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

Katie Proudfoot, mother of missing teenager Sebastian Rogers has defended her decision to leave the area where her son was last seen, shortly after his disappearance.

Ms Proudfoot drove three hours away from her home to meet up with her husband and Sebastian’s stepfather, Chris Proudfoot, but said it was due to having received “threatening and hateful” messages from strangers.

“We are posting fliers every direction we can,” she told Fox and Friends on Thursday morning.

“But at the same time, there were quite a bit of people that were sending some very threatening and hateful messages to us. They’re following us. They’re driving past our house at all hours of the day or night, disturbing the neighborhood, and the neighborhood is very upset and concerned. They’re worried about their safety at this point.”

Ms Proudfoot added that she felt that leaving the neighborhood would help calm things down.

From a pond being drained, to a reward for information and a mother’s tearful interview, the search for Sebastian has now passed the one-month mark.

Here is a rundown of the story so far:

It’s a month since the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation posted this to its X account, announcing that an Amber Alert had been issued for Sebastian Rogers.

An autism expert has explained that Sebastian’s special needs would likely be affecting him greatly.

Speaking to Nancy Grace, Courtney Lasky from Little Stars Therapy said that children typically have deficits with communication and social skills.

“If, in fact, he is with someone else who does not know him well, that would be entirely out of his routine, he could be engaging in behaviours which he has not engaged in before, he could be looking for an escape, a way to get out of those adverse situations,” Ms Lasky said.

She added that not every autistic child will wander, but that 36% of those who do are doing so to get away from a stressful or difficult situation.

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.

Newly released audio has given new insight into the moments after Sebastian disappeared.

“We have a missing juvenile… This morning the 15-year-old was not in the bed,” the officer is heard saying in the broken audio from around 6.20am on 26 February.

They then describe Sebastian, who may have been wearing a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants, adding that he had never disappeared from the home in Hendersonville before.

“The mother is driving around looking for him… she is driving a blue Infinity,” the dispatcher tells officers.

The Independent has approached Sumner County Sheriff’s Office for further comment.

“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: