Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / AUTISTIC BOY SEBASTIAN ROGERS GLASSES FOUND?
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
- 0:07Speaker 2: Literally in the last hour, a new search has been
- 0:10Speaker 2: launched for missing autistic boy Sebastian Rogers. Why why is
- 0:16Speaker 2: there a new search recanvassing areas that have already been searched.
- 0:22Speaker 2: Could it have anything to do with the fact that
- 0:25Speaker 2: sebastians glasses.
- 0:27Speaker 1: May have been found and right.
- 0:31Speaker 2: Now controversy swirling about a polygraph?
- 0:36Speaker 1: I'm Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories.
- 0:39Speaker 2: Thank you for being with us here at Crime Stories,
- 0:55Speaker 2: joining me in All Star panel to make sense of
- 0:57Speaker 2: what we know right now.
- 0:58Speaker 1: But I do know this.
- 0:59Speaker 2: I don't need an expert to tell me that there
- 1:01Speaker 2: has been an alert that went out to media. A
- 1:04Speaker 2: new search is taking place right now as we speak
- 1:08Speaker 2: for Sebastian Rogers, the missing autistic boy.
- 1:13Speaker 1: What does that mean?
- 1:14Speaker 2: Is there new information that has not been released to
- 1:17Speaker 2: us as a location been identified that it's more important
- 1:21Speaker 2: than other locations. This is unusual for a research of
- 1:26Speaker 2: an area that may have already been searched.
- 1:30Speaker 1: What precipitated the new search this?
- 1:34Speaker 2: As we learn glasses eyeglasses have been found? Are the
- 1:40Speaker 2: Sebastians first of all?
- 1:42Speaker 1: On the new search?
- 1:43Speaker 2: Joining me Lauren Conlin investigative reporter and host of The Outlier, Lauren,
- 1:49Speaker 2: thank you for being with us. I understand that a
- 1:52Speaker 2: new search has.
- 1:53Speaker 1: Just been launched. Who what where went? Why? Tell me? Yes?
- 1:56Speaker 3: So, as you said, Nancy is in Hendersonville, and it's
- 2:00Speaker 3: the same areas, and it's sheriffs in Sumner County and
- 2:06Speaker 3: counties all over, and it's EMS workers and it's more volunteers,
- 2:11Speaker 3: and I believe it is the Sumner County EMS is
- 2:18Speaker 3: saying six to ten miles and so on. So this
- 2:22Speaker 3: happened this morning.
- 2:23Speaker 1: This is breaking news.
- 2:25Speaker 3: They are saying this has nothing to do with the
- 2:27Speaker 3: press conference yesterday with the glasses found.
- 2:30Speaker 4: But that is all we know.
- 2:31Speaker 1: Guys.
- 2:32Speaker 2: When you hear Lauren Collin, who's been on the case
- 2:35Speaker 2: from the very beginning of missing autistic boys Sebastian Rogers,
- 2:39Speaker 2: when you hear say volunteers, there's a caveat to that
- 2:45Speaker 2: they are law enforcement EMTs, people in the criminal law business,
- 2:51Speaker 2: all banning together for a new search this as we
- 2:56Speaker 2: learn that glasses have been found that could be very
- 3:01Speaker 2: significant in joining me is someone who is acutely aware
- 3:05Speaker 2: of all the facts surrounding that pair of glasses.
- 3:08Speaker 1: Seth Rogers is with us.
- 3:11Speaker 2: Seth is Sebastian's biological father, and you may have gone
- 3:16Speaker 2: online and seeing Seth. At first you see nothing but
- 3:20Speaker 2: densely forested woodland, and then you realize it's Seth Rogers
- 3:25Speaker 2: out there on foot looking for his son.
- 3:29Speaker 1: He hasn't quit.
- 3:31Speaker 2: He took a brief respite over Easter break, and now
- 3:35Speaker 2: he's back at it. Seth Rogers, thank you for being
- 3:38Speaker 2: with us. You can find him at Sebastians Strong. Seth,
- 3:41Speaker 2: tell me about the discovery of the glasses.
- 3:44Speaker 5: My volunteers found them in Gallatin around two ten hutch
- 3:49Speaker 5: Street on Monday.
- 3:52Speaker 2: Seth, no offense, but you're speaking Greek to me. Okay,
- 3:57Speaker 2: where is that? Where's that in real life? To Sebastian's
- 4:01Speaker 2: home where he was living with his mother, Miss Proudfoot.
- 4:04Speaker 5: It's about fourteen miles from his mom's residence. It's not
- 4:11Speaker 5: in Hendersonville.
- 4:12Speaker 2: Had he recently gotten new glasses? Or am I seeing
- 4:16Speaker 2: Seth Rogers his actual glasses?
- 4:20Speaker 5: They were close enough that I asked the Sumner County
- 4:22Speaker 5: to bag and tag them. I mean when I saw
- 4:27Speaker 5: him through the pictures for my volunteers, and they stated
- 4:31Speaker 5: they couldn't get a hold of anybody. I flagged down
- 4:34Speaker 5: a deputy sheriff and I told them to put on
- 4:37Speaker 5: some gloves, put them in a bag, and bring them in.
- 4:43Speaker 6: And that's what they did.
- 4:44Speaker 5: They took pictures around the area to show where they
- 4:47Speaker 5: were laying and how they were laying on the street,
- 4:51Speaker 5: so they would have some type of regulation on where
- 4:55Speaker 5: they were placed or left at or however they needed.
- 5:00Speaker 5: And they brought them into our volunteer where our volunteers
- 5:05Speaker 5: together every morning, and chain of evidence was completed, and
- 5:10Speaker 5: they took them in.
- 5:11Speaker 2: Guys joining us is Sebastian's biological father, Seth Rogers. Seth,
- 5:17Speaker 2: I want to circle back to what you said. These
- 5:18Speaker 2: glasses were found about fourteen miles from where Sebastian resided
- 5:24Speaker 2: with his mother and stepfather. A volunteer found them. Were
- 5:29Speaker 2: you on the search when the volunteer found them.
- 5:32Speaker 6: I was not with the group, not with that group.
- 5:35Speaker 1: Where then, were correct?
- 5:36Speaker 2: Were the glasses out in a forested area where they
- 5:41Speaker 2: heard you mentioned a street where they thrown by the
- 5:43Speaker 2: side of the street.
