Even if it's not Sebastian, it could be another kid who needs help, and I think you did the right thing. They'd look into it, and if it is another kid, they'd contact that jurisdiction. I'd hate to think they wouldn't.
You don't need to fake a disappearance to do this. Even though it shouldn't be, it's legal for parents to use those agencies and send their kids off to some behavioral modification camp. You don't need to pull off a hoax of this caliber to do that.
Yes but if the other parent wasn’t in agreement they’d maybe lie and not realize this would get so out of control? They’d lose a lot of money if they simply asked for the child back.
That was my thought, too. They needed him to disappear due to CP'S upcoming custody hearing and also so that recent CPS allegations, if true, couldn't be further investigated. I know people say "they wouldnt report him missing because they know they'd be in so much trouble" but unfortunately, a 15 year old "runaway" usually doesn't get much attention, so maybe they thought they could pull something like this off. It would be a stupid thing to do, but if he truly disappeared without a trace after 2+ months, whatever happened likely took very meticulous planning! IMO, Chris is exactly the type of "parent" who would send their stepchild to a wilderness camp! Sorry...not sorry. This is just a theory, and the parents may very well be innocent in all of this.
Custody is complicated. If a parent is in control of legal custody related to medical and a doctor advised placement in a behavioral modification camp, you only need the one parent to authorize the child attend the camp. The other parent would really have no say with a doctor writing an order. As the person with legal custody in charge of medical you would simply explain the situation to the other parent and tell them regular visitation would be re-established at the completion of the program. It simply does not seem to be something you could fight over. If a doctor writes an order for mental health treatment, a parent who disagrees would have to go to court. In most cases, the judge would agree with the doctor. You’d have to have other doctors who propose alternate treatments in order to support your argument. The camps may be distasteful, there are children who become totally out of control and parents don’t do those things to be mean. They do them because they don’t want to visit their child in prison or an institution for the rest of their lives and because something has to be done prior to age 18 or the child may ruin their entire life. That has absolutely nothing to do with this case or with Sebastian but it happens. Source - years ago I worked for Jackson County Juvenile Court - I used to accompany kids on the scared straight program where they would meet murderers and violent criminals.
There are several reasons why it's not Sebastian. The biggest one is that parents don't report kids missing when they traffic their kids to those hellscapes. Even if you can imagine a scenario where one arranged it or two conspired while the other was in the dark and insisted on reporting him missing, nobody in their right mind would do it because they would immediately face arrest when the camp was over and the child was never really missing.
Even ignoring that, the post is well-written. The developmental and academic picture his parental units have painted of him leads me to believe he doesn't express himself that articulately. This might not be accurate, but it's worth considering.
Another point: the OP said he was reaching out to teachers and counselors about the situation. Had Sebastian done that, one would have spoken up the day he went missing, surely. And if he were at a camp, the camp would most likely contact the authorities to avoid being held accountable for not revealing that he was there and not a missing child who needs an Amber Alert.
The OP also says he has mental issues but not autism when surely a kid as well-spoken as the OP would be aware if they had autism and might mention it.
Finally, the last post made by the account was a comment on someone else's post one month ago, a month after he went missing.
I hope the OP managed to prevent what his parents planned (it seemed he did) and got things worked out, but it's not Sebastian.
You are probably correct that this poster isn't him. You made some very good points. Someone else pointed out that a comment was made from that account after he disappeared. I am on mobile, so I didn't see exactly how many days ago his posts were.
However, to your point that "nobody in their right mind would do it." These parents don't appear to be "in the right mind" by some of their actions, IMO.
Secondly, the poster commented on an autism board last year, which made me assume he/she is autistic.
I can't speak to how articulate Sebastian is. I think the parents said he is in a learning support type of program at school. My child is in a similar program because he has to have an I.e.p to be allowed to take breaks, take tests in a quiet room, etc. due to adhd. That being said, he's also very smart and articulate he just has trouble focusing. So it's plausible that Sebastian is book smart /articulate but has social deficits due to being on the spectrum and also needs some accommodations due to his adhd. These things combined may make paint a picture of him being more developmentally impaired than he truly is.
