Sebastian Rogers update: Dad ‘asks the world’ for help finding missing son as mom and stepdad face criticism

“I feel like I am carrying the weight of the world, and all the sudden I got somebody standing behind me, helping me hold that up,” Mr Rogers explained.

He has been out most days searching for the 15-year-old since his disappearance over a month ago.

“I am asking the world to help me find my son,” Mr Rogers told the outlet. “I need my son back.”

Katie Proudfoot, Sebastian’s mother, has said she fears someone has taken her son, insisting the 15-year-old would not have wandered off alone.

She told the podcast Crime Stories with Nancy Grace: “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.”

Ms Proudfoot said she heard a “thud” on the night of Sebastian’s disappearance, called out to him and then told him to go to bed when he responded.

Dan Gooding has the full story:

It’s now more than a month since Sebastian was last seen at his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee on 26 February.

The search operation has involved helicopters, drones, search-and-rescue dogs, and teams on foot, and last week was extended to a landfill site across the state line in Kentucky.

Search teams have been playing the 15-year-old’s favourite song, “Eye of the Tiger”, as they look for him in the hope of attracting his attention.

The teenager, who has high-functioning autism, may have left his mother and stepfather’s house barefoot, investigators believe.

Anyone with information on Sebastian’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact Sumner County Sheriff’s Office Detective Carter at 615-442-1865 or bcarter@sumnersheriff.com.

Tips can also be provided to Sumner County Emergency Communications at 615-451-3838 or 1-800-TBI-FIND.

Here’s what we know about Sebastian’s disappearance so far:

As we pass a month since the Amber Alert was issued for Sebastian, there has still been no sign of him since the moment he went to bed on 25 February.

His mother, Katie Proudfoot, said on Monday that she believes someone has him, while the other main theory is that he left on his own, barefoot.

Over 1,500 people have covered some 10,000 miles between them looking for Sebastian.

Investigators have looked over his family home in Hendersonville at least ten times:

During their recent appearance on Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Sebastian’s mother and stepfather, Katie and Chris Proudfoot, were asked about their lack of emotion in some interviews.

The host said with all that had happened, she could understand that they may be feeling “numb”, but asked the couple why they looked away when responding to questions.

“To the fact of not looking at the camera all the time, it’s because a picture of my son is sitting right beside me and, honestly, I am looking at him,” Ms Proudfoot said.

In its latest update on Friday 22 March, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation addressed frustrations expressed by some after they scaled back their search.

“Much of the work being done to track down information about where Sebastian may have gone is not something you will necessarily see in the public. But we want you to know that every day, work is being done to find Sebastian,” the TBI said in a press release.

The Bureau said it was following up on any tips it received on the case and urged locals to keep on checking their land for signs of the boy.

According to multiple reports, search dogs have not been able to pick up Sebastian’s scent in searches outside his home.

“So looking at what the K-9s were able to pick up, those K-9s should be picking up multiple scents and it’s all based on Seabstian’s routine activities,” Geographic profiler Douglas MacGregor told Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

“Does he go to a friend’s house during the week? Does he go to the corner store? Does he occasionally walk to school? Even taking the bus, those K-9s should be picking up all those scents from seven days past,” he said.

The analysis adds to the confusion and unanswered questions surrounding Sebastian’s disappearance overnight on the 25 February.

Seth Rogers got emotional as he spoke of spending weeks searching for Sebastian Rogers, following his disappearance on 26 February.