AMBER Alert: Community rallies around responders on day 3 of search for missing Sumner County teen
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Several community members have stepped up to help support first responders who are now on their third day of searching for a teenager missing from Hendersonville amid the rain and cold.
Authorities began searching for 15-year-old Sebastian Wayne Drake Rogers on Monday, Feb. 26 after he was reported missing from the Beech area in Hendersonville. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) issued an Endangered Child Alert that same morning, but later upgraded the alert level to an AMBER Alert on Tuesday, Feb. 27 as the urgency of the search increased.
Hundreds of people from multiple agencies have since been participating in the search, which has stretched several miles from where Sebastian was initially believed to have walked off. Authorities have also deployed drones, helicopter crews, K-9 teams and mounted units.
PREVIOUS: Day 2 of search for missing Sumner County teen
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, officials put out a call for as many mounted patrols as possible, with Hendersonville police and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office sending extra horses to help.
However, as the search continued Wednesday in 40-degree temperatures, there was still no sign of Sebastian. Officials have received several tips amid calls for people in the area to check their surveillance cameras, but so far none have turned out to be credible.
In addition to the weather, authorities have been concerned by the fact that Sebastian is without his medication and may not be able to make it home on his own. While officials have not yet asked the public to join in the search, several have been helping out in their own way.
Since Monday, members of Sumner County Fire Buffs — a nonprofit organization that provides food and drinks to first responders on active scenes throughout Sumner, Robertson and Macon counties — have been at the command center serving meals, snacks and beverages.
“To just be able to serve these people who are putting in hours and hours and hours of very strenuous work, they’re getting little sleep right now. I talked to one individual who said he maybe had two and a half hours [of] sleep in the last three days,” said Brad Swope, marketing information officer for Sumner County Fire Buffs.
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Several other community members and organizations have also coordinated donations of water, Gatorade, food, snacks and other supplies to help support those searching for Sebastian.
“The sense in the community is everybody just wants to find Sebastian,” said Nicole Fedorchek, secretary and public information officer for Sumner County Fire Buffs. “And that’s what I think obviously the goal is in the common mission is this little boy, that most of us have never even met before and they just want to bring him home to his family.”
More donations of snacks and drinks will be needed as the search continues. Officials are asking anyone who wants to donate to drop items off at the Premier Event Centre at 90 Volunteer Drive in Hendersonville to avoid traffic around headquarters.
Other than donations, Chief Deputy Eric Craddock with the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, said the best way the public can help right now is to stay vigilant, check their surveillance cameras, and “if you see something, say something.”
“Check your home surveillance video. Just check. If you see something, call us. We’ll come out and look,” he said. “I think that that’s going to be what breaks the case is somebody’s home surveillance video seeing something.”
No further information was released on Wednesday.
Sebastian Wayne Drake Rogers, 15, was reported missing on Monday, Feb. 26 from the Beech area in Hendersonville.
Sebastian Rogers: Description
Sebastian is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 120 pounds with dirty blond hair. He was last seen on Monday, Feb. 26 near Stafford Court wearing a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants, said the TBI.
AMBER Alert Issued
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) originally issued an Endangered Child Alert for Sebastian on the morning of Feb. 26 as multiple agencies took to the area to look for him.
Based on additional investigative information developed during the search, the TBI issued an AMBER Alert for Sebastian on the afternoon of Feb. 27. An AMBER Alert is issued when there is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred and the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death, per the DOJ.
Multiple agencies including the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Nashville Fire Department, City of Hendersonville’s first responders, Sumner County Sheriff’s Office and Shackle Island Volunteer Fire have assisted in the search for Sebastian.
Who to Contact
If you have seen Sebastian or have info about his whereabouts, call the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office at (615) 451-3838 or TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
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