More than two years after Sebastian Rogers vanished from his Tennessee home, the internet has produced almost every possible explanation.

Some believe he wandered away.

Others are convinced someone took him.

Videos have focused on mysterious lights near the house, a stranger in a green hoodie, family members, vehicles, surveillance footage and countless other details.

But strip away the speculation, and the official case is surprisingly narrow.

Sebastian is still missing.

Investigators say they have followed every tip submitted to them. Two of the most widely discussed online theories have specifically been investigated and rejected. And despite an enormous search involving thousands of people and multiple agencies, authorities have not publicly announced what happened to Sebastian after he went to bed on the night of Feb. 25, 2024.

The FBI is still offering up to $50,000 for information leading to his whereabouts.

So what does law enforcement actually know?

The Last Evening Investigators Can Reconstruct

Sebastian was 15 when he disappeared from the Hendersonville area.

According to the FBI’s detailed reconstruction, Sebastian spent Feb. 25 with his mother, Katie Proudfoot.

They went shopping at a department store, played video games at a bowling alley and ate dinner at a restaurant before returning home.

Katie and Sebastian prepared for bed and said goodnight sometime between 9 and 10 p.m.

Investigators say Katie later reported hearing a loud bang from Sebastian’s room shortly before 10 p.m. She called out to ask whether he was okay.

Sebastian reportedly answered that he was.

That is one of the last known interactions with him.

Katie then spoke by phone with her husband, who was away for work, for nearly two hours before going to sleep around midnight.

The following morning, she went to wake Sebastian for school.

He was gone.

What Was — and Wasn’t — Missing From the House

This is one of the most striking parts of the official timeline.

Investigators say Sebastian apparently did not take clothes, shoes, food, money or his cellphone.

His phone and cash were reportedly still on the dining room table, where they had been the previous day.

According to investigators, Katie believed one small yellow flashlight might have been missing.

That was apparently the only item she noticed was gone.

Those facts have fueled countless theories because they create an obvious problem.

If Sebastian intentionally planned to leave for an extended period, why would he leave behind so many basic necessities?

But investigators have not publicly said that this proves he was abducted.

Likewise, the fact that he may have left with almost nothing does not prove he wandered away.

It is evidence that creates questions — not an answer.

The Search Was Much Larger Than Many People Realize

Law enforcement initially treated the possibility that Sebastian had left the house on his own extremely seriously.

The search eventually covered a roughly four-and-a-half-mile radius around his home.

According to the FBI, approximately 2,000 searchers participated, using an app that tracked where teams had searched and allowed them to mark objects or areas requiring attention.

Authorities estimated the total ground covered was equivalent to roughly 44,000 acres.

Search teams used ATVs, mounted patrols, drones, helicopters, search-and-rescue dogs and even an airplane.

The FBI was brought in during the second day.

Its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team was consulted, along with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Because Sebastian has autism, investigators also considered research showing that some autistic children are prone to wandering and may be drawn toward water.

Searchers consequently examined waterways, lakes and ponds. Some ponds were even drained.

Yet Sebastian was not found.

What Surveillance Actually Showed

Online discussion has repeatedly focused on the possibility that someone arrived at or left Sebastian’s home during the night.

The FBI has now publicly addressed part of that question.

Investigators say video from neighboring homes, along with dashboard-camera footage from Katie’s vehicle, indicated that Katie and Sebastian did not leave the home after returning from dinner.

Authorities also said the available footage showed no other vehicles coming or going from the home during the relevant evening and early-morning period.

That is significant.

But it still does not answer every possibility.

The FBI has not publicly claimed that surveillance captured every possible movement of every person around the property.

What officials have said is that the evidence they reviewed did not show another vehicle entering or leaving.

Theory No. 1: The Mysterious “Flashlights”

One of the case’s most discussed pieces of footage appeared to show two moving lights near Sebastian’s backyard.

Online, the lights quickly became suspicious.

Some viewers believed they showed people moving around with flashlights on the night Sebastian disappeared.

Investigators examined the video.

Their conclusion was very different.

According to the FBI, the darkness and camera angle created a misleading image. When investigators compared the footage with the topography surrounding the property, they determined that the lights came from truck headlights on a road roughly 300 yards away, shining intermittently through trees.

Law enforcement says it further investigated and confirmed that explanation.

In other words, one of the case’s most persistent internet clues was not evidence of people secretly moving through Sebastian’s yard.

Theory No. 2: The Person in the Green Hoodie

Another theory centered on surveillance footage from the restaurant Sebastian and his mother visited that night.

A person wearing a green hoodie briefly interacted with Katie in the parking lot.

The encounter drew intense scrutiny online, with some people suggesting the interaction could have involved planning connected to Sebastian’s disappearance.

Police tracked the person down.

Restaurant employees identified the individual as a frequent customer.

Investigators then met with that person — who was reportedly even wearing the same green hoodie — and determined the individual was not a suspect.

Again, something that looked mysterious online produced a far less dramatic explanation when investigators could interview the actual person involved.

What Investigators Still Have Not Said

Perhaps the most important part of the FBI’s public account is what remains absent.

Authorities have not publicly announced that Sebastian definitely walked away.

They have not publicly established that he was abducted.

The FBI’s current missing-person notice does not name a suspect or explain exactly how Sebastian left the Stafford Court area.

Investigators also acknowledge that they are withholding some information.

Officials say releasing every detail could damage the integrity of the continuing investigation.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says every tip has been followed, although most were ultimately determined to be irrelevant or produced no result. Some information has continued to receive deeper examination.

That leaves a frustrating reality.

After all the searches, videos, interviews and theories, investigators still publicly describe Sebastian’s disappearance much as they did near the beginning:

A teenager went to bed.

The next morning, he was gone.

The $50,000 Reward Does Not Mean the FBI Has Chosen a Theory

The size of the FBI reward can also easily be misunderstood.

The bureau currently offers up to $50,000 for information leading to Sebastian’s whereabouts.

That reward demonstrates how seriously authorities continue to pursue the case.

It does not, by itself, establish that investigators believe a particular person harmed him or that one specific theory is correct.

Sebastian would now be older than the boy shown in many of the photographs that have circulated since 2024.

Authorities continue asking people to share his official missing-person information and immediately report credible sightings or information.

And that may be the clearest lesson after more than two years.

The internet has produced thousands of theories.

Investigators have tested at least some of the most famous ones — and discovered that appearances can be misleading.

Two lights were headlights.

A mysterious stranger was not a suspect.

Thousands of acres were searched.

Homes, ponds and waterways were examined.

Yet the central question has survived every theory:

What happened to Sebastian Rogers after he went to bed that night?

For now, even the FBI does not publicly claim to have the answer.