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Conflict, threats and still no joy in the hunt for a missing autistic teen | Vargas Reports

There is concern, and family drama, now 32 days into the hunt for Sebastian Rogers, a 15-year-old Tennessee teen with autism. Since he went missing from his home in western Tennessee, his mother and stepfather have made conflicting statements, and his biological father says he hasn’t heard a word from them. Former FBI agent and NewsNation law and justice contributor Jennifer Coffindaffer tells “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” she’s concerned that members of the United Cajun Navy, who were among the volunteers hunting for Sebastian, have pulled out because of threats. Anchor Elizabeth Vargas delivers the biggest stories, without bias or opinion. Watch "Elizabeth Vargas Reports" every weeknight at 6p/5C on NewsNation. #VargasReports NewsNation is your source for fact-based, unbiased news for all America. More from NewsNation: https://www.newsnationnow.com/ Get our app: https://trib.al/TBXgYpp Find us on cable: https://trib.al/YDOpGyG How to watch on TV or streaming: https://trib.al/Vu0Ikij

NewsNation

1 hour ago

that's now day 32 in the search for Sebastian his biological father Seth Rogers told me earlier this week that neither his son's mother nor stepfather who you heard from there uh has spoken to him about the investigation despite making other public appearances it's supposed to be about Sebastian they wanted to talk about themselves I don't get that this is we need to get Sebastian's face out to everybody have them looking for Sebastian this isn't about me it's not about his mom it's not about hi
s stepdad this is about Sebastian he needs to be found sad situation there all right joining us now uh former FBI agent and news Nation Law And Justice contributor Jennifer coffen offer uh Jennifer it's always nice to see you uh first of all I'm curious what you think about the United cinjun Navy calling off the search uh because they say they've received like rats I mean I've never heard of such a thing Jennifer it it's crazy what's going on in this case honestly I I've never seen anything like
it either uh what ends up happening here is web SLO and YouTubers have in this case it would seem taking the situation too far where now uh you know they believe some people are involved in nefarious activity possibly the parents possibly the United cjun Navy and uh there's threats being lodged and I've actually confirmed them so I feel very confident in saying that there are complaints that have been lodged with the Sheriff's Office and that there are safety concerns and you know advocacy gett
ing the story out there uh all of that is so welcomed web sloes do such a nice job Brian as you know digging up information uh but where it crosses the line is when threats start happening it's it's unbelievable is it weird to you though that they would pull out I mean they seem like really you know tough men and women they go out and do these searches like why would they let that stop them well I think in this case uh the United cjun Navy is a small part of it they're really handling my underst
anding is the organization of it in other words individuals come there uh they're given a place to search in groups of two so they're more of the volunteers uh not necessarily the people even in the cjun Navy but even if you're a Associated at least a couple of people have been threatened is my understanding ah so disturbing all right hearing that podcast with the stepdad uh saying that he I think swatted um Sebastian with the belt uh you know now Sebastian's missing the step uh the stepdad and
the mom apparently aren't talking to the biological dad uh the stepdad and the mom took off in the RV from the house I mean do you find any of those things to be concerning I do I I find some of it to be concerning uh but having had my last case very similar to this case autistic boy the mother failed the polygraph all signs were pointing at her and she was being deceptive but she was being deceptive because she had left a door open and he got out he ended up uh drowning in a nearby Pond my poin
t is is that there's a lot of inconsistent statements out there I want to understand why I'm also concerned Brian remember law enforcement searched a landfill with a probable cause affidavit that's concerning what was the probable cause so certainly there's a lot of things in this case that are very concerning yeah I was just about to bring that up because here you've got a ground search and you've got the United cun Navy coming in and volunteers and in a way it's confusing because then you had
um the police very specifically with a warrant going to the landfill and searching and and those things don't really seem to necessarily match up but it's definitely one uh that we'll all stay on poor little Sebastian I mean he's he's such a cute kid it's just it's heartbreaking uh to think that he's still missing all this time later so we'll stay on it uh Jennifer coffin offer thank you so much for joining us we appreciate it thanks so much for watching go to join nn.com to find news Nation on
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Comments

@1234singingismylife

Stepdad would NOT hit my child with a belt! I’d probably be in jail!

@dallashorner

Praying so hard for this Father that his son is found safe!

@marty5851

Ridiculous- if you commit to help- You Help

@sergebrunet4218

United Cajun navy told 2 different Youtubers just parked in their car in the parking lot of the bowling or some stores that this was a private property and they needed to get out or they would call the police And now they re saying they ve been threatened ? BS. and there s video proof of that too !

@jackieo8693

That Mom and stepdad are very suspicious!!!

@brettcross9941

Who threatened them a nuclear super power ? What are they so scared of I call bs

@twotragediesinlife667

Maybe if the police would come forward to have some sense of leadership and control over the case instead of staying quiet and allowing the free for all, it might help. To many mixed signals.

@tinaturner8554

This is about sebanistian rogers only

@JERSEYNWK

This is crazy how the leave the father alone that kid is somewhere

@brettcross9941

They must think she threw him in garbage !

@GlitterandSkullz

That child is dead and the mother and stepfather are the culprits.

@willswalkingwest7267

The boy is sadly likely deceased. The truth will come to light. God Rest that poor boy's soul.

@robertsanssouci2093

His wife walked the kid out of the house and gave him to the stepfather in the middle of the night

@pinkchaos.

Everyone knows the step-dad and mom did something to him 🤦🏼‍♀️ feel so bad for his father 😞

@user-dh9xz6bx7x

I have a thought. the thought is Sebastian left on his own. So we have to go with that even if he did not. If Sebastian did leave on his own for what ever reason then he would be going to a place he wanted to be or a place he felt safe. OR! If something happened to Sebastian in the home and it was the mom that said he left on his own then the proudfoots would not dump Sebastian in a place that would lead back to them. They would dump Sebastian in a place that would go along with the theme that Sebastian left on his own so a place Sebastian could get to on his own. This way Chris and Katie could say see he ran away on his own..people need to stop looking in places Chis parked his RV...Start searching in places that make sence to Sebastian. Did he try to run away to his Dads house. Did he want to go back to an old school he used to attend. Think like Sebastian would think

@wisewillow5731

There was something very strange about that chapter of the Cajan Navy. Firstly one of the main organisers was on video introducing himself with two different names in two different locations. They also were the ones on video threatening youtube creators simply sitting in their cars. I think those particular people have been caught out for their grifting dodgy behaviour, and in turn it has reduced their donations dramatically, thus them choosing to leave. This is by no means a reflection on the good in the Cajan Navy, but just like some rogue creators, there are wolves in sheep's clothing amongst so called "expert search teams" as well. Some delving in to that by News Nation would be suggested.

@tracyshriver8197

That swat was years before and the mom was getting death threats

@allybooks0606

@brian entin love your reporting

@tinaturner8554

Yall found Riley strain and now no one wants to help seth rogers that is terrible yall need to make a big deal about seth. Yall need to question Chris and Katie take them in

@jen77860

🙏🙏😢🙏🙏