Autistic teen Sebastian Rogers is still missing.
The Sheriff's Department announced they are scaling back the search for Rogers and moving into more of an investigation. That didn't stop hundreds of volunteers searching in several different areas of Tennessee over the weekend.
Saturday volunteers gathered at The Rockland Recreation Area which is about seven miles from Sebastian Rogers' neighborhood. As news spread that Sebastian's Dad, Seth Rogers, was in the area with the Cajun Navy, excited volunteers flocked to the area.
Today Sebastian's mother and stepfather join Nancy to weigh in on finding the missing teen.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
Crime Stories with Nancy Greace, February twenty six, Monday morning, six am. From everything we can tell, that is the moment that Sebastian's mom and stepdad realize he's gone for.
Just one moment.
Imagine that you go in your child's room where you find your child every single school day morning and you wake them up, but at six am, he's not there. Can you imagine what must have gone through their minds. First of all, I want you to hear what his bio mom, Katie Proudfoot says, listen.
Sebastian Rogers' mother, Katie Brownfoot, spoke with WSMV and explained exactly what happened the morning she found her son missing.
When I welcome up for school, he wasn't there. I took a second walk through the house looking for him in case you'd gotten up and was trying to get breakfast or something, because you did that sometimes. About three minutes in give or take, I was on the phone with my husband. I said I can't find him. He said, what do you mean, can't find him?
I said, he's not n can't find him.
Where is he?
And in the last days we learned that the official law enforcement search is actually scaling back this as tiktalkers and YouTubers are flooding the area conducting their own searches. Listen to Eric Kratick, Chief Deputy Sumner County Sheriffs.
Really wanted to come to the community to ask for your help. We need you to search your properties every day, morning and night. If there's a shed or a cross space or up under your mobile home, or a tarp that's in your yard, check it every morning and check it every night. But for any details that something has been disturbed. If there's a shirt that was there today that wasn't there yesterday, notify us. You can really help us by searching your own property twice a day. Like I said, we're operating under assumption that Sabastian walked off, and we really need your help to ensure that he is brought home safely.
We are trying to determine what happened when this young boy, an autistic young boy, seemingly walks out of his own home in the middle of the night. We think barefoot, how did that happen? I Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories and on series X SEM one eleven. We've read a lot online, We've seen a lot of theory, a lot of speculation, but let's start with what we know to be true.
Joining me right now in All Star panel.
But first I'm going to go to two special guests joining us, Katie and Chris Proudfoot. This is Sebastian's biological mother and his stepfather who were in their home with Sebastian when he goes missing. To both of the proud.
Foots, thank you for being with us.
Yes, ma'am, thank you for being with us. I'm going to go straight back to when Sebastian goes missing, Miss Proudfoot. I understand that the day before, which would have been Sunday, if I've got the information correct, that you guys went out, you went to dinner, you went to somewhere I believe you said b jays or he had a quote Coloss popcorn, and then you came home that night and around nine pm you tell Sebastian to go to bed. He says okay and goes to his room.
Is that correct, yes, ma'am.
That night, I.
Understand from previous statements you've made that you went to bed around midnight. Is that correct, it is. And to you, mister Proudfoot, Chris Prowdfoot, did you also go to bed at midnight or before or after?
No, man, we went around. We went to bed around the same time as we were on the phone together.
Please excuse you any of my questions. I'm simply trying to find out more about that night. Do you too sleep in the same bedroom.
He wasn't actually in the home at all that weekend, Christopher wasn't.
You were not home, no, ma'am. Okay, So where were you, mister Proudfoot?
I was in Memphis, Tennessee.
How far away is that?
Three hours and thirty seven minutes from doorstep to doorstep?
And what were you doing in Memphis working? Where do you work?
I'm currently working or was working at the Saint Jude Children's Hospital construction project.
Yes, I'm very familiar with Saint Jud's.
You said you were working there. Are you no longer working there?
Right now? That's up in the air.
Well. You've been gone ever since Sebastian went missing. So I understand when you are home. Do you two sleep in the same bedroom, yes, ma'am. Is this a three bedroom home, yes, ma'am. Where is your room? As it relates to Sebastian's.
Room, It's on the opposite end of the house. The master bedrooms on one side and the other the two bedrooms are on the other side of the house.
Okay.
So your master bedroom is on one side of the house and Sebastian's room is on the other side of the house.
Is that correct, yes, ma'am.
Okay. Now you have a third bedroom that I believe you keep for your other daughter. Is that correct, yes, ma'am. Is that Faith is your other daughter named Faith?
Yes, ma'am.
Okay. So where is Fate's bedroom as it relates to Bastian's.
Bedroom, It's on the back side of the house. Sebastian's bedrooms on the front side of the house.
Okay, So his bedroom is away from Faith's bedroom and away from your master bedroom.
Is that correct, yes, ma'am.