- 5:44Speaker 6: They were on the side of the road.
- 5:46Speaker 2: So, okay, you just clarified something for me. It's in
- 5:49Speaker 2: a residential area. Like a cul de sac.
- 5:51Speaker 5: I don't believe it was a cul de sac, but
- 5:53Speaker 5: I believe it's hutch Court, so I believe it was
- 5:56Speaker 5: leading into a cul de sac.
- 5:58Speaker 2: If you were in a car, how long would it
- 6:01Speaker 2: take you to get from where Sebastian lived with his
- 6:04Speaker 2: mom to where the glasses were.
- 6:06Speaker 5: Found, depending on traffic, probably about fourteen to fifteen minutes.
- 6:10Speaker 2: Of course, we're talking about an area that has hills,
- 6:15Speaker 2: some mountains, so it's not always as simple as it
- 6:20Speaker 2: sounds to go fourteen miles. It could take fourteen minutes.
- 6:25Speaker 2: It could take an hour if you have to go
- 6:27Speaker 2: over a hill to get there. But long story short,
- 6:30Speaker 2: he's telling us about fifteen minutes from home. Do you
- 6:35Speaker 2: believe Sebastian has ever walked through this area?
- 6:39Speaker 6: I have no idea. I don't even know what's in
- 6:41Speaker 6: the area.
- 6:42Speaker 1: I wonder if he had any friends there.
- 6:44Speaker 2: But you believe these glasses are similar enough to the
- 6:48Speaker 2: glasses we're seeing that you asked for them to be
- 6:50Speaker 2: backed where they cracked. Were they broken in any way, No, ma'am.
- 6:54Speaker 5: They had some scratch marks on the inside of the
- 6:56Speaker 5: nose piece and that was it. The lenses word scratch
- 7:01Speaker 5: there is no scuff marks on the outside of them.
- 7:03Speaker 2: Guys, you are hearing Seth Rogers just a Sebastian's biodad
- 7:07Speaker 2: speaking about a discovery this weekend, a discovery regarding Sebastian's glasses. Now,
- 7:12Speaker 2: the reality is it is a simple matter to determine
- 7:17Speaker 2: if these are really his. Seth is telling us they
- 7:20Speaker 2: look enough like them that they could very well be his,
- 7:23Speaker 2: and they've been taken into evidence to make sure. What
- 7:27Speaker 2: we do is take the lens out and compare it
- 7:30Speaker 2: to his last diagnosis and his last lens prescription to
- 7:35Speaker 2: find out are these really Sebastian's glasses and if so,
- 7:40Speaker 2: why were they there? Also, we're going to be looking
- 7:43Speaker 2: for Prince. We're going to be looking for any DNA
- 7:46Speaker 2: at all on these glasses. What, if anything, can they
- 7:50Speaker 2: tell us? Back to Lauren Colin, Guys, right now, as
- 7:54Speaker 2: we are speaking, a new search is underway for Sebastian.
- 7:58Speaker 2: Lauren Colin joining us from the outla lawyer Lauren, any
- 8:01Speaker 2: idea what caused what sparked a new search?
- 8:06Speaker 3: I mean, I think people at this point, and obviously
- 8:09Speaker 3: Seth Rogers included, are so worried and so concerned, especially
- 8:14Speaker 3: after hearing about the glasses. So I personally think this
- 8:19Speaker 3: also has to do with the Cajun Navy last week
- 8:22Speaker 3: saying Okay, we're going to step back, we're going to regroup,
- 8:25Speaker 3: We're not going to stop, and so in turn, I
- 8:29Speaker 3: think more people, more organizations stepped up to help.
- 8:33Speaker 2: So bottom line, we don't know, maybe the glasses, maybe
- 8:36Speaker 2: the fact that the Cajun Navy is stepping back, but we
- 8:39Speaker 2: know the search is happening right now, and we know
- 8:41Speaker 2: where the search is. It's an area that has already
- 8:44Speaker 2: been searched, which I find very very intriguing. Why are
- 8:48Speaker 2: they researching a particular area?
- 8:50Speaker 1: Nancy?
- 8:50Speaker 7: If I can jump in for just a second, there
- 8:52Speaker 7: has just been a post from the Sumner County Sheriff's office.
- 8:57Speaker 7: They want to clarify that those eyeglasses that were found
- 9:01Speaker 7: are not again are not related to Sebastian Rogers.
- 9:06Speaker 1: Guys.
- 9:06Speaker 2: In addition to Lauren Colin and Seth Rogers joining us
- 9:10Speaker 2: is Dave mac Crime online dot Com investigative reporter who
- 9:13Speaker 2: has also been on the disappearance of Sebastian Rogers from
- 9:17Speaker 2: the very very beginning. Dave Mac, let me just say,
- 9:22Speaker 2: at the outset recently, the stepfather, mister Proudfoot, stated that
- 9:30Speaker 2: he would take a polygraph if we set it up.
- 9:35Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, take a listen to this.
- 9:38Speaker 2: Have the two of you taken a polygraph? I have?
- 9:46Speaker 4: I have not.
- 9:48Speaker 1: Would you be willing to?
- 9:51Speaker 8: I've offered and volunteered on many occasions and take a polygraph?
- 9:54Speaker 8: And I was told directly by law enforcement because of
- 9:58Speaker 8: my whereabouts, I did not need one.
- 10:02Speaker 1: I understand, Miss Proudfoot. Did you pass your polygraph?
- 10:07Speaker 8: I did?
- 10:08Speaker 1: Okay.
- 10:08Speaker 2: Now now listen to this, he says, I've offered and
- 10:12Speaker 2: volunteered on many occasions to take a polygraph. I was
- 10:15Speaker 2: told directly by a law enforcement forcement book because of my.
- 10:18Speaker 1: Whereabouts, I did not need one.
- 10:20Speaker 2: Listen to more, and mister Proudfoot, you have volunteered to
- 10:24Speaker 2: take a polly?
- 10:26Speaker 6: Yes, ma'am.
- 10:28Speaker 2: If I were to set up a polly for you,
- 10:31Speaker 2: would you take it?
- 10:34Speaker 6: Named a place in time, ma'am, I'll be there.
- 10:36Speaker 1: Well we did. We did that.