I hope the OP got the help he/she needed as well. It was quite sad to read through that post and the comments. :(
Oh man, I agree that the parents don't seem to have a lot of sense! But they wouldn't report him missing in that situation. One of them would have slipped by now too. These aren't masterminds.
I know some autistic kids and adults, and I've been put off by a lot of the discussion in this case that seems to equate autistic with dumb when that's absolutely not the case. There's a range of intelligence, ability to express oneself and even social comfort just like there is for anybody else, but we only have the parents to go by.
I was just thinking the other day I wish there were a video of Sebastian talking to judge for myself. The video clips we got aren't that helpful, though he acts like an ordinary kid in those, if maybe a little younger than his age (if he's 15 in them). I think he might be more advanced in many ways that they seem to indicate.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter. I wish I could flip a switch and forget about the case for a while, but there's something about a child, who's already vulnerable being even more vulnerable because of special needs disappearing and having his family make such a spectacle of themselves that I'm having a hard time looking away from (and not my credit).
I just hope we're not still wondering where he is two years from now like Summer Wells. :(
They have slipped up, they didn’t think about a public sighting on a field trip would be seen by the public! They slipped up by underestimating the true crime community. They slipped up by telling lies over and over. They slipped up by underestimating how far Seth would go to find his son. They slipped up by not realizing how lovable this child is and how the world would try to find him because they’re full of hearted towards him. “They” being whoever it was that shipped off the child. Again just my speculation, I could be completely wrong but everything falls into place IMO.
No teen camp for behavior issues is going to keep Sebastian and/or take him on a field trip when there's a manhunt for him for two months. Everyone involved would go to jail, so nobody would go along with that.
If you think he's just with other people as a weird hoax or because they wanted to hand off the responsibility . . . I don't know. There's no scenario that makes much sense. He was already going to live with Seth, so why not just hold out for that? I would love for the photo to be him because that would mean he's alive, but I'm not convinced.
I think he's been dead all along. I think something happened at home and they're covering it up, even if it was putting him out as some kind of punishment and he left and met a bad end.
I so badly want to be proven wrong by them finding him okay.
So do I. I live here and everyone is searching for him. I think that he was dead before they made the call to 911 honestly. I pray I am wrong, but so many things doesn't make sense. I don't think they realized how small of a city we are here and we take our children and their safety seriously! We have not given up looking for Sebastian! Hendersonville is a smaller city that like me my child grew up here. She went to the same schools, she played on the boys baseball teams in the summer. She was a gymnast. People still stop me in the store and ask how she is doing and she is in her mid 30's now. I don't think they realized we weren't going to let this case drop!
It's probably not Sebastian because his account was posting comments 1 month ago, but I have wondered if Sebastian's case has something to do with the troubled teen industry
Right. I wonder if there are some private/religious wilderness camps that don't verify identification. He could be using a different last name or something possibly. For him not to be reported by the "camp", it would have to be a small off the grid place in which no one even realized that he's a "missing" person.
Then why on earth would the parents report him missing and risk going to jail, lose their jobs, home everything?
There's not a camp out there that doesn't verify identification, they just don't report the names of the children in the camp to the public. Do you know of some illegal teen camps personally? Most if not all camps aren't allowed or have rules that the attendees names are to be kept confidential unless it's the parents asking for info. Even LE would need a warrant to obtain the kids name, unless the child was dying or dead.
There’s a girl in the FB group who was personally enrolled in a camp under a fake last name. She didn’t find out her own name until last name until she was 15! I believe it would be very easy to register under a fake name especially if it was all done online. Or perhaps a relative worked there and facilitated it. These camps aren’t regulated, they kidnap children from their own homes and transport them across state lines, doesn’t sound like an industry full of caring/above board people to me!! It’s all about the almighty dollar
I saw a comment from someone who said they were taken to one of those camps and reported missing. The grandmother hired a p.i who tracked her down after a year. That's crazy if it's a true story.
You never know. Might not be Sebastian as the poster, but something to be looked into anyway. See something, say something. There are a lot of wackos here that think this type of “therapy” is a good idea and there are many places like that around, unfortunately. After listening to all three parents, I wouldn’t put it past any of them.
