Horror as 11-month old baby buried alive in dog crate with 'just enough oxygen to breathe'

An 11-month-old baby has been found buried alive inside a dog crate after spending an estimated 24 hours trapped underground in a horrifying ordeal. Little Koah Sharp was discovered crying beneath the dirt near his grandfather's home in South Carolina, US, following a desperate search involving police and emergency services. The baby boy was found inside a wire dog crate, which had been covered with a towel, with authorities believing a small pocket of air may have kept him alive. Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon described the emotional moment rescuers heard the infant crying after discovering disturbed earth near the property.

"Certainly, God is good. Just a few moments ago we found little Koah Sharp. 11-months-old, buried alive, clinging to life," he said, according to reports from the Daily Mail. "He was crying, the most joyful sound you ever heard of a crying baby."

Koah had been reported missing at around midday on Monday after disappearing while in the care of his 25-year-old father, Michael Comer. The infant had initially been staying with his grandmother, Trish Comer, who regularly looked after him. However, when she left to run an errand, Koah was placed in his father's care before another caregiver was due to arrive.

Sheriff Koon explained: "By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone and Koah was gone with him."

Officers launched an extensive search, visiting the home of the baby's paternal grandfather, where they discovered both doors open and the child's belongings inside. However, there was no sign of either Koah or his father.

Investigators subsequently discovered footage showing Michael in the Batesburg-Leesville area without the baby. Later on Monday evening, the 25-year-old was located hiding inside an outbuilding at a property in Batesburg. He was arrested on burglary and resisting arrest charges, but has not yet been charged in connection with his son's disappearance or burial at the time of the report.

Sheriff Koon said: "He didn't have much to say about the whereabouts of the baby at that time."

The breakthrough came on Tuesday afternoon when search teams spotted freshly disturbed soil and pine straw approximately 50 yards from the grandfather's home. Officers began digging and were stunned to hear the missing baby's cries coming from beneath the ground.

"As they probed it, laid it out and started digging, you could hear little Koah crying," Sheriff Koon said. "So, as you imagine, the race was on, everybody's getting down there trying to get him out."

Rescuers pulled Koah from the buried crate, which investigators believe may have provided just enough oxygen for the infant to survive.

"By the Grace of God, probably provided enough air for him to survive, our estimation is about 24 hours, under that dirt," Sheriff Koon said.

The remarkable discovery brought an end to the frantic search, with police expressing their relief that the baby had been found alive.

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