Cool temperatures and a towel that created an air pocket probably kept him alive, according to the local sheriff.
uncertain
that → create → sheriff
An 11-month-old boy has been rescued alive after spending about 24 hours buried underground in a dog crate in the US state of South Carolina, where police say he was left by his father.
asserted
he → rescue → father
Koah Sharp was found on Tuesday in woodland on a neighbour’s property, crying and covered in dirt, his grandfather John Comer told the Associated Press news agency on Wednesday.
asserted
grandfather → find → Wednesday
Soon afterwards, the baby stopped crying, and once he had been lifted on to the back of a truck, he sat up.
asserted
he → stop → truck
“I became ecstatic, my hands straight in the air.
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hands → become → air
I’m looking in the sky, jumping up and down, praising God,” John Comer said.
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Comer → look → God
“And at the same time I hit my knees and I’m just crying.”
asserted
I → hit → knees
Koah is expected to make a full recovery, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said after leaving hospital.
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Koon → expect → hospital
The boy’s father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, has been charged with attempted murder.
asserted
father → charge → murder
He has been in custody since Monday, the day Koah went missing, and was arrested while hiding in a building in the town of Batesburg-Leesville.
asserted
Koah → go → Leesville
Authorities have not given any details of a possible motive.
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Authorities → give → motive
It was not immediately clear whether Michael Comer has a lawyer who could respond to the charges.
uncertain
who → have → charges
A court hearing was scheduled for Thursday.
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hearing → schedule → Thursday
Freshly disturbed soil and cries from underground
Dozens of emergency workers searched the countryside for the boy with reddish-blond hair.
asserted
Dozens → disturb → hair
After a full day, they found freshly disturbed soil and heard crying coming from beneath the ground, Koon said.
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Koon → find → ground
“As you can imagine, the race was on.
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race → imagine → ?
Everyone was trying to get him out,” the sheriff said.
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sheriff → try → him
He said Koah had probably survived thanks to cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel wrapped around the buried crate.
asserted
Koah → say → crate
When rescuers freed him, the boy was “clinging to life”, Koon added.
asserted
Koon → free → life
“We’re better now that we know that Koah is safe,” said his great-aunt, Amber Hammond, who watched as he was pulled from the crate.
asserted
he → ’re → crate
Taken before a carer arrived
According to authorities, Koah had been in the care of Michael Comer’s mother.
uncertain
Koah → take → mother
She left the boy with her son while she ran an errand, as another carer was on the way.
asserted
carer → leave → way
“By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone, and Koah was gone with him,” Koon said.
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Koon → get → him
Surveillance footage from several local businesses showed Michael Comer without the baby on Monday afternoon, the sheriff added.
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sheriff → show → afternoon
John Comer said he had taken in his son and grandson on Monday, after Michael Comer told him they needed somewhere to stay.
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they → say → him
He now feels his son took advantage of him, he said, but he is grateful he agreed: if they had gone elsewhere, Koah might not have been found in time.
uncertain
Koah → feel → time
“It just seems like he already had this planned out, and he knew what he was doing,” he said.
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he → seem → what
“And he took the opportunity to do what he did.
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he → take → what
And if it hadn’t have been here, I don’t think anybody would have known where he would have went, and this would be a completely different story.”
Hammond said her nephew had talked about taking the baby to New York because “he didn’t want to be in the same state as the mom”.
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he → think → mom
When Koah disappeared, she and other relatives assumed Michael Comer had handed him over to someone.
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Comer → disappear → someone
“We had no idea something like this would happen at all,” she said.
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she → have → this
Koah’s parents “have had some situations”, Koon said.
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Koon → have → situations
“Children,” he added, “sometimes get caught in the middle.”
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he → add → middle
In October, Michael Comer was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to domestic violence and aggravated breach-of-the-peace charges over an arrest in July, according to Lexington County court records.
uncertain
Comer → sentence → records
Prosecutors dropped a gun charge as part of a plea deal, and he was credited with more than two months already spent in jail.
asserted
he → drop → jail
Hammond, who looked after Koah last weekend, said he had been trying to stand on his own and loved watching Mickey Mouse cartoons.
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he → look → cartoons
John Comer said he had never heard his grandson cry before he was found underground.
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he → say → ?
“He’s always been happy,” he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
“The kid’s always got a smile on his face.”
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kid → get → face
The Aporia