- 10:39Speaker 2: We set up a polygrapher, a very well respected polygrapher,
- 10:43Speaker 2: a place and a time. Mister Proudfoot tells us that
- 10:46Speaker 2: he has been instructed by the TBI not to be
- 10:51Speaker 2: on with us today and ask for help finding his son,
- 10:55Speaker 2: his step son, and not to take a polygraph.
- 10:59Speaker 1: I heard of that.
- 11:01Speaker 2: I always loved it when witnesses, targets, or defendants, anybody
- 11:06Speaker 2: would take a polygraph. If I want my own polygraph,
- 11:09Speaker 2: I would get one as an assistant district attorney. So
- 11:12Speaker 2: I find that very curious that he would be dissuaded
- 11:16Speaker 2: from asking for the help from the public as we
- 11:20Speaker 2: see a volunteer search launching right now with law enforcement,
- 11:25Speaker 2: and not to take a polygraph now very curious. Crime
- 11:39Speaker 2: Stories with Nancy Grace, Dave Mac, didn't mister Proudfoot, Chris Proudfoot,
- 11:50Speaker 2: Sebastian Roger's stepfather, didn't he tell us he would take
- 11:57Speaker 2: the polygraph anywhere, any time?
- 12:01Speaker 1: Isn't that true?
- 12:02Speaker 9: He said it anywhere you named the place, I'll be there.
- 12:04Speaker 2: He also told this, Should I believe him or my
- 12:07Speaker 2: lioneers that he has never taken a polygraph before?
- 12:11Speaker 1: Didn't he tell us.
- 12:12Speaker 4: That that's what he said?
- 12:13Speaker 2: He told you that, Okay, Dave Mac Crime online dot
- 12:17Speaker 2: Com investigative reporter, did he not tell another outlet he
- 12:23Speaker 2: had already taken a polygraph and passed it?
- 12:25Speaker 4: Yep?
- 12:25Speaker 9: He sure did he exact words?
- 12:28Speaker 1: He said. Somebody asked, explain please.
- 12:30Speaker 9: He did interviews. He did a number of interviews. Nancy
- 12:33Speaker 9: when and in this one particular, asked about have you
- 12:37Speaker 9: taken a polygraph?
- 12:38Speaker 1: He said.
- 12:38Speaker 9: Somebody asked the question, this is a direct quote. Was
- 12:41Speaker 9: a polygraph taken and has it been passed?
- 12:44Speaker 10: Yes?
- 12:45Speaker 9: I didn't specify who or when, But what I can
- 12:47Speaker 9: tell you everything has been vetted completely. Polygraphs have come
- 12:52Speaker 9: back as passed. So I'm confused as in why they're
- 12:56Speaker 9: all wondering if myself, my wife, and the biological father
- 12:59Speaker 9: took one exact words, that's what he said.
- 13:02Speaker 2: Okay, But Seth Roger ors, this is Sebastian's dad, his
- 13:06Speaker 2: bio dad, Sebastian Seth, I don't understand that because he
- 13:10Speaker 2: told me he would take a polygraph.
- 13:12Speaker 1: If I set it up. I set it up.
- 13:14Speaker 2: I went through a lot of hoops to get it
- 13:15Speaker 2: set up, one convenient to him in the area where
- 13:19Speaker 2: he says he's working. Then he wouldn't take it and
- 13:21Speaker 2: blames the TBI. So now I find out he sold
- 13:26Speaker 2: other outlets he's taken when it passed. Do you know
- 13:29Speaker 2: the truth?
- 13:29Speaker 5: I don't I really don't know, but I'll tell you what.
- 13:33Speaker 5: I volunteered to take polygraph. I was told that I wasn't.
- 13:39Speaker 5: I didn't need to because they have my location to whereabouts.
- 13:43Speaker 5: But I still volunteer, and if somebody wants me to
- 13:46Speaker 5: take one, that's something on my own free will. I
- 13:50Speaker 5: haven't been told by TBI that I can't take one.
- 13:53Speaker 2: I've got a lot of things I need to dissect
- 13:55Speaker 2: very quickly. Dave Matt, you and I have been scouring
- 13:58Speaker 2: the internet.
- 14:00Speaker 1: And speaking to various witnesses.
- 14:03Speaker 2: Mister Proudfoot tells me to my face that he hit
- 14:08Speaker 2: Sebastian with a belt. This is an autistic boy, an
- 14:13Speaker 2: autistic boy. Do they at his level of severity of autism?
- 14:20Speaker 2: And I've got an expert, Courtney Laski.
- 14:23Speaker 1: Is going to explain this to me. I did not
- 14:25Speaker 1: teach this in law school.
- 14:28Speaker 2: How would that affect a child with autism? But that said,
- 14:32Speaker 2: I want to focus on what I'm hearing, Dave Matt,
- 14:35Speaker 2: help me. Dave, I'm hearing that it happened years ago.
- 14:42Speaker 2: In both of those quotes where you heard Chris Proudfoot speaking,
- 14:47Speaker 2: he said several years ago. Then he says, when I
- 14:53Speaker 2: press him on that, he says at least three years ago. However,
- 15:00Speaker 2: he stated a different scenario to a different person.
- 15:04Speaker 1: Explain Dave mac.
- 15:05Speaker 9: He did in a YouTube interview, and in that interview
- 15:08Speaker 9: he described the actual belt whack. And you know, in
- 15:12Speaker 9: your interview he said that the belt whack did not
- 15:14Speaker 9: lead to a CPS call.
- 15:16Speaker 7: Stop.
- 15:18Speaker 2: I asked you about the age of Sebastian when Sebastian
- 15:22Speaker 2: was hit with a belt one thing at a time, brother,
- 15:26Speaker 2: the age of Sebastian, he said it was three years ago.
- 15:29Speaker 9: He said in another interview that the fifteen year old
- 15:33Speaker 9: boy was upset. He was in trouble. He said, he's
- 15:37Speaker 9: fifteen and in trouble. He was describing why Sebastian was
- 15:42Speaker 9: mad about the punishment, the whack, and he said, fifteen
- 15:47Speaker 9: year old boy.
- 15:50Speaker 1: Punishment.
- 15:51Speaker 9: Now, that's not three years ago, that's within the last
- 15:54Speaker 9: twelve months.
- 15:55Speaker 2: That is within the same year that Sebastian goes missing.
- 16:00Speaker 1: That is a significant point.
- 16:02Speaker 9: And in your interview, Katie agreed with him. She was
- 16:05Speaker 9: saying at least three years.