Is Sebastian's room on a top floor or a floor a ground level?
We have a ranch style house. It's a one and a half story, so everything's hat or flat, and then you have the bonus from above the garage.
Okay. So his is on ground floor, right, yes, ma'am, Yes, ma'am.
Okay.
That morning was there any sign of a break in through a window, a front door, a back door, sliding down glass door, anything at all, no, ma'am. Okay, no sign of forest entry. Was anything taken from the home at all?
Not that we could find anything. We couldn't find anything missing.
I want to circle back to Sebastian's shoes regarding if anything was missing.
Do you have a burglar alarm?
No, ma'am.
Do you have a ring doorbell cam?
No, ma'am.
Okay.
Have the two of you taken a polygraph?
I have?
I have not?
Would you be willing to?
I've offered and volunteered on many occasions to take a polygraph, and I was told directly by law enforcement because of my whereabouts I did not need one.
I understand, Miss Proudfoot. Did you pass your polygraph? I did those questions out of the way. Was faith in the home when Sebastian went missing?
No, no, ma'am.
Does anyone else have a key to your home beside your immediate family?
No, no, ma'am.
That night, Miss Proudfoot, at midnight when you went to bed, what did you do until midnight?
I had been reading a chapter that I needed to and I had been talking to my husband on the phone. I was fallen asleep on it, so that's when he told me. It was around midnight. He told me, was go ahead and put the dogs up and go to bed. And that's what I did. I gotta put the dogs where they sleep, and then I myself went to bed.
Where do they sleep?
They have a big pen a pin.
Is it inside or outside?
Inside?
Inside? That reminds you of another question. Do you guys have a motion sensor light or lights on the outside of your house.
Yes, we do have lights on the outside of our house.
Did they activate that night?
They're not motion censored? We have lights motions.
Were they on that night? No, ma'am, okay, were they on that night? So the lights were out the whole night, yes, ma'am.
We don't typically turn the flood lights on.
Were there any lights outside the house on at all?
Just my little solar lights that we have in the garden.
There's two lights on the side of the house above the garage that are on at all times.
Oh, yeah, those are.
Oh there's a lot above the garage is on at all times.
There's two, yes, ma'am.
Okay, so those lights were on, yes, ma'am. Okay.
The reason I'm asking is because I heard you say earlier, mister Proudfoot, that your neighbors have been very very forthcoming with their ring camera info. Yes, and I was trying to determine if any lights were on, what, if anything they may have caught. But I understand from your previous interviews that nothing of any evidentiary value was caught. And also, in another statement you gave, I understand that the video of the two flashlights, and I'm saying that with air quotes, that's not exactly what that was at all. We now don't believe that two flashlights were observed around your home.
Is that correct?
You're very correct, okay. Question regarding your vehicles, Miss Proudfoot, what making model do you drive?
I drive a Infinity SUV year twenty seventeen, and sir, what do you drive?
Can drive a diesel truck Chevrolet year I don't remember off the top of man, I think it's a twenty twenty one.
I think so. Your Infinity Suv was parked in the garage or outside the garage that night, Miss Proudfoot, in the garage in the garage, and mister Proudfoot, your vehicle was on location in Memphis?
Is that correct?
Correct?
Okay, So there's only one car at the home? Is that right?
There was actually a word vehicle in the driveway at the time as well, but it hasn't moved. We can't just we can't give out that information because we're not permissioned from her work.
I don't understand that.
What about the making model of the vehicle.
I have a work fan that was also parked in the driveway.
Why is that if it's out in the driveway where people can see it, why is that.
Privileged information?
We just don't have permission from her company to divulge that information.
Have you asked?
No, memory, have not. Nobody has asked us that question with you.
Okay, So you have a work van. Question to you, miss profit? What do you do for a living?
I am an installation technician.
That night, was the workvan blocking your driveway? Could someone go in and out of your driveway?
The van is parked at the back of my driveway so someone can pull in.
Yes, got it? Do you part your Infinity SUV in the garage or outside the garage?
In the garage?
In the garage, do you have an automatic garage door with the clicker right? Uh?
Do you leave that up or down at night?
Down?
Could anybody lift it up?
Like?
Is there an aut and off button outside? Or do you have to know a code or have the clicker to open it?
You'd have to know the code or have the clicker.
Does Sebastian know the code not to.
The garage store, but to the man doors.
Not to the garage door, but to the.
The house door. Yes?
So is there a code to get in your home or do you use a regular key? There's a code and he knows that code, yes, ma'am.
Question.
I'm just trying to figure out how he would have gotten out or if somebody came into the home. Could they have gotten through the garage door? No, unless they know the code or had the clicker, which they did not.
Do you lock your doors.
At night, yes, ma'am. Could he have left on his own.
Through those doors?
He could, yes, ma'am.
But I heard in another interview where mister Proudfoot said he was not a quote wanderer, He didn't wander around.
