Search for missing autistic teenager Sebastian Rogers covered at least 10,000 miles, investigators reveal

Investigators searching for Sebastian Rogers in Tennessee said Tuesday they had driven between 10,000 and 12,000 miles in the past four weeks.

In a report for News channel 5Ken Weidner, director of the Sumner County Emergency Operations Center, showed a map of the areas searched so far.

From ponds to houses to woods, hundreds of people canvassed the area around where the 15-year-old went missing four weeks ago.

“We had almost 1,500 researchers,” Mr. Weidner told journalist Nick Beres. “We have 1,350 people documented and then we have additional people, I'm sure we have more on the public safety side.

“The first two days we did 2,000 miles of research and we didn't have enough time to extrapolate all of that,” he said, referring to the data on a giant screen.

“It will probably be 10 to 12,000 miles.”

Mr Weidner said despite all the door knocks, interviews and searches, there has been no sign of Sebastian so far.

The autistic teen disappeared the night of Feb. 25-26 from his home in Hendersonville. His mother found his room empty when she went to wake him up for school.

Mr Weidner said they were not giving up hope of finding the boy alive.

“We're not stopping, we're working on leads and information from the TBI and the Sheriff's Office and we have teams on standby ready to go right now,” Weidner added.

The interview comes after law enforcement appeared to scale back its public efforts to find Sebastian.

In the meantime, searches for volunteers were organized, while Sebastian's father, Seth Rogers, said he looked for his boy every day.

His mother, Katie Proudfoot, and stepfather, Chris Proudfoot, recently moved out of the family home so Mr. Proudfoot could return to work.

In another interview Monday, the mother said her son could be anywhere and she would continue to look for him.