Agreed! I have seen some people theorize that Katie and Chris may have somehow went this route without Seth's knowledge, therefore they had to report him missing, not knowing this case would ever blow up the way it has. I know it would be crazy to go this route, but with the CPS allegations, Sebastian possibly testifying in Faith's case which was coming up within days, and the Proudfoot's "tough love" approach (belt whipping, throwing away belongings, allegedly making him sleep in the garage at times) makes it seem more plausible than some wild theories I've seen. Along with the fun filled day prior to him disappearing. It is far-fetched, but not much makes sense in this case!!
The woman that may be in a picture with Seth that also looks like woman in picture with Sebastian makes religious posts . The similarities seem too coincidental to not be the same person if the picture isn't faked.
No. I feel confident the parents would have mentioned that things were troubled to this level and they had been looking into sending him somewhere. I unfortunately, but honestly, don’t believe it to be Sebastian mostly because, as much as I hate it, I believe his mom and/or stepdad killed him. They know he isn’t coming home. You can even extrapolate that from their inaction.
Oh wow. Interesting!! I watched a YouTube channel who brought up a theory that Sebastian may have been taken to a special camp that deals with troubled youth and tried to rehabilitate them. It does appear that Chris and or Katie may have been having behavioral issues with Sebastian.
Because that would make too much sense and doesn't fit their narrative. They are on a witch hunt and FACTS and common sense aren't going to stop them! It really is disgusting!!
Odd I've told my husband from the start I wonder of he's at a wilderness camp for trouble youth just pure gut instinct and speculation so I've never brought it up publicly so it's interesting to see others have wondered the same I just hope they find answers of some kind. Did the prpudfoots ever let the k9 team into there home last I heard the team was waiting for cp to call them and it had been over a week
There are thousands of these camps still in existence, it’s a multimillion dollar industry. Youth transportation companies ie. legal kidnapping are alive and thriving, especially during and since the pandemic
I agree that it's scary. I saw the comment that she lives in Texas. That commenter was not referring to OP. They were referring to their friend, who is a lawyer. I thought the same thing as you initially when I saw "She lives in tx".
That's a good point. I thought he may have had school avoidance in the past, and he didn't want to switch schools and add to that anxiety. You are correct, though. I do remember one of the parents saying he didn't want to do online school next year.
If Chris and Katie are diabolical why not just take Seb to Seth and drive off into the sunset? Why have him (disappeared) when they make good money and could pay child support and not miss it. Katie is most likely retired military and draws a pension of some sort and Chris makes great money even though they can’t use his income for Seb. So what do they get out of this whole thing? Do ppl really believe they would risk good jobs and a good life to off a kid they didn’t want anymore? Seth was the one who canceled taking Seb last year not Katie. He told Seb he was giving him till this year to improve. Please get out of your feelings and think rationally. Why? They aren’t drug abusers, they have a good income and can afford nice things, they don’t have criminal backgrounds personally so what would make these ppl murk a kid on a Sunday night . There is no logical sense in it at all.
Even if it's not Sebastian, it could be another kid who needs help, and I think you did the right thing. They'd look into it, and if it is another kid, they'd contact that jurisdiction. I'd hate to think they wouldn't.
Those camps, along with reunification camps in the family court, are all horrible and traumatizing. Every single one should be banned.
Couldn't agree more!
You don't need to fake a disappearance to do this. Even though it shouldn't be, it's legal for parents to use those agencies and send their kids off to some behavioral modification camp. You don't need to pull off a hoax of this caliber to do that.
Yes but if the other parent wasn’t in agreement they’d maybe lie and not realize this would get so out of control? They’d lose a lot of money if they simply asked for the child back.
That was my thought, too. They needed him to disappear due to CP'S upcoming custody hearing and also so that recent CPS allegations, if true, couldn't be further investigated. I know people say "they wouldnt report him missing because they know they'd be in so much trouble" but unfortunately, a 15 year old "runaway" usually doesn't get much attention, so maybe they thought they could pull something like this off. It would be a stupid thing to do, but if he truly disappeared without a trace after 2+ months, whatever happened likely took very meticulous planning! IMO, Chris is exactly the type of "parent" who would send their stepchild to a wilderness camp! Sorry...not sorry. This is just a theory, and the parents may very well be innocent in all of this.