He never left the home before on his own.
Is that right?
Correct? We haven't had issues with him running or taking off in the past.
Okay, let me ask you a couple of questions regarding the doors. Do you have any home surveillance anything at all that would have given us an idea or a clue if the door had been opened or not, or a window not directly from our host, well then from where.
That's what we were hoping that neighborhood ring cameras and made it picked something up.
Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
I want to go back to that night. You said you were up till midnight. You were reading something. What were you reading?
A chapter for school?
A chapter for school? Are you in school?
I was, yes, ma'am. I've since dropped my classes for the time.
What are you studying?
Business administration?
Where do you go to school?
Debray?
So that night you go to bed at midnight, after you've been talking to mister Profit on the phone, you put the dogs away in a cage, a crate inside the home, and you go to bed. Did you check on Sebastian at that time?
I did not?
Okay, do you normally not?
Typically, since he's gotten older, I've not been checking on him as frequently throughout the night because normally he's going to go in his room once he goes to bed.
Earlier, you had stated you heard a noise in his room before you went to bed.
What time is that?
Around ten o'clock ten pm? What did it sound like? Just a thud a thud? You stated that, you said, look, I don't care what you're doing in there, go to bed. Is that right?
I was on the couch which is near his room, and I said, Bubba, did you fall out of the bed And he said no, ma'am. And I said, well, whatever you're doing in there, knock it off and go to sleep.
So you heard his voice at ten pm, yes, ma'am. Do you have any idea what the sound actually was.
I do not know.
If he were to go out his window, what would he step on?
Mulch and bushes?
Got it? Has he ever gone out the window before?
No, ma'am.
It's his home. It's his room.
On the front of the house or the back of the house front front. Do any of your neighbors ring cams point toward your house? Could they pick that up?
They do, but it's so dark that they can only see it. After it gets so dark at night they can only see certain things.
I thought there were the two lights on.
On the opposite side of the house.
Okay, Can we talk about Sebastian's shoes. Why are you convinced Sebastian left without shoes on?
Or are you well? The reason that that came about is because all of his shoes are accounted for inside the house.
Still are you positive?
Unpositive?
How do you know what clothes he was wearing?
The clothes that we described are the ones I saw him in when he went to bed that morning.
You woke up at six o'clock. Is that the normal time you wake up?
Yes, ma'am.
Are you a heavy sleeper?
Off and on?
Do you take any medication at night that would make you sleep? No, ma'am, but you heard nothing. I did not know, so we know he is alive and well. At ten pm, at six am, he's gone. You say he's never left before.
Is that right?
Correct? He's never run off before?
And I could I confirm where was his bio dad at the time.
He went missing.
I believe he was at work in Nashville.
Had there been any family argument or altercation prior to him going missing?
No, ma'am.
And mister Prawfitt, when did you leave.
Town early February?
So you had been gone for days before he went missing.
Is that correct?
Correct?
Had you visited home since you left?
You said from when I've initially left. Yes, Yes, ma'am. I came home in February twenty sixth, the morning I was told that he was missing.
From the time that you left for the job in Memphis to February twenty six did you visit the home, ma'am?
When I was home? I can't give exact dates. Law enforcement has told me not to provide exact dates. But I had been home multiple times prior to February, and then I left early February and then didn't come back till February twenty sixth, the morning was missing.
So you were not home from the time you left early February till feb twenty six Is that right?
Correct?
Man?
Where were you living in Memphis?
I have an RV trailer that I stand at an.
RV park, RVY park, Okay, falling back up on that morning, you search the home, it's Pridefoot. Then you get in your vehicle and you start searching. Yes, did Sebastian know how to drive?
No, ma'am.
Was your car in the same location when you woke up that morning?
As it was the night before, yes, ma'am.
Has your car been searched by police multiple times?
Yes, ma'am.
Have scent dogs looked at your car?
Yes, ma'am.
So your car is in the same place. You get in the car, you start looking in the neighborhood for him. Is that right, yes, ma'am. Then you call mister Proudfoot? Right.
I believe I was already on the phone with him at that point.
Okay, question who called nine one one? I?
Did you did?
Yes, ma'am.
What time?
Without looking at a call lock and hen the exact time? But on our about six?
And had you guys been talking on the phone before six am? Or did you initially call mister Proudfoot at the time you realized Sebastian was gone?
I called him when I realized Sebastian was gone.
Have you guys been out looking for Sebastian?
Yes, yes, ma'am.
We were given information that you guys have left the home. Is that true, yes, ma'am.
Why I'm going back to work.
You're going back to work? What about you, Miss Proudfit?
And I'm not going back to work, not yet?
At least did you leave the home also, Miss Proudfit?
Yes, ma'am, why to accompany my husband going back to work and then I'm coming back.
Okay, when will you be back?
Do you know yet?
No?
Not yet.
