An 11-month-old baby survived after allegedly being buried alive inside a dog crate for around 24 hours.
The little boy, named Koah Sharpe, was found wrapped in a towel inside the buried crate, crying for help.
The shocking incident happened in Lexington County, South Carolina, USA.
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Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said Koah was found “buried alive, clinging to life, crying” during a press conference on Tuesday (10 November).
The search began after Koah disappeared while in the care of his father, Michael Comer.
The boy’s mother had left him with Comer on Monday (9 November) while she ran errands.
However, when another caregiver arrived at the mother’s home, both Comer and the baby had vanished, as reported by Need To Know.
Police were called around lunchtime and began searching for the pair.
Officers later discovered that Comer’s father lived nearby and found some of the baby’s belongings at his property, but there was no sign of either of them.
Investigators reviewed video footage which allegedly showed Comer getting rides around town without Koah, raising further concerns.
Comer was eventually found hiding in an outbuilding at a property and arrested on a burglary charge on Monday evening.
However, the baby was still missing.
Around 100 public safety officials joined the search and eventually discovered an area near Comer’s father’s home.
Officers noticed pine straw and what appeared to be freshly disturbed dirt.
As they began digging, they heard Koah crying beneath the ground.
Koon said: “As they probed it and laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying.”
The sheriff estimated the baby had been buried for approximately 24 hours.
He also suggested that the cold overnight temperatures may have helped the youngster survive.
Koon said: “A lot of things were going in Koah’s favour, and the good lord looked down on him in the last 24 hours.”
He added that he hoped Koah would grow up without remembering the ordeal and would instead have an inspiring story to tell.
During the press conference, Koon said investigators had not established a motive but revealed that the mother, child and Comer had previously experienced “some situations”.
Comer is expected to face additional charges, according to the sheriff.
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