Baby buried in dog cage found alive a day later

According to local police, an 11-month-old boy was found alive in South Carolina after he was supposed to lie in the ground for about a day.

According to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, infant Koa Sharp was found Tuesday placed in a dog cage, which in turn was wrapped in a towel and buried right underground in the woods.

“Of course God is good. Just a few minutes ago we found little Koa, 11-month-old, buried alive, clinging to life and crying - that's the most joyful sound you've ever heard from a crying baby, Sheriff Jay Coon told a news conference.

Sheriff Kuhn revealed the child's father, Michael Comer, 25, was arrested Monday night on suspicion of burglary. The sheriff's department is working with the prosecutor's office to bring additional charges.

Jay Kuhn suggested that the towel wrapped around the box "by the grace of God probably provided Koah with enough air to, we estimate, survive the last 24 hours under this mud.".

According to Sheriff Kuhn, Koa went missing on Monday after being left in his father's care at his mother's home while she left on business.

Comer's mother looked after Koa before briefly leaving him in her father's care in the morning while another man about to look after the toddler was on his way. “By the time the nurse got there, Michael was gone and Coa was with him,” the sheriff said.

The boy was later wanted and authorities began an active search, the sheriff said.

According to Kuhn, Koa was found after a search team found “freshly excavated” land in a forest about 45 meters from Comer’s father’s home.

“When they started digging, little Koa could be heard crying. So as you can imagine, the race was in full swing, everyone was there trying to get him out.

Koa was hospitalized and "hopefully" will recover, Sheriff Kuhn said.

According to Jay Kuhn, about 100 people were looking for Koa.

We want to thank everyone and celebrate the fact that today an 11-month-old baby is alive.

The motive for the incident is not yet known, said the sheriff, who noted that there had previously been incidents of domestic violence between Comer and Koa's mother.