More than a year after 15-year-old Sebastian Rogers disappeared from his Tennessee home, his family hopes a new clue will bring him back. Katie Proudfoot said goodnight to her son on February 25, 2024, but had no idea that was the last time she’d see him. The following day, she went to Sebastian’s room to prepare him for school, but he wasn’t there. Proudfoot began a panicked search for her son, who is on the autism spectrum. A large-scale search for the teenager began, but investigators did not find him.
Local police and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continued the search for Sebastian, but his family wanted more help. They hired a private investigator, Steve Fischer, to investigate. According to the Daily Mail, Fischer uncovered a surveillance video showing a figure of a person resembling Sebastian about a block from the family’s home the night Sebastian disappeared.
“It’s definitely a person,” Fischer told the Daily Mail. “It looks like a thin person wearing dark clothing walks down south on Kellyn Lane behind a vehicle. And it appears like he or she is trying to stay out of eyesight of the person walking their dog.”
He added, “They go behind this car for a little while then they turn around and come back the same way they came from.”
The video came from an area near a construction site combed by search dogs as a potential lead.
Sumner County Sheriff Eric Craddock told the Daily Mail he’s seen the footage. “After thoroughly investigating this lead, we determined that it has no relevance to the case.”
Additionally, a photo began to circulate in March 2024 that some believe was of Sebastian. A woman reportedly took the photo at a rest stop in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. Sebastian’s father, Seth Rogers, told News Nation at the time that he believed the photo was his son.
“I would surely hope that the FBI would take the lead. Because I believe that is my son, and he is across state lines. I would really truly appreciate it if the FBI did take the lead,” Rogers said, per the news outlet.
Craddock told Dateline NBC that authorities activated an active Amber Alert for Sebastian soon after he disappeared that remains active.
The last video of Sebastian before his disappearance was from security footage at a restaurant he and his mother dined at the night of his disappearance, Court TV reported. His mother was seen taking photos of him and sending them to someone.
Proudfoot told Dateline no matter where her son went that night, she believes “he had every intention of coming back home.” He was looking forward to a new class at school, she said. “They actually have animals in the school that the kids will work with as they advance through the classes,” Katie said. “And that was what he really wanted. He wanted to get in there and start working with the animals.”
At the time of his disappearance, Sebastian was 5’5″ and weighed 120 pounds. He has brown eyes, light brown hair, and wears glasses. Anyone with information about Sebastian’s whereabouts should contact the TBI at [email protected].
