An 11-month-old baby is “clinging to life” after he was found buried alive in a dog crate in South Carolina, over 24 hours after he was allegedly taken by his deadbeat dad.
uncertain
he → cling → dad
Little Koah Sharpe was found locked inside a dog crate that was wrapped in a towel and buried in a shallow hole on Tuesday, over a day after he was last seen with his father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, WIS 10 reported, citing Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.
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WIS → find → Koon
“By the grace of God, [the crate] probably provided enough air for him to survive our estimation of the last 24 hours under that dirt,” Koon told reporters Tuesday.
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Koon → provide → reporters
Comer’s mother had been babysitting Koah before briefly leaving him in his father’s care in the morning while another caregiver was en route.
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caregiver → babysitte → route
“By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone and Koah was gone with him
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Koah → get → him
,” the sheriff said.
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sheriff → say → ?
Koah’s other relatives filed a missing person report Monday afternoon, but an Amber Alert was never issued as Comer does not have access to a car, the local sheriff said.
“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,” Koon said.
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Koon → file → that
The Justice Department requires law enforcement agencies to have enough descriptive details about the child, suspect and abduction — often including license plate numbers — for an Amber Alert to be issued.
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Alert → require → numbers
More than 100 first responders from local, state and federal agencies searched for the missing baby, Koon said.
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Koon → search → baby
Koah’s belongings were found at Comer’s residence Monday afternoon, where both doors to the home were left open — but there was no sign of the father or son.
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doors → find → father
Investigators believe Comer was in multiple locations across the county on Monday and was “bumming rides, calling rides, just getting rides from place to place,” the sheriff noted.
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sheriff → believe → place
Later that night, cops found Comer in a shed in Batesburg and arrested him for burglary and resisting arrest.
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cops → find → burglary
“Of course, he didn’t have much to say about the whereabouts of the baby at that time,” Koon said.
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Koon → have → time
The next day, “freshly disturbed dirt” and pine straw were found by authorities searching near Comer’s house, about 50 yards into woodland.
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dirt → find → woodland
Once cops started to dig, they started to hear Koah cry.
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Koah → start → ?
“So as you imagine, the race was on,” Koon said of the heart-pounding rescue.
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Koon → imagine → rescue
“Everybody’s getting down there trying to get him out.”
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Everybody → get → him
“He was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the baby world, I would guess,” the sheriff noted.
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sheriff → scream → world
Koon believes because the crate was wrapped in a towel, it “probably created an air pocket, if you can imagine.”
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you → believe → pocket
The baby boy remains “clinging to life” in the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon, but Koon is hopeful he will “make a full recovery.”
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he → cling → recovery
“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 added.
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Koon → remember → story
Comer was still behind bars as of Tuesday afternoon — with additional charges related to Koah’s disappearance to be determined.
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charges → relate → disappearance
A motive was not immediately known, said Koon, who noted there had been prior domestic violence incidents between Comer and Koah’s mother.
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who → know → Comer
His arrest Monday comes just one month after he was put on probation following a guilty plea for aggravated breach of peace, the local station reported, citing court records.
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station → come → records
Earlier this year, he was also busted for domestic violence and a weapons-related offense.
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he → bust → violence
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
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you → know → 88788
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