WKRN News 2

TN’s missing children: Over three dozen kids still haven’t been found

By Sierra Rains,

8 hours ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Over three dozen children from across Tennessee are still missing as the month of August comes to an end.

For some families, it’s been a couple of weeks since they last saw their missing loved ones, while others have gone years without answers. Aug. 26 marked six months since 15-year-old Sebastian Rogers was reported missing out of Hendersonville.

Despite several massive searches and ongoing efforts to find the missing teen, there have been no confirmed leads on his whereabouts. Like with Sebastian’s disappearance, investigators are still working to uncover new information in many of the state’s outstanding cases.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) currently has 39 children listed as missing on its website, but those cases do not represent all missing children in the state. The cases posted include children in a variety of circumstances, including parental abductions, kids considered at-risk, those who’ve run away from home and other cases that might benefit from publicity.

Only 13 of the cases listed by the TBI were reported this year. The rest have been missing for much longer. One of the oldest dates back to 2008, when 6-year-old Carlos Edwardo Simon and his brother, 1-year-old Maniol Bladimir Pena Castro, disappeared from their home in Knoxville.

Authorities said the two young boys were last seen with their custodial mother, and the case is believed to be a family abduction. It’s also been over two years since Kimberly Espana, Armando Mirelez III and Octavia Castillo, all 15 years old, were reported missing from various parts of the state.

One of the most recent reports is from Aug. 17. Officials said that’s the last time anyone saw 15-year-old Taylor Jett, who is from Lewisburg. Unique Allen, 15, also went missing from Goodlettsville about a week earlier on Aug. 4.

According to the TBI, the public plays a valuable role in helping locate missing children. On average, 500 to 600 Tennessee children go missing each month. Authorities said many disappearances are the result of parental abductions or runaways.

AMBER Alerts are reserved for the most serious cases, in which law enforcement believes a child may be in imminent danger. Tennessee averages about eight to nine AMBER Alerts per year.

Below is a list of just some of the children who are still missing statewide as of the end of August, along with any known information regarding their disappearances.