The desperate search for a missing Tennessee 15-year-old boy with autism dragged into its eighth day on Monday – with authorities even booming his favorite song at one point over the last week in hopes of drawing the teen out.
Sebastian Rogers was reported missing on Feb. 26, sparking an Amber Alert as multiple agencies scoured the area around the city of Hendersonville using drones, police dogs, helicopters and boats, according to reports.
Authorities also came up with a unique approach in hopes of finding the teen, though it didn’t pan out.
“We were told that his favorite song was ‘Eye of the Tiger,’” Sumner County Sheriff Department Deputy Chief Eric Craddock said, according to WKRN.
“We tried playing that to kind of call him and let him know we’re here to help. I’m sure that he could see what’s going on here and be intimidated.
“But if he sees this newscast, I want him to know: Sebastian come out we’re here to help you. We just wanna get you home safe.”
During a Monday briefing, Craddock said officials were going to scale back its ground search for Rogers, but insisted the sheriff’s department remained committed to bringing him home.
“Let me be clear that this does not diminish our commitment to finding Sebastian. This is simply us transitioning from the ground search to the investigative side,” he said, according to the Tennessean. “We have no leads, no details to indicate that Sebastian is not alive.”
The boys’ parents detailed the excruciating eight days they’ve faced since he vanished.
“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone,” his mother Katie Proudfoot told WSMV Monday. “Anyone.”
She reportedly said when she went to wake her son up from bed, he wasn’t there, which set off a furious search inside the home for him.
Proudfoot noted her child has high-functioning autism. She also said he was “very smart” and not the type to get into trouble.
Stepfather Chris Proudfoot said his family has faced a rollercoaster ride of emotions between “helpless and hopeless.”
“Many other emotions all in one and it’s a never-ending world because it doesn’t stop,” he told the station.