Eleven-month-old Koah Sharp left a South Carolina hospital after twenty-four hours buried alive inside a dog crate in the woods.
Michael Comer, 25, faces charges including attempted murder following the infant’s rescue near Batesburg-Leesville, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies Find the Missing Baby
Nearly one hundred personnel joined the search. Authorities said Koah had been left in his father’s care by his paternal grandmother, Patricia Comer, while she ran an errand. Both father and child were gone by the time a scheduled caregiver arrived.
Patricia Comer told 911 dispatchers that she had a bad feeling something was wrong. She mentioned that her son had made previous suicidal statements and talked about taking the boy to New York where friends could help him find work. Surveillance footage showed the father walking through the house earlier in the day and traveling through Batesburg-Leesville without the infant.
Deputies responded on Monday to Comer’s father’s house. They found the doors open, the home empty, and the baby’s belongings left behind.
Search parties combed the countryside. On Tuesday afternoon, searchers noticed a patch of freshly disturbed dirt about fifty yards into the woods near the home of the baby’s grandfather, John Comer. As officers probed the soil, they heard crying from beneath the ground.
“As you can imagine, the race was on. Everyone was trying to get him out,” said Sheriff Jay Koon.
Rescuers dug up the 2-foot-by-2-foot dog crate, which was wrapped in a towel. Inside, the infant was found “clinging to life,” according to Koon, who said that the child was screaming “at the top of his lungs,” calling the cries “the most joyful sound you ever heard of a crying baby.”
Hospital Care Follows Rescue
Investigators believe the baby survived the underground ordeal due to an air pocket created by the towel wrapped around the crate, combined with cool nighttime temperatures. Dr. Deborah Greenhouse, a South Carolina pediatrician, explained to WRDW that the cooler soil conditions may have helped preserve oxygen and moisture levels during the twenty-four hours the child spent underground.
John Comer told reporters he witnessed his grandson being pulled from the ground on the property near his home. When Patricia Comer learned the infant had been found, she jumped out of her car and shouted, “He’s alive!”
Koah was transported to a hospital. He was discharged Tuesday night and placed in the care of family members, with medical teams reporting he is expected to make a full recovery.
“We’re better now that we know that Koah is safe,” his great-aunt, Amber Hammond, told The Associated Press.
Tyler Douglas, lead investigator for the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, told the court that the suspect showed no remorse and attempted to flee the state.
Court Records Reveal Prior Arrests
During a bond hearing on Thursday, Magistrate Gary W. Reinhart denied bond for Michael Comer on charges of attempted murder, unlawful conduct toward a child, custodial interference, and burglary.
Family members identified the child’s mother as Dezarae Sharp. Court records show Comer was sentenced to probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence and aggravated breach-of-peace charges.
Court records also show an incident in May where he pushed her from behind while she was holding Koah, causing the infant to hit a clothes dryer, alongside another domestic violence arrest in May 2026 for which he was released on $10,000 bail.
Authorities have not revealed an alleged motive for the incident. Sheriff Koon said that Comer and the baby’s mother had some recent domestic violence-type situations and that there were obviously some issues between them.