More than two years after Sebastian Rogers disappeared from his Tennessee home, his father is pursuing a new route for answers.

This time, the search is moving through federal court.

Seth Rogers filed two civil-rights lawsuits in July 2026 — one involving the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office and another involving the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. The cases challenge how government agencies allegedly handled events both before and after Sebastian vanished in February 2024.

The lawsuits do not solve the mystery of Sebastian’s disappearance.

They do not identify a person responsible for making him disappear.

And the accusations contained in the complaints have not been proven in court.

But they could eventually produce something this case has often lacked publicly: official documents, internal communications and sworn testimony explaining what agencies knew, when they knew it and why certain decisions were made.

For a case surrounded for years by online theories, that could be significant.

Sebastian Vanished Without an Obvious Trail

Sebastian disappeared from his Hendersonville-area home during the night of Feb. 25 into Feb. 26, 2024.

He was 15 at the time.

According to the FBI, Sebastian had spent the previous day with his mother before returning home for the evening. When she went to wake him for school the following morning, he was gone.

Sebastian has autism and other medical conditions that authorities say may affect his ability to safely return without assistance.

His disappearance sparked an enormous search involving local authorities, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, volunteers, K-9 teams, drones and other resources.

Yet no confirmed explanation for what happened to him has emerged publicly.

No one has been arrested in connection with his disappearance, and investigators have not publicly identified a suspect or person of interest. The FBI continues to offer a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to Sebastian’s whereabouts.

That vacuum of answers is part of what now makes the federal litigation so interesting.

Two Lawsuits Focus on Two Different Periods

Seth’s lawsuits essentially divide the story into two stages.

The first targets what happened after Sebastian disappeared.

Filed against Sumner County, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Eric Craddock, Detective Brandon Carter and unnamed defendants, the federal civil-rights case alleges serious failures in the missing-person investigation. Court records show the suit was filed July 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Among other allegations, the complaint claims investigators failed to properly secure the home early in the case and failed to adequately pursue certain leads.

Those are allegations from Seth’s lawsuit — not judicial findings.

The second federal case looks further back.

Seth sued the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and several officials, claiming the agency failed to properly protect Sebastian before his disappearance and failed to notify him about earlier DCS investigations involving his son.

That distinction matters.

One lawsuit asks questions about the search.

The other asks questions about what government officials knew before there was a search at all.

The DCS Records Could Become Especially Important

According to Seth’s complaint, DCS had investigated matters involving Sebastian in 2022 and again in 2023.

The lawsuit alleges that Seth was not informed about those investigations at the time and learned of their existence only later.

It also claims DCS records contained information about Sebastian’s home situation and his vulnerability that, in Seth’s view, should have resulted in additional protective action.

DCS has said it generally does not comment on pending litigation and is restricted from discussing specific child-welfare cases because of confidentiality laws.

That creates one of the most interesting possibilities if the federal case advances.

Litigation can sometimes require parties to exchange documents through a process known as discovery.

Depending on what the judge allows — and whether confidentiality rules permit disclosure — attorneys could potentially seek case files, emails, internal messages, policies, notes and records documenting how specific decisions were made.

That does not mean every DCS record will automatically become public.

Child-welfare files are highly sensitive and can be protected by law or court orders.

But even limited disclosure could provide a more formal timeline of what the agency knew before Sebastian disappeared.

The Sheriff’s Lawsuit Could Test Claims About the Investigation

The separate lawsuit involving the Sumner County investigation could open a different category of records.

Seth’s complaint alleges investigators did not properly secure Sebastian’s home as a potential crime scene and did not sufficiently pursue certain investigative issues.

The suit also raises questions about communication between the sheriff’s office and Sebastian’s father.

Again, none of those accusations should be confused with findings that investigators actually violated the law or caused the case to remain unsolved.

But if the lawsuit survives early legal challenges and enters significant discovery, lawyers could potentially request investigative reports, emails, agency communications, training materials and records showing how decisions were made.

Depositions could be even more revealing.

During a deposition, witnesses answer questions under oath before trial. Depending on who is required to testify, that could mean officials involved in Sebastian’s case being asked to explain decisions in greater detail than they have publicly before.

Federal Court Does Not Guarantee New Evidence

There is an important limitation.

Filing a lawsuit does not automatically open every government file.

Defendants can ask judges to dismiss claims.

Courts can restrict discovery.

Some records can be withheld because of investigative privilege, privacy protections or other legal rules.

Cases can also settle before depositions or extensive document production occurs.

Both lawsuits remain at an early stage.

The publicly available federal dockets show that they were filed July 15, with initial case-management conferences scheduled for Nov. 12. The DCS case has already been referred to a magistrate judge for customized case management.

So the possibility of a large release of records remains just that — a possibility.

The Lawsuits Are Not Evidence of What Happened to Sebastian

This distinction may be the most important one.

Neither lawsuit establishes how Sebastian disappeared.

Neither identifies who, if anyone, took him.

The complaints also do not allege that Sebastian’s mother, Katie Proudfoot, or his stepfather, Christopher Proudfoot, has been legally proven responsible for his disappearance. Neither has been arrested in the case, and neither has been publicly identified by law enforcement as a suspect or person of interest. Both have denied involvement.

The federal cases are about alleged government conduct.

That is very different from evidence proving what happened to Sebastian.

But the two issues could intersect in one important way.

If litigation creates a clearer record of how authorities responded to evidence, tips or concerns, the public may finally gain a better understanding of why certain investigative decisions were made — and whether important information was followed up.

A Case Dominated by Theories Could Produce More Official Records

Since 2024, Sebastian’s disappearance has generated enormous online attention.

Videos, podcasts and social-media discussions have produced countless theories.

Law enforcement has repeatedly warned that misinformation can interfere with the investigation and urged the public to rely on verified information and submit legitimate tips.

Federal litigation operates differently.

Documents exchanged in court, sworn depositions and judicial rulings create formal records.

They may support some accusations.

They may contradict others.

Or the lawsuits may end without revealing much at all.

That is why the new legal fight matters without needing to exaggerate what it means.

For more than two years, the central mystery has remained unchanged:

Where is Sebastian Rogers?

The lawsuits may not answer that question.

But for the first time, federal court could begin forcing detailed answers to another one:

What exactly happened inside the agencies responsible for protecting him and searching for him?