Are you concerned about being away while the search is ongoing?
Absolutely, I am.
Then why are you going?
Because my son could be anywhere and we're looking everywhere and anywhere.
I've got a question for you, Yes, ma'am, I want to find out about mister Proudfoot hitting Sebastian with a belt.
That was actually several years ago, and it was to.
Mister Proudfoot, to mister Proudfoot, to mister Proudfoot, Yes, ma'am, mister Proudfoot, what happened?
Oh, I'm sorry. I misunderstand that you would ask to me, Katie. Sebastian had got an in trouble. Well, he got caught line and we asked. I had asked him. I said, hey, you know you got to have a punishment for this. He says yes, certain, I said, okay, So I gave him a swat with a belt on his butttalks on the outside of his clothes one spot.
What did he lie about?
Honestly, I don't remember at the time, but it was probably something dealing with school, because that's majority where his issues lie.
Did he have other issues at school?
Some behavioral stuff but nothing too crazy?
What kind of behavioral stuff.
He has a hard times? Are belief socially blending in with students, so it's a little he's trying to figure out how to do it but respecting people's space. He gets a little too close and then kids don't really accept that too much, so it kind of causes an issue. But he'll not stop, and he continues on, so then it causes an issue, and instead of being on about it, he'll lie like, no, I didn't okay, Sebastian, were about doing work?
Was that the first time? Was that the first time you had ever hit him with a belt?
Yes, ma'am, the one and only time. Actually when was this years ago? Ma'am?
Any idea? How many?
Three?
Ten? One?
It probably at least three years ago.
I don't understand how that turned into a CPS or Child Protective Services complaint? How were they alerted that you hit him with a belt?
That did not turn That did not turn into a CPS or service call?
There were other CPS reports, right, were they? Regarding your other child?
There is one in regards to my daughter that I know of out in New Mexico with my ex wife and myself.
What happened.
At the time. My ex wife had fled to New Mexico with my daughter going through a custody and in a divorce case at that time, and at the time when I call and try to check in on my daughter, I could never reach my ex wife at that time, so a welfare check was requested. Law enforcement told me to call CPS if I had concerns, So I called CPS. Law enforces did make a welfare call and that was it.
Then how does that turn into a CPS complaint against you?
I have no idea, man, there's a lot of misinformation out there right now in regards to my New Mexico case that actually has no relevance to the Sebastian case.
And was there even a CPS complaint against you?
Not that not that I am aware of, and my attorney and myself well educated on my case and there's nothing that we know of.
Was there a TRO taken out against you regarding your daughter?
Not a TRO but a TPO.
A temporary protective order? Why was that taken out?
So in regards to that case, my ex wife had a TPO put against her in the in Tennessee. At the time when we went to court that got dissolved. I was already to hand my daughter back over to my ex wife at the time. She gets in a truck she FLTs to New Mexico. Two days later she files one in retaliation.
Is it still in place, No, ma'am.
That was dropped within I think two weeks of it being put in place.
I got a question about the belt incident. You're telling me that was the only time that you ever hit Sebastian with a belt, yes, ma'am. And you're also telling me that did not make it to CPS.
No, ma'am, that did not.
Question.
Yes, ma'am.
Regarding Fate's furniture, yes, ma'am. A few days after Sebastian goes missing, did you replace furniture in Fate's room?
No, ma'am. I have not replaced any furniture in my daughter's room.
Is there any furniture in the home.
Yes, wim, there's a bed that was given to me and it's currently in my garage.
Has anything been taken out of the home, No, ma'am. I was curious about a statement that miss Proudfoot made earlier that K nine dogs hit on the bar around the home and near a retention pond.
Did that happen, I'm.
Not sure about the barn, but the retention pond.
Yes, because law enforcement says the dogs did not hit.
There's been a miss.
Proudfoot says they did hit around the retention pond.
So there's been a lot of miscommunication in regards to what is and what is not. To help clear that up, law enforcement has actually spoken directly with me showed me a few things. What I can tell you is there from day one, there was five dogs that started the sent for the search, and then after that from the next eight days out from that, there have been dogs from all over the country that have come in and done searches and had sent hits in various locations. But I would say that a certain percentage of them tend to go toward the same pot, which would have been a retention pond.
So the law enforcement dogs did not hit on the retention pond. Is that what you're saying.
No, I'm saying they did. There was at least three that I know for a fact that did hit on the retention pond.
And the pond has been drained correct and there was nothing there.
Yes, ma'am. They have walked it, drained it and there's nothing. The retention pond was only knee deep.
Anyways, on one occasion, mister Proudfoot, you stated that you and missus Proudfoot have been quote vetted and cleared a foul play that was stated on Chronicles of Olivia. Is that true? What do you mean by that?
