True Crime Society - Teen Sebastian Rogers (15) has been missing for over 6 weeks

Sebastian is a 15 year old who has been missing from Tennessee since February 25.

Staci in the TCS group has done some amazing research in this case. A lot of the info in this episode and blog is from her notes.

Sebastian’ mother is Katie Proudfoot, she is a student and also an installation technician for a home security service.

Katie’s husband is Chris Proudfoot, until recently he was working as a crane operator at St Jude’s hospital In Memphis.

Sebastian’ s father is Seth Rogers, he is employed by Davidson County Sheriff’s Office as a corrections officer.

In terms of custody, Sebastian visits Seth every second weekend and has regular telephone contact. Katie usually visits Chris in Memphis on those weekends. In the school holidays he is usually with Seth.

Sebastian was meant to move in with his dad at the end of the school year.

Sebastian has high-functioning autism, is described by his mother as being “very smart” and “not a mischievous child by any means.”

Sebastian has a love for animals and has 2 dogs at home (he also had a snake at one point), Sebastian also loves gaming- particularly Minecraft.

Sebastian has limited social skills and at Christmas time is said to have asked for some friends.

Sebastian’s internet access was said to be heavily monitored/restricted- his phone only had the ability to call or text, while at his mother’s he played Minecraft on a switch console and had no access to online chats.

At Seth’s home Sebastian had access to a PlayStation and multiplayer gaming (COD) however Seth said they only communicated with people they actually knew and that he was always present/it was never unsupervised.

We know that on Sunday February 24, Sebastian had a breakfast of pancakes and was seen on a Facetime call by some family. He went bowling with his mother at one point and they ate dinner out. Seth has confirmed there is footage of this.

Katie said that Sebastian’s job was to take the trash to the end of the driveway and he did that. She told him at around 9pm to goto bed.

“He was doing something in his room because about an hour later, I heard some noise, and I was like, ‘I don’t care what you’re doing in there, but go to sleep,”’ Katie said.

I believe this noise was a thud at around 10pm. Katie said she called to him, asking if he fell out of bed and he said no.

Between 9:30pm and 12am Katie says she studied and was on the phone to Chris, she said this is usual for them.

At midnight Chris suggested that Katie go to bed as she is dozing off on the call (also said to be a regular occurrence), she puts the dogs in their area and goes to bed/sleep- she did not check Sebastian’s room at that time.

She went in to wake Sebastian up for school on February 26, and found that his bed was empty.

“[At] six o’clock, I went to wake him up for school Monday morning, and that’s when he wasn’t there.”

Katie said that she called Chris, who was at work.

“I can’t find him,” she said, and when he asked, “What do you mean you can’t find him?” She replied, “He’s not in the house.’”

Katie said she searched the entire house, but couldn’t find him.

‘I didn’t see him in his room. I looked all over. I ran through the whole house. I looked out all the doors and windows, and I was like hollering his name.’

‘I jumped in my car, and I drove around the neighborhood, and I drove over by the school, and … like, at this point I was like hysterical, and I was crying, I was screaming.’

In terms of the layout of the house, it has 3 entrances/exits- one of which leads to their garage, one is via the sun room (dogs location) and the other being the front door.

Their home does not have a security alarm, does not have ring doorbell/cameras, outdoor lighting is usually turned off other than some solar powered lights in the garden and 2 small lights above the garage.

Katie has said that the dogs would not have reacted if she or Sebastian were moving around the house, but they would react if there was a stranger.

“My son doesn’t run and he’s not a runner. He’s never run away before,” she said, addressing the possibility that he could have wandered off. “I don’t know why he walked out that door.”

Seth found out Sebastian was missing via Chris- he finished a 12 hour shift at 7am, looked at his phone at approximately 7:20am and found a text from Chris saying there was an emergency. He was at the house by 8am.

An Endangered Child Alert was issued at approximately 11.17 am by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) on behalf of the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office.

In the alert, investigators said Sebastian was last seen earlier that day near Stafford Court in Hendersonville, adding that he was wearing a black sweatshirt, black sweatpants and glasses. Most reports say that Sebastian was not wearing shoes.

Sumner County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Ken Weidner said over 200 people joined the search for Sebastian on that day, including multiple K-9 teams, mounted units, helicopter crews and drones.

The search team covered a nearly five-mile radius. “I can’t recall off the top of my head when the last search like this was,” Chief Deputy Eric Craddock with the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office told News 2. “Obviously, this one is exponentially more important being a child who does have autism.”

On Tuesday February 27, the TBI announced that the Endangered Child Alert had been changed to an Amber Alert.

On this day, dozens of agencies continued searching for Sebastian and began employing unique tactics such as blasting his favourite song, “Eye of the Tiger,” while searching in different areas to try to call out to him, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office said.

Local residents were asked to check the CCTV and report any information to authorities.

On February 29, police drained a local pond but nothing was found.

Emergency Management Agency Director Ken Weidner said that search-and-rescue dogs had not been able to pick up Sebastian’s scent.

On Monday 4 March, the search was scaled back. Authorities announced that they were transitioning from searching to an investigation.

“This does not diminish our commitment to finding Sebastian,” Chief Deputy Eric Craddock said during a press conference. “This is simply us transitioning from the ground search to the investigative side.”

He added that there were “no leads, no details to indicate that Sebastian is not alive.”

