SHE’S BEEN MISSING FOR EIGHT YEARS, BUT IS THE TRUTH ABOUT TO COME OUT?
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As 2023 was drawing to aclose, athird arrest was made in the case of missing mother-of-five Crystal Rogers. Last seen in Bardstown, Kentucky, her disappearance has remained amystery for over eight long years. But now it seems investigators may be on their way to unravelling the shocking tale, which began on 3July 2015.
ABANDONED VEHICLE
Crystal’s family were members of aclose-knit farming community. She was adevoted mother to her children, who she adored, and aloving daughter to parents Tommy and Sherry Ballard, who doted on their eldest child. Hailing from aloving home, Crystal, 35, was alaid-back and easygoing parent, who often worked two jobs to provide for her family. She shared her youngest child, who was just two years old in 2015, with her live-in boyfriend, Brooks Houck.
But on 3July, after the couple had spent the night at the farming home of his family, Houck woke up to find Crystal gone. He would later tell the police he had last seen her before he went to bed, and that she had been playing games on her phone. Her car, which had been parked on the drive, was also missing. In the two days that followed, Crystal’s daughter Kayleigh contacted her grandmother Sherry to ask if she had heard from her mother, but shehadn’t. Crystal’ssisterBrooke hadalso tried and failed to reach her. Concerned, Sherry began calling around town to see if anyone had seen her daughter, but to no avail. She would later say that she knew then something was very wrong.
On 5July, Sherry and Tommy reported Crystal missing to the local Sheriff. While they were filing the report, arelative who happened to be at the police station at the same time told them he believed he had seen Crystal’s car parked by the side of astretch of road known as the Bluegrass Parkway. The family, accompanied by ateam of officers, rushed to the highway and found Crystal’s maroon Chevrolet Impala. There was, however, no sign of Crystal. Worryingly, the unlocked car had aflat tyre and the keys were still in the ignition. There was also a host of Crystal’s belongings, including her purse, phone and half-drunk bottles of Coke, scattered inside the vehicle. Crystal’s brother Casey noted to investigators that Crystal had an unusual driving position and would lay her seat back low, but the seat was not in that position, leading him to believe Crystal had not driven herself to the site. He also told officers that she’d had aflat tyre on that road before. His sister was acautious driver and he said she would not have exited her car on such adangerous stretch of highway. She would –as she had previously done –have carried on driving until she reached asafer spot,
