BARDSTOWN, Ky. — FBI agents are searching a farm in Bardstown where Crystal Rogers was last seen before she disappeared seven years ago, officials announced Monday.
What You Need To Know
- FBI agents are searching a family farm in Bardstown connected to the Crystal Rogers investigation
- Agents announced their search Monday morning
- Rogers, a mother of five, went missing from Bardstown in July 2015
The FBI's Louisville office announced just before 9 a.m. that agents were conducting "judicially authorized activity" at 345 Paschal Ballard Lane, which is a farm owned by the family of Brooks Houck, Rogers' boyfriend at the time of her disappearance.
Rogers, a mother of five, went missing from Bardstown in July 2015. Her mother, Sherry Ballard, found her car abandoned with a flat tire at mile marker 14 on the Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown, Kentucky. Rogers' keys, phone and purse are still inside the red Chevrolet Impala.
Sherry Ballard, Crystal Rogers’ mother, spoke with the media Monday afternoon at the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office. Sitting alongside her family, this is what she had to say about today’s development.
“These searches are hard, they are very difficult for me but I just have to get through them, it’s just, I have to do it for my husband and my daughter too,” Ballard said.
Ballard was also asked about why the property being searched today is of interest to the case.
“Just ‘cus Brooks said they went to the farm, that’s the only answer I’ve ever gotten is that Brooks said that that’s the last place they went. I don’t know for sure if my daughter made it to that farm honestly,” Ballard said.
Rogers' father, Tommy Ballard, was shot and killed on family property near Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown on Nov. 19, 2016. In August 2020, FBI Louisville announced it was taking over the case.
Agents conducted an extensive search of the Woodlawn Springs subdivision in August 2021. There, they honed in on three houses built by a company owned by Brooks Houck, Rogers' then-boyfriend who shared a child with her.
An "item of interest" was uncovered as a result of that search, but no further developments came to light. Houck has not been charged in the investigation.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for any information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for Rogers' disappearance. Tips can be submitted directly to the FBI at crystalrogerstaskforce.com or by calling 502-263-6000.
For more on the Crystal Rogers case, find our timeline here.