An 11-month-old boy who had been taken by his father was found buried alive in a dog crate following an urgent search, authorities in South Carolina said.

The baby, Koah Sharpe, was found Tuesday afternoon "clinging to life," after spending what is believed to have been 24 hours buried, according to Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.

The boy was found wrapped in a towel in the crate, shallowly buried under dirt in the woods, "crying the most joyful sound you ever heard of a crying baby," the sheriff said during a press briefing Tuesday.