So, after working with law enforcement of all agencies, they have actually told us that there is no foul play. The various issues, we've been cleared of all wrongdoing. We are working extremely cooperative with all law enforcement agencies. At any point in time that they've called come to the house, anything.
Was Sebastian angry or upset before he disappeared.
No man, not to my knowledge.
What is your theory about where is Sebastian?
I wish I knew where he was, to be honest.
Your theory, your theory.
I think it's possible that someone has my son. Why because I feel like if he had been close to the house or had walked off, that we would found him by now with as many people as we had searching.
Have you checked his social media social media. Have you checked his phone?
His phone has been thoroughly checked, yes, ma'am.
Have you handed your phones to police both of you?
Yes, ma'am.
Has police searched your all of your devices, your laptop, your iPad, everything, everything, yes, ma'am. Other than you, Miss Proudfoot, who is the last person that saw or heard Sebastian alive the Sunday before he went missing?
Two of his aunts, a cousin and the staff. Where we had dinner.
And that was at Bjy's the night before or the bowling alley.
So Bjy's and then we went to the bowling alley and then after the bowling alley we went to dinner before coming home.
I want to follow up again on the dog's hitting. Earlier, Miss Profit had stayed the dogs hit around the house, the barn, and at the retention pond. Is that correct?
I don't know about the bond the barn, but I do know that they did track to the pond. Yes.
Did the dogs also hit around the house yes, on the outside.
Of the house, yes, ma'am.
Were they sent dogs or cadaver dogs?
They've brought in both and tracking dogs.
Which dog hit a cadaver dog or a scent, dog scent.
It's all been sent dogs that have hit the cadaver dogs have not hit on anything that we know of.
What do you believe Sebastian was wearing when he disappeared and would that have been what he slept in?
Yes? So the clothes, the black sweatpants with the white stripes and the long sleeve Leck shirt. That is what he went to bed in. And the reason that I believe he was still wearing those clothes is because when we searched, I did not find those clothes in the house, So I have to assume that that's what he was still wearing.
I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Did you say that's what he wore when he went to bed?
Yes, ma'am joining.
Us right now, in addition to Katie Proudfoot and Chris Outfoot, the bio mom and stepdad of Sebastian and All Star panel. First to Brian trash rejoining us, vice President of the Cajun Navy, who has joined the search. Brian, thank you for being with us. Who asked you to join the search?
Well, we had deployed a team up to Nashville, Tennessee last week in response to the missing college student Riley Stream, and we stayed up there until he was found. While we were in the area, we had a lot of people reaching out to us on social media saying that there was a young boy who had been missing for several weeks that was only about twenty miles away from where we were. So we talked to a few people, got some information, and decided to deploy part of our team that was already up there to Summer County to investigate and see what we could do to help out.
You went on your own, were you asked to join?
We were asked to join. I'm not sure specifically who some of our people talked to, but we always we get requests all the time, and we'll reach out. We'll try to get either a family member or a close friend of the family, just so we know we're talking to people connected to the family, and somebody had had reached out and asked asked us to join since we already had assets so close to Sumner County.
Tell me what you have been doing, Brian Trasher or everyone with me. The VP of the Cajun Navy who has joined in the search. Brian, tell me what you guys have been doing so.
We've We've had a can our own canine team who was already participating in the search for Riley stream up there searching around. We've talked with the lead investigator, with a Tennessee Burrough of investigation Agent Simmons. We've talked a lot with him and trying to coordinate efforts because we always try to coordinate law enforcement, make sure we're not getting in the way, duplicating efforts or putting out any conflicting information.
You know what, mister Trasher, let me just cut the chase here. Isn't it true that this weekend pursue it to your search that cadaver dogs hit in an area that had been closed off because of a prior hurricane, and it is on federal property. Bones and other items were found at that time. I found that very odd as it would relate to Sebastian. Even if it was Sebastian, his body would not have been skeletonized at this time. Can you tell me now that what was found over the weekend is not connected to Sebastian? Yes, no, nope, not connected to Sebastian.
That's correct, that hit was not connected to Sebastian.
Joining me also in addition to Brian Trasher, who has been leading the Cajun Navy in its search for Sebastian.
Hold on Brian.
Other than those hits, have there been any other dog hits in and around the home or elsewhere?
Not from r K nineteen.
I'm very concerned Brian, as you can imagine, because LA Law enforcement has stated there were no ca. Nine hits outside the home, which I find very very disturbing, because if he had gone outside, particularly barefoot, there would definitely have been a cent trail. Now we're hearing from the Proudfoots that there was a hit around that retention pond. How far is that pond from your home, mister Proudfoot.
Less than probably half a mile if you walk the whole path.
Is it through wooded area?
Would he have had to walk through the woods to get there?
No, ma'am. You can actually walk either the main road or the subduvion. His other construction site is a subdivision new addition that's being built, and they have a road that's going to be tying into our subdivision, So you could actually walk up that way, or you could walk to the main road and walk in.
