Crystal Rogers: 5 years after Kentucky mother vanished 150 state and FBI agents execute 9 search warrants
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, A mother of five Crystal Rogers mysteriously vanished in the year 2015 on July 3. She disappeared from the house she shared with her children and her boyfriend. Two days after she had vanished, her car was found abandoned at the side of a highway.
In a bizarre twist, around two years later, her father was fatally shot, Oxygen reveals. It has now been five years since Rogers disappeared and the police are still looking for answers. Kiro7 had reported that the FBI have been following up on leads in Rogers' case.
Recently, human bones and remains were found around four miles away from where Rogers was last seen.
FBI involvement in Crystal Rogers case
The new push in the case saw more than 150 state and federal agents executing nine federal search warrants at various locations, FBI officials revealed in a statement.
There have been over 50 interviews that have been conducted in conjunction with the warrants. The US attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, Russell Coleman said, "I have committed publicly and privately that delivering long-sought justice in Nelson County is the highest priority case of the United States Attorney’s Office."
"Today’s efforts by our stalwart FBI, (Internal Revenue Service) and (Kentucky State Police) partners is a major step in honoring that promise," Coleman added. On August 6, the FBI had taken to Twitter to say, "FBI Louisville Now Leads Search for Crystal Rogers: FBI Louisville announces it is now the lead investigative agency on the Crystal Rogers case and is working with several federal, state, and local partners. Crystal Rogers was last seen July 3, 2015."
The involvement of the FBI follows the discovery of the human remains on July 23 in a creek bank along a tributary of the Beech Fork River around four miles from the farm where Rogers was last seen.
Crystal Rogers Disappearance
Rogers was reported missing on July 5 in 2015 by her mother, Sherry Ballard, after she was not heard from or seen since July 3. When Roger's car was found on the 5th, the keys had still been in the ignition and her personal belongings were still inside the car. There was no trace of Rogers in or around her vehicle.
The only ever suspect in Roger's disappearance has been her boyfriend at the time, Brooks Houck, who has never been charged. The two also share a child together. When Roger vanished, Houck never found it to be odd as Roger would often spend the night out at her girlfriends' homes.
When Houcks was interviewed and questioned by the police, he had received a phone call from his brother Nick, an officer with the Bardstown Police Department who had told him that investigators could be trying to 'trip him up'. Post this call, Nick was eventually fired from the police for "interfering with the investigation".
Houck was also accused by Rogers' family of not taking her disappearance seriously enough which led him to do an interview with Nancy Grace. During the interview, he admitted that the relationship between him and Rogers had been 'strained'. However, he denied that he had anything to do with her disappearance.
The death of Crystal Rogers' father
According to WDRB, tragedy had struck the Rogers family back in November 2016. Rogers' father Tommy Ballard had been shot and killed while he was hunting on family property. Ballard's father Till Ballard said that he has faith that the KSP will find whoever killed his son and granddaughter.
He said, "Whoever killed them, they're walking around just like 'I done it and ain't nothing you can do about it, nothing the law can do about it.' They're going to get a surprise one of these days."
Rogers' mother is encouraging anyone with information to come forward and tell people what they know. Sherry said, "Don't be scared to come forward. It could mean finding my daughter, or it could mean putting the person who did this to them behind bars."
If you have information related to the disappearance of Crystal Rogers, please call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit www.crystalrogerstaskforce.com.