- 16:06Speaker 1: Yes, she did. You're right, You're absolutely right. What what's
- 16:11Speaker 1: happened is.
- 16:11Speaker 6: Birth December seventh. He just turned fifteen.
- 16:16Speaker 1: Okay.
- 16:16Speaker 2: The significance of that is that he had not been
- 16:20Speaker 2: fifteen that long according to this, when he got whacked
- 16:24Speaker 2: with a belt. So does it matter when he got
- 16:29Speaker 2: whacked with a belt? To me, it matters if you're
- 16:32Speaker 2: telling two different stories, That's what matters. I've never been
- 16:37Speaker 2: hit or hit anyone with a belt, and I remember
- 16:41Speaker 2: the last time either one of my children or spanked.
- 16:44Speaker 2: It was Lucy because she clabbered John David in the
- 16:47Speaker 2: head with a piece of wood. She turned around and
- 16:51Speaker 2: looked at me and went, is that it basically because
- 16:53Speaker 2: I was spanking her through a huge dipe. Okay, it
- 16:57Speaker 2: didn't work. So that was the last snack. Long story short,
- 17:03Speaker 2: there's a whole scenario that I need to talk with
- 17:05Speaker 2: Ms Laski about hitting a child that is autistic with
- 17:09Speaker 2: the belt or any child with the belt, for Pete's sake.
- 17:11Speaker 2: But that said, what's concerning me now is two different stories.
- 17:16Speaker 2: And as Dave Mack first said, we've got a CPS issue.
- 17:21Speaker 2: Because if you will recall Dave Mack and that last
- 17:24Speaker 2: sound I played all mister proudfood speaking to me, I said,
- 17:28Speaker 2: how did that turn into a CPS Child protective Services complaint,
- 17:31Speaker 2: and he says that did not turn into a CPS complaint.
- 17:35Speaker 2: But wait a minute, he's told a different story to
- 17:39Speaker 2: a different person.
- 17:40Speaker 1: Tell me, Dave Mack and make sure you're.
- 17:43Speaker 9: Right describing the belt whack, the specific belt whack hit
- 17:47Speaker 9: him one time with the belt, and Chris Browdfoot said,
- 17:52Speaker 9: seth that Sebastian went to school, told a teacher what
- 17:57Speaker 9: had happened, and he actually says the school, they're an
- 18:01Speaker 9: automatic reporter, and they reported it to CPS. He went
- 18:08Speaker 9: further to say that night, when they were sitting down
- 18:12Speaker 9: to dinner, a CPS worker came to their house that
- 18:16Speaker 9: evening to their house and by the way, he added,
- 18:20Speaker 9: they knew the CPS worker because she had been to
- 18:23Speaker 9: the house before. He went on to explain heroically how
- 18:30Speaker 9: he didn't get in trouble, but that this caseworker allegedly
- 18:35Speaker 9: took Sebastian outside and told him you can't tell lies
- 18:40Speaker 9: about people. You'll get in trouble yourself. So the story
- 18:46Speaker 9: from Chris Proudfoot in this other version is that he
- 18:50Speaker 9: spanked Sebastian. Sebastian went to school and told a teacher.
- 18:53Speaker 9: Teacher reported it to CPS. CPS came out of their
- 18:56Speaker 9: house that night while they're eating dinner and didn't even
- 19:00Speaker 9: want to hear. Chris probably puts the side of the
- 19:01Speaker 9: stories that I already know what happened, and took Sebastian
- 19:04Speaker 9: outside and talked to him. The boy needed help and
- 19:07Speaker 9: there was nobody helping parent.
- 19:08Speaker 2: Okay, Liz, if you don't mind, could you play twenty
- 19:11Speaker 2: three for me one more time? Listen to Sebastian's stepfather,
- 19:18Speaker 2: mister Proudfoot.
- 19:19Speaker 1: Was that the first time you had ever hit him
- 19:22Speaker 1: with a belt?
- 19:23Speaker 8: Yes, ma'am, the one and only time.
- 19:26Speaker 1: Actually when was this.
- 19:32Speaker 4: Years ago?
- 19:33Speaker 6: Ma'am?
- 19:37Speaker 1: Any idea? How many? Three? Ten? One?
- 19:44Speaker 8: It probably at least three years ago.
- 19:47Speaker 2: I don't understand how that turned into a CPS or
- 19:51Speaker 2: Child Protective Services complaint?
- 19:54Speaker 1: How were they alerted that you hit him with a belt.
- 19:57Speaker 6: Did not turn, that did not turn into a seat?
- 20:00Speaker 8: A service called as we go to air.
- 20:03Speaker 2: Right now, we are learning a new search is being
- 20:05Speaker 2: conducted by LA law enforcement volunteers, apparently re canvassing an
- 20:13Speaker 2: area that has already been searched. Why why the focus
- 20:17Speaker 2: on that one area? Joining me in the last moments,
- 20:21Speaker 2: Brian Trasher joining US VP of the United Cajun Navy, Brian, you.
- 20:27Speaker 1: Know I've been talking a lot. A lot is happening.
- 20:30Speaker 2: One, you called off the search one day just before
- 20:34Speaker 2: the search started. In two, there's a lot of hate
- 20:38Speaker 2: going on against the Cajun Navy.
- 20:41Speaker 1: I don't get it.
- 20:42Speaker 2: You're out there on your own time, volunteering, trying to
- 20:47Speaker 2: help find Sebastian or clue of Sebastian. Somebody is full
- 20:53Speaker 2: of a lot of hate for volunteers, which proves no
- 20:57Speaker 2: good deed goes unpunished. I'm hearing, by the way, the
- 21:01Speaker 2: same thing something similar from Seth Rogers, who is Sebastia's
- 21:06Speaker 2: bio dad. The searches are being torpedoed. I don't understand it.
- 21:13Speaker 2: Number one, Brian Trasher, Why has the Cajun Navy pulled
- 21:19Speaker 2: out of a search?
- 21:20Speaker 10: Well, just to be clear, we gave up or called
- 21:23Speaker 10: off leading the public searches who were no longer putting
- 21:26Speaker 10: out a public call for volunteers and leading searches with volunteers.
- 21:30Speaker 10: We did have some volunteers that were threatened. Despite what
- 21:36Speaker 10: the local PD said in their press conference, we did
- 21:39Speaker 10: have some credible threats.
