Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon says deputies searching for a missing 11-month-old boy heard the child crying from underground before digging up a buried crate near Batesburg-Leesville, a day after the boy’s father was arrested on an unrelated charge.
Koon said deputies concentrated their search Tuesday on property belonging to the father of Michael Comer, 25, after noticing pine straw scattered over an area of freshly disturbed dirt. As deputies began digging, Koon told Columbia’s WIS, they “began to hear a baby crying.” He said, “So as you imagine, the race was on. Everybody’s getting down there trying to get him out.”
Koon described the container they uncovered as a “dog crate” with wire slats, wrapped in a towel that he believes created an air pocket allowing the child to survive. LiveNow from Fox quoted Koon saying, “Just a few moments ago, we found little Koah Sharpe, 11 months old, buried alive, clinging to life, crying.” WSPA-TV reported the boy was screaming when he was pulled from the ground. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to the outlets’ reporting.
Comer was arrested Monday evening on a burglary charge after deputies found him alone in a shed, WIS reported. WSPA-TV reported officials said Comer “didn’t have much to say about the whereabouts” of his son when he was taken into custody.
How the search began
According to WIS, the search started Monday after Comer’s mother, who had been caring for Koah, left the boy with Comer at her home while she ran an errand and waited for another caregiver to arrive. Before that caregiver got there, WIS reported, Comer left with the child, and family members filed a missing-person report.
No Amber Alert was issued during the search because investigators did not have enough information to put one out, Koon told WIS. “To be able to issue an Amber Alert, you have to have a known description of a car and a license plate to put that out,” he said.
Court records reviewed by WIS show Comer pleaded guilty last month to aggravated breach of peace and was placed on probation. WIS also reported he had prior arrests for domestic violence and weapons-related offenses.
During the search, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department posted a public appeal stating, “Someone knows something that can help bring little Koah home,” along with a description of the child. After the boy was recovered, LiveNow from Fox quoted Koon saying, “God is good.” ABC News quoted him expressing hope that the infant won’t remember what happened.
As of the most recent reporting, Comer remained jailed on the burglary charge. Additional charges connected to the burial had not been detailed in the accounts reviewed.