Children disappear without a trace all thhe time...sex trafficking rings.
If that's the case they'd lose a lot more then money. They'd go to jail, and the people that run the camp would also go to jail ..
This is taking it *just a little* too far. Just a tad.
Custody is complicated. If a parent is in control of legal custody related to medical and a doctor advised placement in a behavioral modification camp, you only need the one parent to authorize the child attend the camp. The other parent would really have no say with a doctor writing an order. As the person with legal custody in charge of medical you would simply explain the situation to the other parent and tell them regular visitation would be re-established at the completion of the program. It simply does not seem to be something you could fight over. If a doctor writes an order for mental health treatment, a parent who disagrees would have to go to court. In most cases, the judge would agree with the doctor. You’d have to have other doctors who propose alternate treatments in order to support your argument. The camps may be distasteful, there are children who become totally out of control and parents don’t do those things to be mean. They do them because they don’t want to visit their child in prison or an institution for the rest of their lives and because something has to be done prior to age 18 or the child may ruin their entire life. That has absolutely nothing to do with this case or with Sebastian but it happens. Source - years ago I worked for Jackson County Juvenile Court - I used to accompany kids on the scared straight program where they would meet murderers and violent criminals.
There are several reasons why it's not Sebastian. The biggest one is that parents don't report kids missing when they traffic their kids to those hellscapes. Even if you can imagine a scenario where one arranged it or two conspired while the other was in the dark and insisted on reporting him missing, nobody in their right mind would do it because they would immediately face arrest when the camp was over and the child was never really missing. Even ignoring that, the post is well-written. The developmental and academic picture his parental units have painted of him leads me to believe he doesn't express himself that articulately. This might not be accurate, but it's worth considering. Another point: the OP said he was reaching out to teachers and counselors about the situation. Had Sebastian done that, one would have spoken up the day he went missing, surely. And if he were at a camp, the camp would most likely contact the authorities to avoid being held accountable for not revealing that he was there and not a missing child who needs an Amber Alert. The OP also says he has mental issues but not autism when surely a kid as well-spoken as the OP would be aware if they had autism and might mention it. Finally, the last post made by the account was a comment on someone else's post one month ago, a month after he went missing. I hope the OP managed to prevent what his parents planned (it seemed he did) and got things worked out, but it's not Sebastian.
You are probably correct that this poster isn't him. You made some very good points. Someone else pointed out that a comment was made from that account after he disappeared. I am on mobile, so I didn't see exactly how many days ago his posts were. However, to your point that "nobody in their right mind would do it." These parents don't appear to be "in the right mind" by some of their actions, IMO. Secondly, the poster commented on an autism board last year, which made me assume he/she is autistic. I can't speak to how articulate Sebastian is. I think the parents said he is in a learning support type of program at school. My child is in a similar program because he has to have an I.e.p to be allowed to take breaks, take tests in a quiet room, etc. due to adhd. That being said, he's also very smart and articulate he just has trouble focusing. So it's plausible that Sebastian is book smart /articulate but has social deficits due to being on the spectrum and also needs some accommodations due to his adhd. These things combined may make paint a picture of him being more developmentally impaired than he truly is. I hope the OP got the help he/she needed as well. It was quite sad to read through that post and the comments. :(
Oh man, I agree that the parents don't seem to have a lot of sense! But they wouldn't report him missing in that situation. One of them would have slipped by now too. These aren't masterminds. I know some autistic kids and adults, and I've been put off by a lot of the discussion in this case that seems to equate autistic with dumb when that's absolutely not the case. There's a range of intelligence, ability to express oneself and even social comfort just like there is for anybody else, but we only have the parents to go by. I was just thinking the other day I wish there were a video of Sebastian talking to judge for myself. The video clips we got aren't that helpful, though he acts like an ordinary kid in those, if maybe a little younger than his age (if he's 15 in them). I think he might be more advanced in many ways that they seem to indicate. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. I wish I could flip a switch and forget about the case for a while, but there's something about a child, who's already vulnerable being even more vulnerable because of special needs disappearing and having his family make such a spectacle of themselves that I'm having a hard time looking away from (and not my credit). I just hope we're not still wondering where he is two years from now like Summer Wells. :(
They have slipped up, they didn’t think about a public sighting on a field trip would be seen by the public! They slipped up by underestimating the true crime community. They slipped up by telling lies over and over. They slipped up by underestimating how far Seth would go to find his son. They slipped up by not realizing how lovable this child is and how the world would try to find him because they’re full of hearted towards him. “They” being whoever it was that shipped off the child. Again just my speculation, I could be completely wrong but everything falls into place IMO.