Sebastian never sleep walk, no, ma'am, so he would have to leave the house undetected by Katie and walk all the way to that retention pond. Did the dogs follow the trail a half a mile, yes, ma'am. They follow the trail all the way to that retention pond.
Yes, ma'am.
Yes, ma'am.
That's very curious as they are saying the dogs didn't pick anything up. Back to you, Brian Trasher, did you guys search anywhere other than that federal property where the false positive was Yes, no, nope. Joining me is Courtney Laski, high profile behavior analyst, autism expert, chief clinical officer with Little Starts Therapy. Courtney, thank you for being with us at this juncture. We know Sebastian to be most likely with people he doesn't know. If in fact he is still alive. How would that affect a young boy with autism.
It would affect him greatly.
Based on the diagnosis of autism, we know that they typically have deficits with communication, social skills, and they display some rigid and repetitive behaviors. 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 behaviors he hasn't engaged in before. He could be looking for an escape. He could be looking to get out of those aversive situations. We know that not every autistic individual will wander, but those who do wander thirty six percent. It's to get out of an aversive situation. It's to get away from something that's overwhelming or overstimulating to them.
Ms Proud, Does he know your phone number? Can he call you if he could get access to a phone.
We have gone over my phone number. I don't know that in a high stress time he would remember it, but yes, I have taught him my phone number.
Okay. Was he ever allowed to go visit friends homes?
He didn't get invited, but had he been, Yes, we have had play dates in the past.
Would he go there? On foot Man Time Stories with me? Nancy Grace joining me now is Lauren Conlin, investigative journalist, host of The Outlier podcast, host of corruption What Happened to Grant Solomon and you can find her at Laurencolin dot com. Lauren, thank you so much for being with us. What can you tell me about that stretch of road? If anything between Sebastian's home and that retention pond.
Well, look, Nancy, I mean, I think, like everything else about this case, it is very confusing because the public hasn't heard much from the police. We haven't heard much from the proud Foots obviously when it comes to that or Zeth Rogers, and now I'm learning a lot here as I can hear Chris Proudfoot say, Okay, we can't speak about this because of law enforcement, and now with the Cajun Navy coming in, I think a lot of us are very excited that they are going to basically can miss this road, and they are actually telling civilians to hang back.
Nobody needs to search this anymore.
You need to stop, You need to stop helping and let us work with law enforcement and take over now. I called the Sumner County Sheriff's office yesterday because of all the misinformation going around, and.
I gotta be honest with you, they didn't.
Even know what was going on with this road with the recreation search.
They were either very elusive or they were very confused.
But either way, it's very concerning because the people as well as myself, I don't live in Tennessee.
I cover a lot of Tennessee. We are very concerned for Sebastian.
We are very concerned, and so let me I stop you, right, miss Colin, everyone concerned, But let me remind everyone that law enforcement is under no duty at all to tell us or anybody else, including the Proudfoots anything. They are not representing the Proud Foots. They are representing justice and they will do what they have to do. The fact that they're not giving us a blowblin by blow is their business. Does it mean they're stymied, I don't know. Does it mean they know more than we think they do. I don't know the answer to that. But just because they're not releasing an ongoing investigative file is not a concern to me at this juncture. I am collecting facts and the best way I know how now regarding that route from the Proudfoot Home to the retention pond, is that you're understanding, Lauren Conlin, that there were no hits by scent or cadaver dogs along that route.
Correct, Nancy, It is my understanding there were no hits from the dogs.
It is very confusing.
It's confusing, you know sometimes, Lauren, when we try to put together a puzzle, but we're missing a few pieces and we don't know what peace we're missing. You can't put the puzzle together. We're missing We're missing things from this puzzle. And right now I'm on a fact finding mission. I am pointing the finger at No. One because I want to find Sebastian. I want to go to doctor Jordy Crawley and joining me and guys again. Please Proud Foots, Trasher, Laski, Conlin, jump in if you have a thought or you want to contradict, because a lot of this is elusive.
We don't know everything to you. Jordy Crawley joining US.
Former law enforcement now faculty Saint Leo University, very well known psychologist and author of Operation so As. You can find them at Doctorjory dot com. Doctor Jory, thank you for being with us. Many people have made much of the fact that when interviewed, the proud Bits do not.
Look at the camera.
They look away, they don't cry, and they don't seem upset. Now that may or may not mean anything. People can be very upset, crying, screaming, cursing. They may show no emotion at all.
They may be numb by the time interviews are happening.
I'm very different when I talk about my fiance's murder or I talk about my dad's death. I still cry, even when I swear I'm not going to.
But everyone reacts differently. What do you make of it?
I can see that the numbing, that fact, it's kind of like a defense making to help you across you know, the events under those circumstances. As an alarmy at all. I mean, I have experienced that type of troll and stress. I've seen it other people that I am actually in a few long psychologists.