- 21:41Speaker 4: We have recordings of telephone threats. We have.
- 21:45Speaker 10: Surveillance video of in person threats. I know it was
- 21:49Speaker 10: said that there was no police report filed. There was
- 21:52Speaker 10: a police report filed about a threat with Metro Nashville PD.
- 21:56Speaker 10: It's not clear as to whether there's departments share information
- 21:58Speaker 10: with each other. We did provide a copy of that
- 22:01Speaker 10: report with your producers, just to show that we are
- 22:04Speaker 10: telling the truth why they hate.
- 22:06Speaker 4: I think that there.
- 22:07Speaker 10: You know, there are some people out there who make
- 22:10Speaker 10: money off of tragedies, and when volunteer groups come in
- 22:13Speaker 10: and try to take over and help, I think it
- 22:16Speaker 10: takes away from their potential revenue. And when you mess
- 22:18Speaker 10: with people's money, they get mad. I think that's just
- 22:21Speaker 10: part of it. At a conversation with Seth Rodgers on
- 22:24Speaker 10: Easter Sunday, he has his own theories about why himself
- 22:28Speaker 10: and other volunteer groups are being impeded in the search
- 22:31Speaker 10: for Sebastian, about why they're receiving so much online hate.
- 22:33Speaker 10: I'll let Seth speak to it for himself and his
- 22:36Speaker 10: own experience.
- 22:36Speaker 1: Yes, we'll do that.
- 22:37Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about you and the
- 22:41Speaker 2: Cajun Navy. I heard some of the threats myself recorded threats,
- 22:48Speaker 2: But could you succinctly, in a nutshell explain what type
- 22:55Speaker 2: of threats have been leveled against members of the Cajun Navy.
- 22:58Speaker 2: Here are out trying to find Sebastian.
- 23:01Speaker 10: Basically, just a lot of you know, we're going to
- 23:02Speaker 10: run you out of town, We're gonna doxs you, We're gonna,
- 23:06Speaker 10: you know, tell everybody where your family lives, things like that.
- 23:10Speaker 10: But you know, Nancy, what we've found is that we've
- 23:12Speaker 10: run background checks and all the people that have made
- 23:14Speaker 10: these threats, they thought they could remain anonymous.
- 23:17Speaker 4: And they're all career criminals.
- 23:18Speaker 10: They all have rap sheets a mile long, so criminal
- 23:21Speaker 10: activity is nothing new to them. So it doesn't surprise
- 23:24Speaker 10: us that they would have the gumption to go ahead
- 23:26Speaker 10: and make threats like this. But I think what they
- 23:28Speaker 10: were mistaken is when they thought there was going to
- 23:30Speaker 10: be no retaliation and when we basically started exposing these
- 23:34Speaker 10: people and putting information out there, boy, they really freaked out.
- 23:38Speaker 10: So you know, my message to those people making threats,
- 23:42Speaker 10: you know, if you'll stop lying about the United Cajun Navy,
- 23:44Speaker 10: we'll stop telling the truth about you.
- 23:46Speaker 2: Okay, you know what, I don't really care Brian, who's
- 23:50Speaker 2: lying on who?
- 23:52Speaker 1: Those are just words.
- 23:53Speaker 2: I care about finding Sebastian, and I care about someone
- 23:58Speaker 2: trying to torpedo the search. Be it with law enforcement,
- 24:05Speaker 2: with the Cajun Navy, with Seth Rogers, the biological father
- 24:09Speaker 2: of Sebastian. Seth Rogers, you've told me that someone is
- 24:15Speaker 2: also trying to sabotage.
- 24:17Speaker 1: Your search for your own son. What's happening?
- 24:20Speaker 5: Somebody doesn't want me to find my son. They have
- 24:24Speaker 5: been telling there's things that have been coming in off
- 24:27Speaker 5: the internet that I need to stop searching for him.
- 24:30Speaker 5: I've had people following me around since and since I
- 24:35Speaker 5: would say day nine, day ten. People have been following
- 24:38Speaker 5: me around. Once I started getting volunteers to help me,
- 24:43Speaker 5: they started following around my volunteers, trying to be an intimidated.
- 24:49Speaker 6: Factor.
- 24:50Speaker 5: And now I found out that not only that, but
- 24:53Speaker 5: they're going back to where we've already flyed and they're
- 24:56Speaker 5: taking the flyers down.
- 24:57Speaker 1: Okay, I don't know what to make of this.
- 25:01Speaker 2: Brian Trasher is the vice president of the United Cajun Navy, Okay,
- 25:07Speaker 2: and there have been many incarnations of the Cajun Navy,
- 25:11Speaker 2: but this is what I know this group is out
- 25:14Speaker 2: searching for Sebastian. They called off part of the search
- 25:19Speaker 2: because they perceived threats. Now the bio Dad Seth is
- 25:25Speaker 2: telling me that flyers have been torn down for Sebastian.
- 25:31Speaker 2: I don't understand that. What's happening, Brian, Yeah.
- 25:34Speaker 10: I mean, as you heard us say in the pasting,
- 25:36Speaker 10: you now heard Sebastian's father, Seth say that there are,
- 25:40Speaker 10: without question.
- 25:42Speaker 4: People in the local community.
- 25:44Speaker 10: Whether the locals or not remains to be seen, but
- 25:46Speaker 10: there are people there in Sumner County that do not
- 25:48Speaker 10: want this boy found, and they want people who are
- 25:52Speaker 10: searching for him to stop, and they've resorted to threats
- 25:55Speaker 10: to try to make them stop. Fortunately it hasn't worked
- 25:57Speaker 10: because we still have people out there looking, and I
- 25:59Speaker 10: know Seth is not going to stop looking for his son.
- 26:02Speaker 2: Guys, take a listen to what Dave Matt from Crime
- 26:05Speaker 2: Online has to say.
- 26:06Speaker 11: The United Cajun Navy surprised many people that showed up
- 26:09Speaker 11: for a recent search in Hendersonville for Sebastian Rodgers. Just
- 26:13Speaker 11: before people were preparing together, the United Cajun Navy came
- 26:16Speaker 11: out with a post on Facebook and said they were
- 26:18Speaker 11: calling off their search for Sebastian Rodgers over security reasons.
- 26:22Speaker 11: Press for more details. The United Cajun Navy said they
- 26:25Speaker 11: are concerned over the security for their staff and volunteers,
- 26:29Speaker 11: as some are getting death threats online and in person.
