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An 11-month-old baby boy who officials said was taken by his father on Monday was found buried alive in a dog crate Tuesday, a discovery a South Carolina sheriff called \u201cjoyful.\u201d
Koah Sharpe was found alive in a dog crate wrapped in a towel, Lexington County Sheriff Bryan Koon told reporters.
\u201cThat, by the grace of God, probably provided enough air for him to survive \u2014 our estimation is, for the last 24 hours under that dirt,\u201d he said.
Koah, described as a 20-pound boy with reddish hair and who had a pacifier, was taken by his father, Michael Comer, on Monday morning, the sheriff\u2019s office said.
The crate was found around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Koon said, near the home of Comer\u2019s father.
Comer was arrested late Monday in Lexington County on a burglary charge after he was found in an outbuilding. The baby was not with him, the sheriff\u2019s office said.
Koon said Comer\u2019s mother was taking care of the baby Monday morning. Comer came over and his mother left, but another caregiver was on the way, the sheriff said.
\u201cBy the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone and Koah was gone with him,\u201d he said.
In a phone interview Tuesday with NBC News, Comer\u2019s mother, Patricia Comer, said she was shocked and that her son being in police custody was \u201cwhere he needs to be.\u201d
\u201cHonestly, I\u2019m his mother and I never expected this from him,\u201d she said.
Koah\u2019s mother has full custody of the child, Patricia Comer said. But the boy\u2019s mother would let Patricia Comer supervise him on weekends, and there was no custody agreement preventing Michael Comer from watching the child unsupervised, which he had done before with no problems, Patricia Comer said.
She said she went to work Monday and left Koah in his father\u2019s care. Then, at around 11 a.m., a friend went to the home to drop off some formula, but no one answered, prompting the friend to call her, Patricia Comer recalled.
\u201cSomething just did not feel right. I told my boss, \u2018I need to leave work,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cCall it mother\u2019s instinct, I don\u2019t know what it was.\u201d
She went home and \u201csure enough, Michael had left,\u201d she said.
The child was reported missing and law enforcement began a search.
Deputies went to Comer\u2019s father\u2019s home Monday and found the doors open and baby belongings in the house but no sign of Comer or the child, Koon said.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were part of the search for the child.
A search party of nearly 100 police officers, firefighters and other officials looked for the boy, Koon said.
Searchers on Tuesday found a site not far from Comer\u2019s father\u2019s house, about 50 yards into some woods with freshly disturbed earth, Koon said.
\u201cAs they probed it and laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying,\u201d the sheriff said. \u201cSo, as you can imagine, the race was on.\u201d
The baby was taken to a hospital, where he was being cared for Tuesday afternoon, Koon said. The sheriff said he hopes the child makes a full recovery.
\u201cHe was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the baby world, I would guess,\u201d Koon said.
The wire crate, which was about 2 feet by 2 feet, was buried in a shallow hole, Koon said. Wrapping it in a towel probably created an air pocket, he said.
Koon said authorities were working with the prosecutor\u2019s office regarding charges. It was not immediately clear if Comer had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Koon said the cool weather may also have helped the baby\u2019s chances of survival.
\u201cA lot of things were going in Koah\u2019s favor, and the good Lord looked down on him the last 24 hours,\u201d he said.
Patricia Comer said that what her son is accused of doing is \u201cpure evil\u201d and that there were no warning signs.
She said her son lives with her after a recent jail stint in which he drunkenly went to the home of an ex of Koah\u2019s mother. She added that \u201call he does is go to work and come home.\u201d
She also said she feels hurt that some people are blaming her.
\u201cJust know that if I could have prevented this, I would have done everything my power,\u201d Patricia Comer said. \u201cI had no idea this was going to happen.\u201d
She thanked the Lexington County Sheriff\u2019s Office and all the agencies and officials who helped find her grandson alive.
\u201cI did not know he would do anything like this,\u201d she said of her son. \u201cHe\u2019s always been so good with Koah. Who would think their own child would do something like this?\u201d
Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.
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