Rogers was born in Syracuse, New York when his mother was sixteen years old. His mother stated the child's presumed father, Damion Davis, was extremely abusive physically and lied to her about his name and age; he told her he was eighteen years old when in fact he was in his late thirties. The couple met in 2004, when Rogers's mother was fifteen. They lived together in an apartment in the 100 block of south Carbon Street in Syracuse after Rogers's birth, but in 2006 the child's mother left and returned to her family. She never saw her son again, but she lied to the Department of Social Services and said Rogers was living with her.

In July 2009, the police received a tip that Davis knew the whereabouts of a missing child. Photos of Davis are posted below this case summary. When interviewed, he said he had given Rogers to a man in Brooklyn, New York sometime during July 2007. He said he believed the man was named Yusef Ben Ali and he had never met him before. Ali was reportedly a member of the United Nation of Moors, also known as the Nuwaubians, a black power group. Davis said he was unemployed that Ali promised that the Moors would take care of Rogers until Davis was stable again. Davis believed the group may have taken Rogers to Georgia. Ali gave him a phone number to call, but it turned out to be out of service. Authorities later determined that Rogers was last seen in late November 2008, nearly a year and a half after Davis claimed to have given him away.

Davis uses many aliases, including the names Yakeef Davis, Rakeef Davis, Zayquan Ross and Zayquan Rose; he rarely uses his real name. Authorities stated they don't believe his explanation as to Rogers's disappearance. There was confusion as to just when Rogers disappeared and how old he was; some reports give his age at the time as between eight months and one year, and sometimes the date of disappearance is given as December 1, 2008 or some time in 2006. In December 2009, Davis was charged with child abandonment, third-degree rape and endangering the welfare of a child. The latter two charges were for his sexual relationship with Rogers's underage mother, and the child abandonment charge was for Rogers. In April 2010, however, the child abandonment charge was dropped. Davis assaulted another woman with a metal pick in October 2010. The following year, he was convicted of several charges relating to the attack and sentenced to one and a third to four years in prison.

Mustafa Burrell was convicted of assaulting Edward Phillips in 2011; the attack was supposedly related to Rogers's disappearance. Both men are friends of Davis and they had been roommates at one time, and Phillips allegedly cared for Rogers on a regular basis. Burrell stabbed Phillips in the neck in December 2008, allegedly because he was asking too many questions about Rogers's whereabouts. This was over six months before the child was reported missing. Burrell was convicted of second-degree assault and sentenced to the maximum term of seven years in prison.

Davis still has the rape charge pending against him. DNA tests in September 2011 proved that, contrary to expectations, he was not Rogers's biological father. Both he and the child's mother had apparently believed he was. The prosecution stated they would prosecute Davis for rape regardless.

Investigators believe Rogers was killed, and stated they might consider homicide charges even if he is never located. His case remains unsolved.

Above Images: Damion Davis