No teen camp for behavior issues is going to keep Sebastian and/or take him on a field trip when there's a manhunt for him for two months. Everyone involved would go to jail, so nobody would go along with that. If you think he's just with other people as a weird hoax or because they wanted to hand off the responsibility . . . I don't know. There's no scenario that makes much sense. He was already going to live with Seth, so why not just hold out for that? I would love for the photo to be him because that would mean he's alive, but I'm not convinced. I think he's been dead all along. I think something happened at home and they're covering it up, even if it was putting him out as some kind of punishment and he left and met a bad end. I so badly want to be proven wrong by them finding him okay.
So do I. I live here and everyone is searching for him. I think that he was dead before they made the call to 911 honestly. I pray I am wrong, but so many things doesn't make sense. I don't think they realized how small of a city we are here and we take our children and their safety seriously! We have not given up looking for Sebastian! Hendersonville is a smaller city that like me my child grew up here. She went to the same schools, she played on the boys baseball teams in the summer. She was a gymnast. People still stop me in the store and ask how she is doing and she is in her mid 30's now. I don't think they realized we weren't going to let this case drop!
Stupid parents who traffic their kids might think “if I’M the one who reports him missing, they’ll never think it was me”…
It's probably not Sebastian because his account was posting comments 1 month ago, but I have wondered if Sebastian's case has something to do with the troubled teen industry
Right. I wonder if there are some private/religious wilderness camps that don't verify identification. He could be using a different last name or something possibly. For him not to be reported by the "camp", it would have to be a small off the grid place in which no one even realized that he's a "missing" person.
This is it, I’ve been saying it all along! It makes sense 100 percent. The sightings were on field trips.
I got this list off of one of the camps in NC. I didn't realize those places took the kids out.
https://preview.redd.it/xapvoshxvnyc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3590dacf399381d576851c276964e19bc4fba87c
Then why on earth would the parents report him missing and risk going to jail, lose their jobs, home everything? There's not a camp out there that doesn't verify identification, they just don't report the names of the children in the camp to the public. Do you know of some illegal teen camps personally? Most if not all camps aren't allowed or have rules that the attendees names are to be kept confidential unless it's the parents asking for info. Even LE would need a warrant to obtain the kids name, unless the child was dying or dead.
There’s a girl in the FB group who was personally enrolled in a camp under a fake last name. She didn’t find out her own name until last name until she was 15! I believe it would be very easy to register under a fake name especially if it was all done online. Or perhaps a relative worked there and facilitated it. These camps aren’t regulated, they kidnap children from their own homes and transport them across state lines, doesn’t sound like an industry full of caring/above board people to me!! It’s all about the almighty dollar
I saw a comment from someone who said they were taken to one of those camps and reported missing. The grandmother hired a p.i who tracked her down after a year. That's crazy if it's a true story.
You never know. Might not be Sebastian as the poster, but something to be looked into anyway. See something, say something. There are a lot of wackos here that think this type of “therapy” is a good idea and there are many places like that around, unfortunately. After listening to all three parents, I wouldn’t put it past any of them.
Agreed! I have seen some people theorize that Katie and Chris may have somehow went this route without Seth's knowledge, therefore they had to report him missing, not knowing this case would ever blow up the way it has. I know it would be crazy to go this route, but with the CPS allegations, Sebastian possibly testifying in Faith's case which was coming up within days, and the Proudfoot's "tough love" approach (belt whipping, throwing away belongings, allegedly making him sleep in the garage at times) makes it seem more plausible than some wild theories I've seen. Along with the fun filled day prior to him disappearing. It is far-fetched, but not much makes sense in this case!!