Hold on just a second, to Jory Cross and doctor Joy, you're cutting out on me. I'm gonna throw this directly to mister and missus Proudfoot. Much has been made. I'll ask you you very often look away, don't look at who's asking you questions, show no emotion. Much has been made of that, and I'd like to hear your response. I'm not judging one way or the other.
I'd like to hear your response to the.
Fact of not looking at the camera all the time is because picture of my son is sitting beside me and I'm honestly and looking at him. As far as the crying, thing. I have been crying off and on NonStop for a month.
Many people have asked me, why did Miss Proudfoot not call nine one one immediately? And here's your chance to answer.
That, because by the time I realized my son was missing and I called my husband, at that point, I was hysterical. I was at the point where I couldn't even form words anymore. And my husband is the one who remained calm enough to call them.
And to be honest with you, Misgrace, the way, we live outside of city limits, so you don't call nine one one because you get routed to a dispatching hub who asked, what's your location, and then they route you to another dispatcher to talk to. To give this story, I cut all of that out and I called straight to the Sheriff's apartment because they have jurisdiction of where we live. So sorry that I decided to bypass a few steps and go straight to the source, where they responded within ten minutes of the phone call being made.
Miss Proudfoot that evening. Were you drinking, no, ma'am. Had you used any type of drug at all, even OTC over the counter, no, ma'am. And you had no argument with Sebastian that night. No, ma'am, you stated you put the dogs away into a crate before you went to bed. Is the crate located near the exit near a door, No, ma'am. Would the dogs have barked if there had been an intruder or if Sebastian had left.
The dogs don't typically bark at me and Sebastian because they're used to us. Even if we get up, we come around, they don't typically bark strangers. They do tend to bark, at least for a minute or two to get attention. But no, ma'am, they don't typically bark at Sebastian and myself, Christopher when he's.
On What kind of dogs are they?
More keyes?
Question? Where is their crate located.
In the area near my sun room over by the kitchen.
In your son's Okay, hold on, son, Is it outside your son's room.
No, ma'am, not not sebastians room. Son.
Yeah, the sun room. And that's not near the door, no, ma'am.
Not near the front door.
It's near my back door, but not any of the other doors.
Yes, from what I've seen the lay out of the home, it is near the back door, and they would have heard someone coming in and out that back door, correct.
Yes, ma'am, Yes, ma'am.
No barking.
Do you have a chime or anything on your doors that would alert you to the door opening, No, ma'am.
Miss Grace. Could I jump in for something, yes.
Please, And I want to follow up with a question regarding miss Proudfoot's polygraph, but please.
Lauren jump in.
Everybody on the panel. Now is the time to ask the Proudfoots any question that may shed light on what has happened to Sebastian. We are not in a judging arena. We are in a fact finding arena. We can then assimilate the facts and make deductions. Please jump in. Lauren Colin is joining me. You can find her at Lauren Emily Conlin go ahead, yes, thank you.
And now this might be for Brian as well.
Yesterday when the dogs hit and everybody's going crazy YouTubers, Internet TikTokers, and we figure out it's not Sebastian, and police are not involved, the TBI is not involved. Did you call the Proudfoots and let them know that this was not Sebastian? Did you tell them ahead of time that you were searching these areas. Did they know what you were doing or was this specifically just through Seth Rogers?
Yes, Seth Rogers is a Sebastian's biological father.
Correct.
Yes, yeah, so he was there, and as Miss Grace alluded to earlier, it would not have been it would not have been typical or possibly even probable that that you could have skeletonized after only a few weeks. So I'm not sure about the proud foots, but his father definitely did know. I also wanted to echo what Miss Nancy said earlier about the police. One of the reasons we got called in. There was a lot of social media personalities reaching out to us kind of complaining that they didn't feel like the police were doing enough. But really it's it's just what Miss Nancy said. It's that they're not under obligation to give daily or every other day updates. They are doing an investigation. We have been in very close contact with TBI, and I can tell everybody with one certainty, they are on top of it. They are not letting their foot off the gas at all on the search for Sebastian or trying to find out what happened to them. The YouTubers and TikTokers that do live stream probably do the most long We appreciate the attention that they bring to things, but when you do a live stream, you don't have any control over what gets seen by potentially the entire world, So we would you know, we can't tell people what not to do. They have free speech. It's their own accounts they're using. Not helpful to do live streams bearing searches like that. If you want to do it, do a video that you could potentially edit later so that we cut down on the amount of misinformation. That's why social media is not necessari earlier house we go in and do search and rescue. You have to trust the process like we do. We trust law enforcement is going to have this wrapped up, probably very soon.
Brian. However, I want to make sure that you are not encouraging citizen sleuths to stop looking, because I've had many many cases where we put out the warning and they actually spot a missing person. I mean, I only have to point to Gabby Patito, whose remains were found in dispersed camping way out west by a citizen who had heard about the case. So you know, yeah, sometimes their information is wrong, But there is no way in HGUBLEL that I would ask them to stop.