On the same day, Sebastian’s mother spoke to the media for the first time about their child’s disappearance, telling WSMV4 “I just want my baby to be ok.”

“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” she added.

Sebastian’s stepfather, Chris said the family had been “on one constant rollercoaster ride of helplessness and hopelessness” since Sebastian vanished.

The couple has received backlash for not speaking out earlier, to which they say they shouldn’t be judged because no one knows what they’re going through.

“You don’t know, and I don’t wish you to ever know,” they said. “Just be kind to people. It’s just that simple.”

On Thursday 7 March, police searched a landfill in White Plains, Kentucky. This landfill is where trash from Sebastian’s neighbourhood was taken.

Officials called the search of the landfill a “precautionary measure to eliminate possible options and questions” and said there was “no specific information” indicating evidence related to the search for Sebastian was there.

The search concluded that evening, with authorities later stating that it did not provide any additional clues as to what happened to Sebastian.

It is thought that this search came about after an employee told law enforcement that one of the bins felt heavier than normal.

“While we had hoped for a different outcome, our commitment to finding Sebastian remains unwavering,” Sumner County Sheriff Sonny Weatherford said. “We will continue to explore all available avenues and resources to bring closure to this case and provide answers to Sebastian’s family and loved ones.”

On March 10, Sebastian’s father Seth Rogers spoke to the media. He said that Sebastian was not the type to wander off and that he would never go far without shoes on.

“He decided he wanted to step into a mound of what he thought was dirt. It was fire ants, and since then he doesn’t like to get his feet in the dirt. He likes to have his shoes and socks on,” he said of Sebastian’s childhood experience.

“In order for him to do something that’s out of the normal, something would’ve had to happen that he felt like he just couldn’t deal with it anymore,” he added.

Chris also mentioned that a search dog had apparently traced Sebastian’s scene to a construction site, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

“One dog tracked him to a construction area over there and it just disappeared, and it’s confusing. There are missing pieces to the puzzle, and I’m having difficulty solving this,” he said.

Seth added that it makes “absolutely no sense there’s been no trace of him.”

“I’m hoping he’s still alive,” the father said. “That is my main hope right now.”

On March 14, police got CCTV that showed some activity outside the home on the night that Sebastian disappeared. At 3.10am, two specks of light appeared outside the family home.

Sumner County Sheriff’s chief deputy Eric Craddock told the news outlet that there are several clips that have come in that investigators are reviewing for more clues.

One clip shows a pitch-black Stafford Court neighborhood with two lights that appear to be people with flashlights moving toward each other before moving off-screen.

Sebastian’s father has cast doubt on what the footage actually shows. ‘Nothing that is being assumed right now is actually true about that video,’ he told Chronicles of Olivia.

‘Everybody is trying to assume is a flashlight, I hate to say this it’s not as much as we would love it to be one it’s not.’

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations said, ‘The video has been collected, and from the beginning of the investigation, has been analyzed, and enhanced where possible, by tech experts with the TBI, FBI, and Secret Service. To date, nothing gathered from these video systems has been determined to be significant.’

On Saturday March 23, the United Cajun Navy announced that they were joining the search.

The volunteer-run organisation, which assists with natural disaster recovery and missing persons searches, said it was sending a team, along with a K-9 unit, to try to find Sebastian.

On March 29, the United Cajun Navy announced that they were pulling back and regrouping “due to increasing security concerns”.

“This decision was not taken lightly [and] is made with the safety of all volunteers in mind. We want to thank all the volunteers that planned to be out searching today,” the group’s Facebook post said.

WSMV 4 reported that the group had received “death threats” online and in person.

In late March, Seth spoke to NewsNation and spoke about issues between him and Sebastian’s mother and stepfather.

“I haven’t spoken to them for two weeks. They’re not talking to me,”

“His shoes (were at) the front door. His (Nintendo) Switch was there. His phone was in the kitchen,” Seth said. “I still can’t figure it out. I’ve been looking everywhere, handing out flyers.”

Around this time, Katie and Chris appeared in the media and said that police had cleared them of any wrongdoing in the case. Katie said that she believed someone had Sebastian.

“I feel like if he had been close to the house, or had walked off, that we would have found him by now with as many people as have been searching,” Kate said.

“We love you so much, and we want you to come home and you’re not in trouble,” she said. “I just want my baby to be OK.”

On April 2, the TBI gave an update as Sebastian’s case entered its 6th week.

“We’re all extremely concerned for Sebastian’s welfare,” Eric Craddock, SCSO chief deputy, began the briefing, saying that despite no sightings, their commitment to finding the boy “remains unwavering”.

This is a summary of the press conference from Stacey in our group. We have only included new information for brevity”

Police are still very committed to finding Sebastian.

Sebastian has not been forgotten. He won’t be forgotten about.

Investigators are checking and rechecking leads. More police work and less searching now.

Sebastian’s parents have been cooperating since the beginning.

There is no evidence of criminal element involved. But all possibilities on the table.

Cautioned listening to social media rumors. Inaccurate/incomplete information being shared. Has caused distractions

314 tips have come in as of this morning.

The public are asked to keep an eye on your own property for any hiding spaces a teenager might go.

The public are urged to come forward with any information on Sebastian. Even just things he likes.

There is no evidence to suggest foul play or that his parents are involved.

United Cajun Navy is working independently. United Cajun Navy haven’t filed any reports in relation to the threats they’ve said they received.