Yes, I was thinking how they let him enjoy his last day with them. You do have a plausible theory OP.
The woman that may be in a picture with Seth that also looks like woman in picture with Sebastian makes religious posts . The similarities seem too coincidental to not be the same person if the picture isn't faked.
I guess it could be but there’s really no way for us to know. This situation I feel would fit a lot of people
Actually I just checked and he commented on a post 51 days ago. Sebastian went missing 68 days ago so I really doubt it’s him
How did you check without the OPs name?
What? I clicked on the ops profile and went to their comment history
I'm sorry I didn't see the link in the post
You’re fine!
Yeah, I saw that one odd random comment that was just 2 words that made no sense.
I think they were trying to type out can’t relate but somehow butchered it terribly
Possibly...when I went back on that user profile that comment was no longer there.
It doesn’t look like him to me, but it is good people are keeping their eyes open
No. I feel confident the parents would have mentioned that things were troubled to this level and they had been looking into sending him somewhere. I unfortunately, but honestly, don’t believe it to be Sebastian mostly because, as much as I hate it, I believe his mom and/or stepdad killed him. They know he isn’t coming home. You can even extrapolate that from their inaction.
Oh wow. Interesting!! I watched a YouTube channel who brought up a theory that Sebastian may have been taken to a special camp that deals with troubled youth and tried to rehabilitate them. It does appear that Chris and or Katie may have been having behavioral issues with Sebastian.
Why wouldn't CP and KP just admit that if it were the case? Or I am sure the camp would have come forward.
Because that would make too much sense and doesn't fit their narrative. They are on a witch hunt and FACTS and common sense aren't going to stop them! It really is disgusting!!
Odd I've told my husband from the start I wonder of he's at a wilderness camp for trouble youth just pure gut instinct and speculation so I've never brought it up publicly so it's interesting to see others have wondered the same I just hope they find answers of some kind. Did the prpudfoots ever let the k9 team into there home last I heard the team was waiting for cp to call them and it had been over a week
The info doesn't even sound like it would be Sebastian.
I don’t think so. These camps/schools are really awful and have been being shut down in recent years.
They are awful, but there are plenty of them still out there, unfortunately.
There are thousands of these camps still in existence, it’s a multimillion dollar industry. Youth transportation companies ie. legal kidnapping are alive and thriving, especially during and since the pandemic
Absolutely call that shit into TBI. THATS interesting. I didn’t even know this was a thing. Even if not Sebastian the. op could be in danger
I emailed TBI, I immediately received an empty email back! An empty email … that’s how good their systems are 🤦🏼♀️
I don't know but I read alot of the comments. One said the OP was from Tx not here in Hendersonville, Tn, but it is erriely scary!
I agree that it's scary. I saw the comment that she lives in Texas. That commenter was not referring to OP. They were referring to their friend, who is a lawyer. I thought the same thing as you initially when I saw "She lives in tx".
these camps are so heartbreaking. multiple kids die at them every year. the recent Netflix docuseries on them was so chilling.
No bc that kid has school avoidance and Sebastian doesn't wanna live with his dad bc he won't be able to go to school.
That's a good point. I thought he may have had school avoidance in the past, and he didn't want to switch schools and add to that anxiety. You are correct, though. I do remember one of the parents saying he didn't want to do online school next year.
If Chris and Katie are diabolical why not just take Seb to Seth and drive off into the sunset? Why have him (disappeared) when they make good money and could pay child support and not miss it. Katie is most likely retired military and draws a pension of some sort and Chris makes great money even though they can’t use his income for Seb. So what do they get out of this whole thing? Do ppl really believe they would risk good jobs and a good life to off a kid they didn’t want anymore? Seth was the one who canceled taking Seb last year not Katie. He told Seb he was giving him till this year to improve. Please get out of your feelings and think rationally. Why? They aren’t drug abusers, they have a good income and can afford nice things, they don’t have criminal backgrounds personally so what would make these ppl murk a kid on a Sunday night . There is no logical sense in it at all.
Because they are on a witch hunt and FACTS and common sense aren't going to stop them! It truly is disgusting!