BARDSTOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — Saturday marks the six-year anniversary of the disappearance of Crystal Rogers.
The 35-year-old went missing on July 3, 2015.
Rogers’ car was found with a flat tire on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown with her phone, purse and keys still inside.
Nobody has reportedly seen or heard from her since, and her body has not been found.
“It’s been a long, long, long six years,” said Rogers’ mother Sherry Ballard. “We have nowhere to go to pay respects to my daughter and we don’t know where she’s at. That’s something that’s never off your mind. Not for one minute.”
The last person to see Rogers alive was her long-time boyfriend Brooks Houck.
The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office named Houck a main suspect in the case, but he was never charged and maintains his innocence.
16 months after Rogers vanished, her father Tommy was shot and killed by an unknown gunman while hunting on his own property.
Ballard said she believes her husband was killed because the person responsible knew they would never give up searching for Rogers.
Even while carrying the grief of losing her husband and with her daughter still missing, Ballard said she never lost faith the truth would come out about what happened.
“I find hope in my husband and daughter because they were very special. I’m doing this for them. My family and my daughter and husband deserve justice, and I will do whatever I need to do to make sure that happens,” Ballard said.
Ballard said her hope strengthened last year.
In August 2020, the FBI took over as lead investigator in the case. The agency swept into Bardstown, interviewing dozens of people and searching multiple properties tied to the Houck family.
The agency said they are nearing the final stages of the investigation.
“The FBI is working very hard and I have a lot of faith in them. I think they’re going to give me my answers,” Ballard said. “If everyone can keep us in their prayers because I know God is gonna answer those prayers.”
A prayer service is scheduled for Wednesday, July 7, at 7:30 pm at St. Thomas Parish in Bardstown.
