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11-month-old US baby found alive after being buried in dog crate for 24 hours
The infant was pulled out of the buried dog crate, screaming at the top of his lungs, police said.
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An 11-month-old baby was found alive after being buried in a dog crate in the woods for around 24 hours in South Carolina, US, authorities said. The infant, identified as Koah Sharpe, was discovered on Tuesday beneath roughly a foot of dirt, with a towel wrapped around the wire crate, CNN reported.
The baby was rushed to a hospital following the rescue. He was “clinging to life, crying,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said during a news conference. “It was the most joyful sound you ever heard of a crying baby,” he added.
According to authorities, Koah had been in the care of his paternal grandmother on Monday when his father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, arrived at the house. The grandmother later left to run an errand, leaving the infant with Comer while another caregiver was on the way. However, when the caregiver arrived, both Comer and the baby were missing.
Deputies were alerted around lunchtime on Monday and began searching for the father and son. Investigators later went to a home where Comer’s father lives and found its doors open, along with the baby’s belongings inside. However, there was no sign of either Comer or Koah.
Investigators also reportedly obtained video footage showing Comer at several locations without the baby as the search continued. “Certainly we got worried, hoping and praying that he dropped the baby with another person,” Sheriff Koon said, adding that concerns grew as nobody came forward.
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Father arrested
Comer was eventually found in an outbuilding at a property in Batesburg later that night and arrested on charges of burglary and resisting arrest, CNN reported. However, the baby was not with him. Authorities said they were working with prosecutors to determine additional charges he could face.
The search for Koah continued into Tuesday, involving nearly 100 law enforcement officers and other public safety personnel. A search team eventually noticed freshly disturbed dirt in pine straw about 50 yards into the woods near the home of Comer’s father.
As investigators began digging at the spot, they heard the baby crying. “As you imagine, the race was on. Everybody’s getting down there trying to get him out,” Koon said, per the outlet.
The infant was pulled out of the buried dog crate, screaming at the top of his lungs, the sheriff added. Koon estimated that Koah had been underground for around 24 hours. The towel wrapped around the wire crate “probably created an air pocket”, which may have helped the baby survive, the sheriff said.