- 26:33Speaker 11: They said they were going to regroup in a few
- 26:35Speaker 11: days and decide how best to move forward.
- 26:37Speaker 1: Again, no good deed going unpunished.
- 26:40Speaker 2: Why would people tear down flyers that have been placed
- 26:45Speaker 2: up by Sebastian's father looking for him and the total.
- 26:50Speaker 1: Free numbers and descriptions of the boy.
- 26:52Speaker 2: Why is this happening and why is the Cajun Navy
- 26:55Speaker 2: being threatened? I want to figure out, Brian Tresher, how
- 26:59Speaker 2: you that particular area to search.
- 27:02Speaker 10: It was a combination of some information when we first
- 27:06Speaker 10: got there that Seth provided some areas that he had
- 27:09Speaker 10: showed us that had already been searched, in areas that
- 27:11Speaker 10: he felt would be.
- 27:13Speaker 4: Good to search.
- 27:14Speaker 10: Other areas were just kind of triangulating from the last
- 27:17Speaker 10: known location of the young man at his home and
- 27:22Speaker 10: trying to figure out some places he would have been
- 27:25Speaker 10: easy for him to walk to, places that he frequented.
- 27:28Speaker 10: Before we knew that there were some places that he
- 27:32Speaker 10: liked to visit, but from what his mother said, he
- 27:35Speaker 10: didn't have a history of wandering off without telling anybody. So,
- 27:40Speaker 10: you know, we wanted to make sure that we were
- 27:42Speaker 10: searching every nook and cranny that we could to find
- 27:45Speaker 10: this boy.
- 27:45Speaker 2: What can you tell me about that retention pond? There
- 27:49Speaker 2: were reports a dog had hit on the retention pond.
- 27:51Speaker 2: The pond was drained and nothing was found. Do I
- 27:54Speaker 2: have that correct?
- 27:54Speaker 10: I don't have any information with regards to that. I
- 27:58Speaker 10: know there's been a lot of confusion about when dogs
- 28:00Speaker 10: hit and wear and things like that. We go with
- 28:02Speaker 10: the information that we have at the time. My understanding
- 28:05Speaker 10: is that pond was drained and nothing was found there.
- 28:09Speaker 10: But Seth might be able to tell you a little
- 28:11Speaker 10: bit more about some of the areas that the dogs
- 28:14Speaker 10: search closer to the home and if there were confirmed
- 28:17Speaker 10: hits or not.
- 28:25Speaker 2: Crime stories with Nancy Grace, Welcome back everybody, Seth Roger
- 28:34Speaker 2: joining us. This is Sebastian Roger's biological father. You can
- 28:37Speaker 2: find him at Sebastian Strong. Seth again, thank you for
- 28:42Speaker 2: being with us so much. I mean, when you're searching
- 28:45Speaker 2: for a missing child, I like the focus to be
- 28:48Speaker 2: on what is being done to find the child? What
- 28:51Speaker 2: can we do to help find the child? But instead
- 28:54Speaker 2: there's all this controversy surrounding the search for Sebastian, and
- 28:58Speaker 2: I find that very odd that people are not pulling
- 29:01Speaker 2: together to try to find Sebastia. But that said, can
- 29:04Speaker 2: you please shed some light on the search that occurred
- 29:09Speaker 2: around the proud Foot home. Did dogs hit on areas
- 29:16Speaker 2: around the home.
- 29:17Speaker 1: And leading to the retention pond?
- 29:19Speaker 5: I was first told by one of the dog handlers
- 29:23Speaker 5: that their dog didn't hit on a scent that took
- 29:27Speaker 5: them over into the construction area to a retention pond.
- 29:31Speaker 5: I was later told by law enforcement that it was
- 29:34Speaker 5: a false hit. I was also informed that they searched
- 29:39Speaker 5: that pond where the dog went to, and they did
- 29:42Speaker 5: not find anything. And I was told that they were
- 29:47Speaker 5: going to actually go back and drain that retention pond,
- 29:51Speaker 5: and they had drivened a separate retention pond.
- 29:54Speaker 2: So you think they may have already drained two ponds?
- 29:57Speaker 6: Yes, ma'am.
- 29:58Speaker 2: The reason I'm asking said, is because your ex Miss
- 30:02Speaker 2: Proudfoot stated that the dog hit and got Sebastian sent
- 30:09Speaker 2: around the home. Now I'm hearing it didn't. Was that
- 30:16Speaker 2: hit at the retention pond the false hit or was
- 30:19Speaker 2: it around their home?
- 30:21Speaker 5: I'm being told by law enforcement that the dog hit
- 30:24Speaker 5: to the retention poem was a false hit.
- 30:27Speaker 2: Do you know of any hit by the dogs around
- 30:30Speaker 2: the Proudfoot home at all?
- 30:32Speaker 6: Not only outside?
- 30:33Speaker 2: Were their hits on the inside? I believe so, Okay,
- 30:36Speaker 2: there should have been.
- 30:37Speaker 1: Now this is my conundrum, seth.
- 30:40Speaker 2: If there are no hits for Sebastian outside the Proudfoot home,
- 30:46Speaker 2: that would suggest he did not leave the home. Earlier,
- 30:50Speaker 2: I was asking the Proudfoots about their vehicles.
- 30:53Speaker 1: Was their make modeling year?
- 30:55Speaker 2: To determine if there was a navigation system in those
- 30:58Speaker 2: vehicles that could tell me if the vehicles left the
- 31:01Speaker 2: home that night.
- 31:03Speaker 1: That's what I was getting at.
- 31:04Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to that yet, but I
- 31:07Speaker 2: believe that there were you're telling me you were not
- 31:11Speaker 2: told of any K nine hit around the home?
- 31:14Speaker 1: Is that correct?
- 31:15Speaker 6: Yes?
- 31:16Speaker 1: That's critical joining me.
- 31:18Speaker 2: Doctor Sherry Schwartz forensics psychologists who specializes in forensic psychology,
- 31:25Speaker 2: capital mitigation, and victim advocacy at Panthermedigation dot com. Doctor Sherry,
- 31:31Speaker 2: this search or Sebastian if he is alive he could
- 31:36Speaker 2: still be saved, but it is degrading into a lot
- 31:41Speaker 2: of infighting amongst searchers.
