have helped.
Koah, who disappeared Monday in the county just west of Columbia, was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known Wednesday.
“We're better now that we know that Koah is safe,” his great aunt, Amber Hammond, told The Associated Press in an interview. She was watching as he was freed from the crate.
Deputies who searched the grandfather's home found the doors open and baby belongings inside, but they did not see Comer or the child, the sheriff said. Then the digging started.
“It was shallow,” Koon said. “I think once that crate hit the ground, it was probably about at least a foot from the top of that crate to the top of the ground.”
It was not immediately known if Comer had a lawyer. A phone number could not be found for him. The Associated Press sent emails seeking information to the public defender and prosecutors.
Nearly 100 first responders participated in the search.
Authorities said Koah had been in the care of Comer's mother. She had to run an errand and left the boy in Comer's care. Another caregiver was on the way, Koon said.
“By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone, and Koah was gone with him," Koon said.
Surveillance video from several businesses in the area showed Comer without the infant on Monday afternoon, Koon said. The father was found Monday night and was arrested.
Koah's parents “have had some situations” regarding domestic violence charges, the sheriff said.
“Children,” he said, "sometimes get caught in the middle.”
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, Lexington County online court records show. Prosecutors dropped a gun charge as part of the plea deal.
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Associated Press Writer Dave Collins contributed to this story.
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