An 11-month-old boy who authorities say was buried alive in a dog crate by his father was found by rescuers after about 24 hours, crying and covered in dirt, his grandfather says.
asserted
grandfather → say → dirt
But soon after being found in the woods on a property neighboring his grandfather John Comer’s land in Leesville, South Carolina, little Koah Sharp stopped crying.
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Sharp → find → Leesville
He was put on the back of a truck and sat up, Comer said.
asserted
Comer → put → truck
“I became ecstatic, my hands straight in the air.
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hands → become → air
I’m looking in the sky, jumping up and down, praising God,” Comer said.
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Comer → look → God
“And at the same time I hit my knees and I’m just crying.”
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I → hit → knees
Koah was released from the hospital Tuesday night and is expected to make a full recovery, Sheriff Jay Koon said.
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Koon → release → recovery
The baby’s father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, has now been charged with attempted murder and denied bail.
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father → charge → bail
John Comer said that he had opened his home to his son and grandson Monday after Michael Comer said they needed a place to stay.
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they → say → place
Michael Comer has been in custody since Monday, when Koah disappeared.
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Koah → disappear → Monday
Authorities have not revealed anything about his alleged motive.
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Authorities → reveal → motive
He was sentenced to probation in October after pleading guilty to domestic violence.
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He → sentence → violence
Koah’s parents “have had some situations,” the sheriff said.
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sheriff → have → situations
“Children,” he said, “sometimes get caught in the middle.”
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he → say → middle
How the baby survived underground
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baby → survive → ?
Dozens of first responders scoured the countryside looking for the boy with reddish-blond hair.
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Dozens → scour → hair
After a full day of searching, authorities found freshly disturbed soil and heard cries from below ground, the sheriff said.
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sheriff → search → ground
“As you can imagine, the race was on.
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race → imagine → ?
Everyone was trying to get him out,” Koon said.
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Koon → try → him
The boy likely survived because of cool temperatures and an air pocket created by a towel that was wrapped around the crate below ground, he said.
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he → survive → ground
Koah was soon freed and “clinging to life,” the sheriff told reporters.
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sheriff → free → reporters
Comer was arrested while hiding in a building in Batesburg-Leesville.
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Comer → arrest → Leesville
It wasn’t immediately known if he has a lawyer who could respond to the charges.
uncertain
who → know → charges
A court hearing was planned for Thursday.
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hearing → plan → Thursday
“We’re better now that we know that Koah is safe,” his great-aunt, Amber Hammond, said.
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aunt → ’re → ?
She was watching as he was freed from the crate.
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he → watch → crate
‘Koah was gone with him’
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Koah → go → him
Authorities said Koah had been in the care of Michael Comer’s mother.
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Koah → say → mother
She had to run an errand and left the boy in Comer’s care while another caregiver was on the way.
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caregiver → have → way
“By the time the caregiver got there, Michael was gone, and Koah was gone with him,” the sheriff said.
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sheriff → get → him
Surveillance video from several businesses in the area showed Comer without the baby on Monday afternoon, Koon said.
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Koon → show → afternoon
John Comer said he feels like he was taken advantage of by his son when he asked for a place to stay.
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he → say → place
But he said he is also thankful that he agreed because if they had gone somewhere else, they may not have found the boy in time.
uncertain
they → say → time
“It just seems like he already had this planned out, and he knew what he was doing,” Comer said.
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Comer → seem → what
“And he took the opportunity to do what he did.
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he → take → what
And if it hadn’t have been here, I don’t think anybody would have known where he would have went, and this would be a completely different story.”
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this → think → ?
Father ‘wanted to take the baby out of state’
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Father → want → state
Hammond said that her nephew had talked about taking the baby to New York because “he didn’t want to be in the same state as the mom.”
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he → say → mom
When Koah vanished, she and others assumed that Comer had given the boy to someone.
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Comer → vanish → someone
“We had no idea something like this would happen at all,” Hammond said.
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Hammond → have → idea
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