- 31:44Speaker 1: I don't understand that.
- 31:45Speaker 12: I don't understand it either, and I certainly am no
- 31:48Speaker 12: expert in these kinds of searches. But it doesn't seem
- 31:51Speaker 12: to me that I've ever heard of anything so vitriolic
- 31:55Speaker 12: in the behavior of people searching to find a missing teenager.
- 32:00Speaker 12: One of the things that seems to be happening is
- 32:02Speaker 12: there seems to be maybe a little bit of territory,
- 32:08Speaker 12: you know, protecting their territory type thing, wanting maybe.
- 32:12Speaker 1: To be the organization got a sherry. Yes, they're out
- 32:16Speaker 1: in the middle of the woods. His territory is that
- 32:20Speaker 1: no body No.
- 32:20Speaker 12: I agree with you one hundred percent, Nancy. The thing is,
- 32:25Speaker 12: you know, we know now that trolling is a thing.
- 32:30Speaker 1: People troll.
- 32:31Speaker 12: I don't understand why this situation would attract trolls and
- 32:37Speaker 12: for people to make threats when everybody just wants to
- 32:40Speaker 12: find this little boy, preferably alive. It seems to me
- 32:44Speaker 12: that people should be jumping into help. So I don't
- 32:47Speaker 12: have an explanation for that, other than that when they
- 32:51Speaker 12: can remain anonymous, relatively anonymous, the trolling seems to increase,
- 32:57Speaker 12: but as Brian pointed out earlier, when these people are exposed,
- 33:02Speaker 12: all of a sudden they back off because they don't
- 33:05Speaker 12: want to be known as trolls.
- 33:06Speaker 2: Another question to you, Seth Rogers is a Sebastian's biological
- 33:10Speaker 2: father who has been out on foot searching for his son, Seth,
- 33:15Speaker 2: did you say you have or have not? Would would
- 33:18Speaker 2: not take a polygraph? I would wonderful if I set
- 33:22Speaker 2: one up for you? Will you take the polygraph?
- 33:25Speaker 5: Yes?
- 33:25Speaker 1: Maam okay?
- 33:27Speaker 2: Because you know I will hold this against you if
- 33:32Speaker 2: you then don't take the polygraph?
- 33:35Speaker 4: Right?
- 33:35Speaker 1: You understand that?
- 33:37Speaker 4: Weird?
- 33:37Speaker 2: Because I want to know where everybody really was that night.
- 33:42Speaker 2: For instance, if mister Proudfoot was where he says he is,
- 33:47Speaker 2: says he was at work near Memphis, I believe he.
- 33:52Speaker 1: Would have been in his RV. Is that you're understanding, Seth?
- 33:55Speaker 6: That would be my understanding.
- 33:56Speaker 2: So if you're at an RV park and I've been
- 33:59Speaker 2: in a lot of them with the twins and my husband,
- 34:02Speaker 2: they are covered in security cams, where's the security footage?
- 34:08Speaker 1: Did he leave? Did he go home? I don't know?
- 34:11Speaker 2: Has his RV been seized? Has it been processed. This
- 34:14Speaker 2: does not mean at all that he had anything to
- 34:18Speaker 2: do with Sebastia's disappearance. This is part of a thorough investigation.
- 34:23Speaker 2: That's all I'm saying. Question.
- 34:25Speaker 1: Did Sebastian know how to swim?
- 34:27Speaker 6: Yes, mah, my son was like a fish.
- 34:30Speaker 2: Interesting, like a fish, he can walk? Okay, good to know.
- 34:37Speaker 2: We've had a lot of questions about that.
- 34:39Speaker 1: I have a question for Seth.
- 34:41Speaker 2: Please jump in and remember, guys, we're not having high
- 34:45Speaker 2: tea at Windsor Castle. I don't know how many times
- 34:47Speaker 2: he got to tell you this. We're not with Charles
- 34:48Speaker 2: and Camilla. So jump in.
- 34:51Speaker 1: You're hearing Lauren Colin go ahead, Lauren, yes. Sex.
- 34:53Speaker 3: So we've heard law enforcement state many times that all
- 34:57Speaker 3: the parents are cooperating to me, and this is not
- 35:01Speaker 3: the same thing as being ruled out as a suspect.
- 35:04Speaker 3: Has law enforcement directly said to you we are ruling
- 35:08Speaker 3: you out as a suspect or we are looking at
- 35:11Speaker 3: someone else as a suspect. I'm just curious the difference there.
- 35:16Speaker 5: And they've told me that we're all suspects. We're all
- 35:21Speaker 5: suspects until Sebastian is found. This is an open investigation.
- 35:27Speaker 5: So the only way that the investigation would close is
- 35:31Speaker 5: we find Sebastian, and that's my purpose, right.
- 35:37Speaker 3: And in terms of the last time I was on
- 35:40Speaker 3: this panel and we did ask Chris Proudfoot about the
- 35:44Speaker 3: United Casian Navy. His words exactly were when they were
- 35:48Speaker 3: at a restaurant and Katie was on the phone. He said, quote,
- 35:52Speaker 3: my wife was on the phone with the Cajun Navy
- 35:55Speaker 3: and that's how they were brought in. Did you happen
- 35:58Speaker 3: to hear him say that.
- 36:01Speaker 6: I've heard that, he said, then, okay, and that is
- 36:05Speaker 6: not true at all.
- 36:06Speaker 1: This is all you.
- 36:07Speaker 3: I've seen your mother post about this. I've seen the
- 36:10Speaker 3: Cajun Navy post about you. I just heard Brian, So
- 36:12Speaker 3: that is false.
- 36:15Speaker 5: From my understanding, they're the ones that I reached out
- 36:18Speaker 5: to them. They were trying to get a hold of me.
- 36:21Speaker 5: I had somebody get a phone number so I could
- 36:24Speaker 5: turn around and speak to mister Tarul and I called
- 36:28Speaker 5: him up on his personal cell phone.
- 36:31Speaker 1: That's todd Okay, got it.
- 36:33Speaker 3: And then the last thing was that everybody wants to
- 36:36Speaker 3: know the picture with Sebastian without the glasses. You asked
- 36:40Speaker 3: for that to be photoshopped so people could see what
- 36:43Speaker 3: he looked like without glasses, just in case those are
- 36:46Speaker 3: possibly his.
