Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Nov 15

South Carolina Deputies Unearth 11-Month-Old Alive After 24 Hours Buried in Dog Crate

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Nov 15

South Carolina Deputies Unearth 11-Month-Old Alive After 24 Hours Buried in Dog Crate

Q: Why does a mysterious online obituary exist for the father accused of this crime?

The “mysterious obituary” does not appear to show that the South Carolina suspect is dead. The most likely explanation is a mistaken match or an automatically generated memorial page tied to a different person with the same name. The reporting on the case identifies the accused father as Michael Comer, 25, of Lexington County, South Carolina, who was arrested and jailed on charges including attempted murder after authorities said his 11-month-old son was buried alive and survived. Separate coverage says he was denied bond and had a future court date, which is inconsistent with him having died. The web material linked to the obituary is also a red flag. One memorial page described only generic funeral-home features and contained no reporting-specific details tying it to the accused man. Other obituary snippets in the search results clearly refer to older men in other states, including a “Michael T. Comer” in Cincinnati and a “William Michael Comer” in Massachusetts. That suggests search engines or social media users may have surfaced unrelated obituary pages simply because the names match. In short, there is no credible evidence in the provided reporting that the accused father has died. The obituary’s existence is best understood as a case of name confusion, possibly amplified by funeral-home website templates and search indexing, not a meaningful development in the criminal case.

Q: How did a simple towel and cool weather miraculously keep an infant alive underground for a full day?

He likely survived because the towel and the shallow, wire-sided crate together left him some breathable air, while the cool weather reduced heat stress and slowed how fast his body used oxygen. Sheriff Jay Koon said the towel wrapped around the dog crate probably created an air pocket. That matters because the crate was not a sealed box; reports described it as a small wire crate with open slats. If the towel and the way the dirt settled did not fully collapse those openings, they could have preserved a pocket of air around the baby’s face and chest. The grave was also relatively shallow — about a foot of dirt above the crate — which may have helped prevent total compression. The weather may have been another critical factor. Cooler temperatures can reduce overheating and lower the body’s metabolic demand somewhat, meaning the child may have needed slightly less oxygen than he would have in hotter conditions. In a warmer, more humid setting, the risk of heat buildup, dehydration and suffocation would likely have been much higher. Even so, survival for roughly 24 hours underground was highly unusual. Authorities themselves described it as miraculous, and the explanation remains partly inferential because investigators and doctors have not publicly released a full medical reconstruction. What is clear from the reporting is that the towel did not “protect” him on its own; it likely helped preserve airflow, and the cool conditions bought crucial time until rescuers reached him.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 15

Lexington County deputies found 11-month-old Koah Sharp alive Tuesday after digging up a patch of disturbed earth where he had been buried for about 24 hours in a dog crate wrapped in a towel.
Michael Comer, 25, the boy’s father, was arrested on attempted murder, child abuse, custodial interference and burglary charges after the child vanished during a weekend visit.
Texts and family accounts cited by the mother pointed to Comer’s escalating custody anger, heavy drinking and refusal to take schizophrenia medication in the weeks before Koah disappeared.
The mother said Comer missed a Monday handoff, while his own mother called 911 saying he had threatened suicide; investigators later found him drunk near his father’s property.
Koah is expected to fully recover, but authorities still have not fully explained how they located the burial site or what led Comer to leave the baby there.