Missing 11-month-old baby found buried alive in dog crate; father arrested

An 11-month-old South Carolina boy who went missing on Monday was found alive, buried inside a dog crate beneath freshly disturbed dirt, authorities said Tuesday. The child’s father has been arrested, police said.

Read more trending news

According to Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon, the boy was found in a wooded area near Batesburg-Leesville, WACH reported. The sheriff said that investigators found Koah Sharpe after hearing the child crying, according to WLTX. The boy was found in the crate, wrapped in a towel and buried near his paternal grandfather’s home, the television station reported.

“Eleven months old, buried alive, clinging to life, crying,” Koon said during a Tuesday news conference. The sheriff called the baby’s cries “the most joyful sound you ever heard of a crying baby.”

The child could have been buried underground for as long as 24 hours, the sheriff said.

According to The State newspaper, the child’s father, Michael Comer, 25, was arrested after deputies found him in an outbuilding at a home in Batesburg-Leesville, Koon said.

Comer was initially booked on burglary and resisting arrest charges, the newspaper reported. He did not provide information about the child’s whereabouts, Koon told reporters. He added that more charges could be filed.

Investigators said Koah was under his grandmother’s care on Monday when Comer arrived, WACH reported. The woman left to run an errand and was expecting another caregiver to arrive and take care of Koah, according to the television station.

Koon said that Comer took the boy, and by the time the other caregiver arrived, father and child were gone, The State reported. Investigators later found video of Comer in the Batesburg-Leesville area without the child, Koon told reporters.

More than 100 investigators combed the area for clues, and after freshly disturbed dirt was found, they began digging, WLTX reported.

“As they probed it and laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying,” Koon said during the news conference. “So as you imagine, the race was on. Everybody’s getting down there trying to get him out.”

11-month old Koah Sharpe was discovered inside what authorizes described as a small dog crate wrapped in a towel and buried beneath dirt. ➡️ Latest updates: https://t.co/OhIMxfHQhd https://t.co/emxxSZXXEg

— News19 WLTX (@WLTX) November 10, 2026

Investigators have not established a motive, according to WACH.

The sheriff said during his news conference that there were previous issues between Comer and the child’s mother but did not elaborate, according to the television station.

An investigation is ongoing, Koon said.