Harrison Conder, Callie Smith
Two missing persons reports have plagued the thoughts of many across Tennessee in recent weeks. These two individuals, coming from different walks of life, have gone missing without a trace. This is leaving both families as well as law enforcement asking questions and searching trying to find their loved ones.
Sebastian Rogers, a 15 year old went missing in Hendersonville, Tennessee in Sumner County. He was reported missing on Feb. 26 in the area of Long Hollow Pike in Sumner County near Beech High School.
According to Nashville stations WSMV and WTVF, Sebastian has not been seen for almost three weeks now. They also note that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Sumner County Sheriff’s office are not giving up on their search efforts to find Sebastian.
Sumner County Sheriffs, along with Kentucky State Police, searched a landfill in Kentucky, hoping to find clues that would help with the search. Sebastian’s neighborhood trash gets taken to this specific dump. The search turned up nothing and police say they do not have enough evidence to suspect foul play.
This community is still holding out hope that Sebastian will be found. Sumner County Commissioner Don Schmit is asking everyone to be respectful of what local law enforcement is saying. “Don’t let Sebastian take a back seat, keep him front and center, because this is a kid,” Shmit stated.
“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.
A two week search for missing college student Riley Strain concluded on Friday, March 22 after the identification of a body discovered in Cumberland River Bridge , a restaurant owned by country music star Luke Bryan, at 9:52 p.m. for behavior defying the bar’s code of conduct. He was last seen on surveillance cameras just five minutes later at 9:57 p.m. jogging towards the river.
The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission opened an investigation into Luke’s 32 Bridge at the time Strain had gone missing. Many in the community provided assistance in searching for Riley.
The community surrounding Strain and individuals following the story originally feared foul play and suspected Strain to be drugged. Forensic science student, Sarah Putnam, knows the fear of being drugged because of how common it is nowadays.
“It’s definitely an example of the fear people have going out and doing things at night,” Putnam said. “There were many people who speculated he was drugged first, and that’s becoming a more common fear.”
According to Nashville News Station WKRN, Riley was in town visiting from Missouri with his fraternity brothers in Delta Chi. They say that Strain and his friends visited several bars along Nashville’s bustling Broadway.
He was then seen stumbling on several street cameras in the downtown Nashville area and was observed having an interaction with a Metro Nashville Police officer near the Cumberland River where his phone last pinged. A homeless man that lives nearby told detectives that he had also briefly interacted with Riley.
Strain was on a fraternity trip with his Delta Chi brothers while visiting Nashville. This has many college students opening their eyes and reevaluating their safety. One of those students is Tech’s Mr. TTU and Sigma Phi Epsilon brother junior mechanical engineering major, Zak Henson.
“It’s a grim reminder at the end of the day everyone has to be cautious,” Henson states, “Don’t go solo. Make sure you’re with a group. Make sure someone in the group is able to take care of anyone should they need to.”
Young girls have been known to travel to groups. Henson believes it is time for boys to begin looking out for each other more intently and traveling in groups as well. “I think that’s something if people were not doing, then they need to begin doing it,” Henson said. “This is a reminder of what can happen if you don’t have people there.”Henson suspects an implementation of more safety regulations from fraternity chapters very soon and advises any college student to be more vigilant.
