It has been nearly two years since 15-year-old Sebastian Rogers vanished from his Hendersonville, Tennessee, home, and honestly, the silence is deafening. Usually, when a child goes missing, there is a trail. A scent, a grainy piece of doorbell footage, a witness who saw something that "just didn't look right." But with Sebastian? Nothing. No shoes were missing. No phone. No coat. Just a boy with a "magical smile" and high-functioning autism who seemingly dissolved into the humid Tennessee night on February 26, 2024.
Now that we are in 2026, the reward has climbed to a staggering $347,000. People are still talking, still theorizing, and still hanging flyers that the rain has begun to rot at the edges. But the core question remains: how does a teenager with specific medical needs walk out of a secure home in the middle of the night and leave absolutely zero evidence behind?
The Night Everything Changed in Stafford Court
The timeline of what happened to Sebastian Rogers starts normally. On Sunday, February 25, 2024, Sebastian spent the day with his mother, Katie Proudfoot. They did the things families do—trips to a department store, a little gaming at a bowling alley, and dinner at a Texas Roadhouse. They got home, and according to Katie, Sebastian went to bed around 9 or 10 p.m.
She says she told him to go to sleep because school was coming early the next morning.
Everything seemed fine. Katie then spent about two hours on the phone with her husband, Chris Proudfoot, who was working out of town in southwest Tennessee. By midnight, she was asleep. But when she went to wake Sebastian up for school at 6 a.m., his bed was empty.
Here is where it gets weird. Sebastian didn't take anything. His phone was on the table. His shoes—which any kid would need to walk through the woods or down a road—were still in the house. This wasn't a "runaway" situation in the traditional sense.
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The initial search was massive. We are talking about 2,000 volunteers, K-9 units, drones, helicopters, and even an airplane. They covered a 4.5-mile radius around the Stafford Court area, totaling roughly 44,000 acres of search ground. They even blasted "Eye of the Tiger"—Sebastian’s favorite song—through the woods, hoping the sound would draw him out if he were hiding.
They found nothing. Not a scrap of clothing. Not a footprint.
Debunking the Rumors and "Flashlight" Theories
Because the investigation hasn't yielded a body or a suspect, the internet has done what it does best: it went wild. You've probably seen the grainy security footage from a neighbor's house showing "moving lights" in the backyard. For months, people were convinced they were seeing someone with a flashlight leading Sebastian away.
The FBI eventually had to step in and basically tell everyone to calm down. After analyzing the topography and the angles, they proved those "flashlights" were actually truck headlights from a street on a hill about 300 yards away, flickering through the trees.
Then there was the "man in the green hoodie" theory. A video from the restaurant showed a man interacting with Katie and Sebastian. Law enforcement tracked him down, talked to him, and cleared him. He had nothing to do with it.
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Why Autism Changes the Investigation
Sebastian has autism and 6Q27 chromosomal deletion syndrome. This is a critical detail because, as FBI agents have pointed out, about 50% of children on the spectrum are prone to "wandering." They are also often drawn to water.
This led to searchers draining local ponds and scouring every creek bed in Sumner County. But even if he wandered off, the total lack of physical evidence—no shoes, no clothes, no biological traces found by the bloodhounds—makes the "wandering" theory hard for some to swallow.
A Family Divided by Grief and Suspicion
The case has also been plagued by a very public and very painful rift between Sebastian's parents. Seth Rogers, Sebastian's father, has been a constant, vocal presence in the search. He has put over 36,000 miles on his truck, driving through Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky following "rabbit holes."
Seth hasn't been shy about his frustrations. He has publicly called for the FBI to take lead control of the case, suggesting that local authorities aren't moving fast enough or are being too protective of the investigation's "integrity."
On the other side, Katie and Chris Proudfoot have faced intense scrutiny from the "true crime" community. People have pointed to everything from Chris's disciplinary methods—rumors of using a belt—to the fact that Katie took a polygraph while Seth initially didn't take one administered by the TBI.
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Honestly, the "trial by social media" has been brutal. Law enforcement has had to remind the public repeatedly that "misinformation and false narratives" actually hurt the search. Every time a "sighting" is posted on TikTok that turns out to be a different kid, it pulls detectives away from real leads.
Where the Case Stands in 2026
So, what happened to Sebastian Rogers? As of early 2026, the case is officially "active but cold." The AMBER Alert is still out there. The FBI reward is still on the table.
We are now looking at a 17-year-old boy. He would look different now—older, taller. His father still holds out hope, recently spending Sebastian’s birthday handing out malts and flyers at a Culver's, reminding people that his son isn't just a news story.
The authorities have analyzed everything:
- Forensic images of all family cell phones.
- Data from Sebastian's gaming systems.
- Video from every doorbell camera in a five-mile radius.
- Landfill searches in Kentucky that turned up nothing.
The "question mark" the FBI talked about in 2024 has only grown. Without a crime scene or a body, they can't even prove a crime was committed, yet they can't prove one wasn't.
Actionable Ways to Help
If you want to actually do something rather than just speculate on message boards, here is how you can help the investigation:
- Distribute Official Flyers: Seth Rogers often emphasizes that "flyers get taken down." If you live in Tennessee or neighboring states, keeping his face visible in gas stations and rest stops is more effective than a social media comment.
- Check Rural Property: If you own land in Sumner County or near the Kentucky border, keep an eye out for anything out of place—clothing, old campsites, or items that shouldn't be there.
- Report, Don't Post: If you think you see someone who looks like Sebastian, call 1-800-TBI-FIND or the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office at 615-451-3838 immediately. Taking a photo and posting it to a Facebook group only creates a circus; giving it to the TBI creates a lead.
- Stay Skeptical of "Updates": Always verify "breaking news" about this case through official channels like the TBI Newsroom or the FBI's Nashville field office.
Sebastian Rogers didn't just walk into thin air. Someone, somewhere, knows exactly which door he walked through and who was on the other side. Until that person speaks, or a piece of physical evidence finally surfaces, the Hendersonville community remains on edge, waiting for an answer that is nearly two years overdue.