I know that's not where you're head at.
No, No, we don't want to miss stop. As a matter of fact, it was two citizens sleuths that found Riley Strings bank card up by the bank of the Cumberland River in Nashville. So, as I said, they do provide servios. My only thought suggestion was maybe not doing live stream, maybe just video and then you can edit and post later.
Just a suggestion.
Hey guys, I don't want to see anything edited. I want to see the whole thing. No edits no airbrushing, the real deal. But that's just me. I want to go back to Katie Proudfood. This is Sebastian's biological mother. Missus Proudfoot. What questions were you asked during your polygraph?
I was asked if I knew where my son was. I was asked if I hurt him. I was asked if I had hurt someone, among a few other questions.
And mister Proudfoot, you have volunteered to take a polly, Yes, ma'am. If I were to set up a polly for you, would you take it?
Name the place in time, ma'am, I'll be there.
And you're headed back to Memphis right now. Are you in your RV? Right now?
I am in my RV. We are not disclosing our current location just because of safety reasons due to the YouTubers the facebookers out there that have sent some very heinous, threatening information and things of that nature threatened to be outside of our house, all kinds of nasty things. So we're not disclosing our location at this time unless you're law enforcement or you need to.
Know, Miss Proudfoot, Is that one of the reasons you.
Left the home one of them?
Yes, ma'am.
Question to you guys, when police came in and processed your home, did they look with for instance of it all? Did they check? What did they do when they searched your home?
They thoroughly searched my home with many different things. They removed some things for the dogs to hold the scent and for Sebastian's DNA. I know that they used thermal night vision, thank you. And I don't know exactly all of the tools that they use, but I do know that multiple different searches were done on my home by many different people, detectives, sheriffs, and a few others.
I wouldn't swear that the for rings that folks showed up or not, because there was so many folks in and out of the house that it was just I'm so and so a law enforce, and I'm so and so law enforcement. Okay.
Every time they said we need to look, please do.
Does to have a hardwood floor or a carpeted.
Floor in his bedroom?
Carpet?
Did they remove any carpeting?
No, ma'am.
Do you feel confident they searched his bathroom?
They did?
When you state that they removed items for the scent dogs, what did they take clothing?
A blanket that he used like every day, and a few other items of his toiletries like his brush.
Lauren Colin joining US investigative journalist Lauren Agan, thank you for being with us in earlier you were hearing sound from w SMV four. I understanding you have another question.
Oh no, I mean, I guess I didn't quite get the clarity I wanted in the sense that did the Proud Foots know that this search was going on with the Cajun Navy? Were they being pulled? Were you guys being alerted about this? Did you hear from a YouTuber that they found something that the cadaver dog or I'm sorry the search dogs started jumping, or you know, were you just kind of blind to all of us, just you know, doing your search.
No man so here to to set that record straight and help the United Cajun Navy. So somebody's got a picture out there saying that we are enjoying at dinner when we're actually out there, got flyers at a dinner table because we needed to eat. My wife was on the phone with the Cajun Navy. That's how the Cajun Navy was brought in, and we talked to the president of the United Cajun Navy. He put us in touch with their team that was here locally in Nashville. Then that young lady reached back out to us, gave us some more information. We gave her some more details. Then they said they would start a search, but we also had them get in direct contact with the TBI agent as well as sumber County's Sheriff's Department. We provided all that information. They reached out to them, got some information. They pushed outside of the areas that had been searched already, conducted a search somehow or another, they linked up with the biofather, who supposedly got a tip from somewhere. Whether or not it was credible or not, we don't know, but it led them to searching on federal property without permission, which is where we have been informed at some point that there was allegedly a hit on something. It turned out to be nothing, and they were asked to leave the property immediately or the cops are going to be called because it was trespassing based off of a tip that the biofather received.
Yeah, to Brian Trasher, a VP of kg Nagal, let's clear it up.
Isn't it true?
This is on federal property that had been closed off.
It was a.
Hurricane site earlier. It was also yes, thank you, and it was also near railroad tracks and some homeless people have been living there and apparently one of them had died and we believe that is what the dogs were hitting on.
Is that correct?
Yeah?
All the above is correct, and we did not gain access to the property. It had already been open when we got there. I'm not sure how entry was Gaen, but yeah, all everything above you that you just said was correct.
Guys.
The search for Sebastian goes on.
If you have information, if you know or think you know anything about this beautiful, young autistic boy, please called TBI Tennessee Bureau of Investigation eight hundred t B I Fine t Tennessee b Bureau i Investigative TBI fine one eight hundred TBI find that's eight hundred eight two four three four six ' three. Please join us in the search for Sebastian and lift up your prayers.
This boy will be found.
Good Bye friend,