Sebastian Rogers Missing Update as Foul Play Feared

The search for a missing autistic boy has become a police investigation amid fears that foul play could have been involved in the teenager’s disappearance.

Sebastian Rogers, 15, vanished a week ago from the home he shares with his mother and stepfather in Sumner County, Tennessee. The boy’s stepfather, Chris Proudfoot, was working out of town, and mom Katie Proudfoot said her son wasn’t in his room when she went to wake him for school on February 26. There had been no sign of a break-in, suggesting he had left of his own accord.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there were 359,094 reports of missing children in 2022 (the most up-to-date figures) – although it should be noted that some of those numbers are repeat entries for children who ran away multiple times. Whereas hundreds of thousands of children and juveniles are reported missing each year, analysis by Reuters suggests that the vast majority—more than 95 percent—are found relatively quickly after running away.

Abduction by a non-custodial parent or relative accounts for most of the remaining cases, and just 0.1 percent are reported as abductions by a stranger.

A massive search for the teen is underway, with scent dogs, drones, helicopters, divers and search teams on foot and on horseback hunting for the vulnerable boy.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has shared an Amber Alert for the teen, who was described as having “a medical condition that may impair his ability to return safely without assistance.” He was described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds, and he wears glasses and has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing black sweatpants and a black sweatshirt, according to the alert that was issued by the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office.

The alert was posted on social media site X (formerly called Twitter) by the TBI, which asked Sumner Country residents “especially around Beech High School and Long Hollow Pike, to check any space on their property where he could seek shelter.”

Since Rogers disappeared, there have been no sightings of him and he hasn’t been seen on any security camera footage. Authorities have not named any suspects.

Newsweek reached out by email to the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office seeking further information and comment.

Sources close to the case confirmed officers are now considering foul play and said that the case may turn into a criminal investigation, according to local broadcaster News Channel 5. While the search is continuing, Sumner County EMA Director Ken Weidner said: “We’re scaling it back a little bit.”

Chris and Katie Proudfoot gave an interview to local news channel WSMV over the weekend. The mother wept as she said: “I just want my baby to be ok… He’s not a runner. He’s never run away before. I don’t know why he walked out that door… We’ve been combing over that day, and even the weeks before he left, and I haven’t been able to figure it out. That morning he was laughing, he was joking.”

The boy is not on social media and doesn’t have much online capability, the parents told the station.

The couple said they have been harassed with people pointing figures at them.

“You’re not in the situation,” Chris Proudfoot said. “You don’t quite understand. I wish people would step back, take a different wide open view, and not assume what they know. It’s just better to stick to the facts. I can tell you that [his] mom, myself, and the father, have worked very fully and cooperatively with all agencies across the board.”

He added he and his wife hope Rogers will return home. “He’s going to walk through that door and the street will be flooded again with relatives all waiting to hug him and love him.”

Authorities have asked the public to come forward with any information, as well as footage they may have from their Ring camera doorbells of anything suspicious that occurred on Sunday, February 25; not just from the evening, when Rogers vanished, but from any time during the day.

Anyone with information about the missing teenager should call the Sumner County Emergency Communications Center at 615-451-3838 or the TBI on 1-800-TBI-FIND.