- 36:47Speaker 2: That is correct, Yes, ma'am joining me right now a
- 36:51Speaker 2: special guest, Courtney Last key Board certified behavior analyst, Autism Expert,
- 36:57Speaker 2: Chief clinical officer with Little Art Therapy Service. Courtney, thank
- 37:03Speaker 2: you for being with us. I understand, and of course
- 37:06Speaker 2: deeth correct me if I'm wrong that Sebastian suffered six
- 37:11Speaker 2: Q twenty seven chromosomal deletion disorder. What is that and
- 37:16Speaker 2: how would that affect him being lost right now?
- 37:19Speaker 13: Yeah, So, anytime we have a chromosomal deletion syndrome, we
- 37:24Speaker 13: can think of it as an umbrella term. Our chromosomes
- 37:26Speaker 13: act as codes in our behavior the way we develop
- 37:31Speaker 13: with his specific deletion of the six Q twenty seven chromosome,
- 37:35Speaker 13: the symptoms related to that, Even though it is rare,
- 37:38Speaker 13: it does associate with intellectual disabilities, so we would see
- 37:42Speaker 13: the symptomology of autism spectrum disorders. But suddenly it also
- 37:46Speaker 13: is associated with a higher risk of seizures and possible
- 37:50Speaker 13: heart defects. It's very, very worrisome that Sebastian might have
- 37:55Speaker 13: those symptoms and be gone for so long without medical care.
- 37:58Speaker 2: How would that affect him now if he is out
- 38:01Speaker 2: there and if he's still alive and lost.
- 38:04Speaker 13: Yes, anytime we have that intellectual disability symptoms related to autism,
- 38:09Speaker 13: we know that those social skills are communication, which not
- 38:13Speaker 13: only is our expressive language, but it's also our receptive
- 38:17Speaker 13: what we're understanding, how we're processing the environment around us.
- 38:21Speaker 13: He may be struggling with understanding what is happening, what
- 38:25Speaker 13: he should do in different circumstances. I am so glad
- 38:28Speaker 13: to hear mister Rogers saying that he swims like a fish,
- 38:32Speaker 13: because we do know that ninety one percent of autistic children,
- 38:37Speaker 13: that is the highest risk of death for them is drowning.
- 38:41Speaker 13: It's scary, so we need that processing. He has probably
- 38:45Speaker 13: a delayed sense of danger and understanding what is dangerous
- 38:50Speaker 13: in certain circumstances.
- 38:51Speaker 2: Guys, I want you to stop for just one Mom
- 38:53Speaker 2: you're hearing Courtney Laski, who's an autism expert. What if,
- 38:59Speaker 2: what if he's still alive, what if he's being held
- 39:04Speaker 2: against his will? Will what if he's being sex assaulted
- 39:08Speaker 2: day after day after day.
- 39:09Speaker 13: I have a strong hope that he is alive. I
- 39:12Speaker 13: have a strong strong hope that he is doing everything
- 39:17Speaker 13: he can to process the situation around him. We know
- 39:20Speaker 13: that any experience outside of his normal routine.
- 39:23Speaker 12: Is going to be traumatic.
- 39:25Speaker 13: He will come away from this situation with definite phobias,
- 39:30Speaker 13: more extreme rigid rigidity in his routines, and just the
- 39:36Speaker 13: inability possibly to communicate what has happened to him.
- 39:39Speaker 2: I want to go back to Seth, Roger, Seth, I
- 39:42Speaker 2: have so many questions for you, but we're running out
- 39:45Speaker 2: of our time together for today. But I want to
- 39:47Speaker 2: ask you this. I was listening to a statement of
- 39:51Speaker 2: one of mister Proudfoot's wives. I believe there have been five.
- 39:56Speaker 2: I'm not judging. I don't care who Mary s Auy
- 39:58Speaker 2: or doesn't Mary who. But this particular one named Nina,
- 40:03Speaker 2: stated that they had two children, once she had from
- 40:06Speaker 2: a prior relationship, the second she had with him, and
- 40:09Speaker 2: that the daughter had braces and he hit the daughter
- 40:15Speaker 2: in the mouth and busted her mouth. Guys, remember mister
- 40:20Speaker 2: Prowfoot nor the mother have been named a suspect or
- 40:23Speaker 2: a POI in this case. My question to you said,
- 40:27Speaker 2: did you know about any of that? I mean, she's
- 40:31Speaker 2: on tape saying it. I watched her say it. Did
- 40:34Speaker 2: you have any idea that there may have been other
- 40:37Speaker 2: issues of violence with children?
- 40:40Speaker 5: No, man, I didn't. And I know that Chris has
- 40:43Speaker 5: been in Sebastian's life for a while now, before me
- 40:48Speaker 5: and Katie were divorced.
- 40:49Speaker 2: Sebastian ever said to you or tried to communicate to
- 40:53Speaker 2: you abuse in the home.
- 40:54Speaker 5: No, He's on multiple occasions set there and.
- 41:00Speaker 6: Told me he doesn't want to go back. And I've
- 41:02Speaker 6: asked him, why don't you want to go back? And
- 41:05Speaker 6: he won't. He wouldn't tell me. He didn't say why.
- 41:09Speaker 5: He was just like, I just don't want to go back,
- 41:11Speaker 5: and it's you know, at that point in time, I'm
- 41:16Speaker 5: I'm just like, Okay, well, maybe it's the freedom that
- 41:19Speaker 5: he gets at my house. And he's a teenager, right,
- 41:23Speaker 5: and now I'm finding out a lot of this stuff,
- 41:25Speaker 5: and it's told.
- 41:28Speaker 2: Me, guys, won't you help us find Sebastian one eight
- 41:36Speaker 2: hundred TB I find one eight hundred eight two four
- 41:41Speaker 2: three four six three. Let's pause now and remember an
- 41:48Speaker 2: American hero, Jonathan Diller, just thirty one years old, shot
- 41:54Speaker 2: during a routine traffic stop New York from a long
- 41:59Speaker 2: line of Law Enforce Horsemont and Jonathan, a recent father,
- 42:04Speaker 2: leaving behind his beautiful wife, Stephanie, and one year old
- 42:08Speaker 2: baby boy, Ryan Jonathan Diller, American Hero. I want to
- 42:16Speaker 2: thank all of our guests, but especially thanks to you
- 42:19Speaker 2: for being with us. Nancy Grace signing off, Goodbye friend,