A Mother of 5 Disappeared the Night Before July 4th—Her Body Has Never Been Found

The Bardstown, Ky., community, blessed with no murders recorded most years, made national headlines when a member of a prominent family with real estate holdings of more than 70 properties was convicted of murder. Some of his relatives were called “unindicted co-conspirators” by the prosecutor. 

Though a conviction was made in the case, the victim’s family just want the killer to reveal where to find the body of Crystal Rogers to provide a proper burial.

Brooks Houck’s relationship with his girlfriend, Rogers, “got rough” once she gave birth to their son, Eli, according to court documents. Rogers accused Houck of playing favorites to the detriment of her four other kids. Houck’s mother, Rosemary, resented Rogers having children from previous relationships. 

On July 3, 2015, Crystal told a cousin she was excited about a surprise date night with Houck. It was the last day anyone would see Rogers. 

The following morning, Houck claimed, per court docs, that he woke up early with Eli sleeping on his bed. Rogers was not around. Her family tried to contact her to no avail. On July 5, Roger’s mother, Sherry, bumped into Houck at a gas station. She asked if he had seen Rogers. He said he hadn’t. Sherry reported her daughter missing that afternoon. 

That same day, Rogers’ Chevy Impala was found a few miles outside town with a flat tire. The keys were in the ignition, and her purse and cell phone were inside. Asked by Detective Jon Snow of the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) whether Rogers had ever moved out in the four years they lived together, Houck replied, “The reason why I didn’t get alarmed just immediately, she’s done this about four or five times, it just has never went this period of time.”

The Kentucky State Police (KSP) led the multi-agency investigation that also involved the NCSO as well as the Bardstown and Louisville police departments.

On the fourth day of Rogers’ disappearance, Houck told investigators, “What I’ve got to face now is, as good a mother as Crystal has been, now, nobody is going to love you like a mother, now Eli is in an atmosphere where I’ve got all the hope in the world, but now, I’m a single parent.” 

At the time, there was no evidence Rogers was dead. Houck later qualified his statement, saying he’d be a single parent if Rogers wasn’t “brought back to safety.”

Authorities subsequently learned that Houck and at least two family members surreptitiously recorded their police interviews, secret grand jury proceedings and each other. Investigators believe they were comparing notes to keep their stories consistent. They also found suspicious that Houck met with his CPA shortly before Rogers disappeared to discuss taking over her bookkeeping role at the family’s rental business.

Snow asked Houck to write a detailed account of his whereabouts and activities in the hours before and after Rogers disappeared. While the Louisville Police Department (LPD) would normally not be involved in a case a few counties away, Detective Tim O’Daniel, who started LPD’s Digital Forensic Unit in 2021, tells A&E Crime + Investigation that a contact of his at the KSP asked him to take a look at the records. 

After reviewing Houck’s Google location data, which tracked movement of his phone, O’Daniel concluded, “His phone was not anywhere near what his story was for that day.”

Houck also never mentioned a 15-minute window in which he left and returned home. Security camera footage showed his truck at various locations. The circuit clerk had no eviction filings he claimed to have worked on. The employee Houck said was doing trim work on July 3 did not work that day. The defense did not challenge the phone data and ”the police investigation ultimately disproved much of Houck’s written statement,” per court docs. 

One of Houck’s employees alleged that prior to Rogers disappearing, Rosemary asked him about “Crystal and wanting to find somebody to help get rid of her,” according to court docs.

Former Houck employee Joseph Lawson allegedly talked to a colleague about Rogers' car, saying, “He would bury it with a skid-steer and nobody’d ever find it.” Referring to Rogers, Lawson said, “He’d shave her head and pull her teeth, and the hogs would do the rest.”

Investigators learned that Lawson drove the Impala and got a flat tire. He asked his father Steve for a ride and abandoned the vehicle. Prosecutors argued that Houck hired Joseph to move the car and create the impression that Rogers left Houck.

Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, led numerous searches for his daughter. Part of his relentless pursuit may have been motivated by the disappearance of his sister under similar circumstances nearly half a century earlier. He was shot and killed in November 2016. The prosecutor alluded to some of Houck’s family members as possibly being involved in Ballard’s death. There have been no arrests in his case.

Joseph was arrested in August 2023, Brooks was arrested the following month and Steve in December 2023. Though Rogers’ body had never been found, nor had a murder weapon, Houck was charged with complicity to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. The Lawsons were each charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. They all pleaded not guilty.

All three were found guilty on all counts. Houck received life in prison. Joseph was sentenced to 25 years in prison while Steve got 17 years.

Among the “unindicted conspirators” was Houck’s brother, Nick, who was later indicted in June 2026 for perjury. He pleaded not guilty.

Nick, a Bardstown police officer, was supposed to help his partner, Amber Bowman, move into their new house on July 3, 2015. The morning of, Nick told Bowman he needed to help his brother with a rental property and disappeared the entire weekend. When she finally caught up with Nick, he said he had been “working on the house.” She assumed he meant their new house but failed to notice any improvements. 

During sentencing, Rogers’ family spoke of the anguish Houck caused. "Brooks Houck, you may have received a lifetime in prison, but I received a lifetime of grief and pain," Rogers' mother, Sherry Ballard, said. "You deserve yours. I don't deserve mine."

Barbara Roby, Rogers' aunt, urged Houck to "confess to what you have done," and "tell us where Crystal is so we can put her to rest."

"Don't you think they need to know where their mother's buried so they can have peace and at least lay their mom to rest the way it should be done?" Rogers’ uncle, Mike Ballard, said. "If you do one right thing in your life, this is the thing to do."

Houck did not confess, and Rogers’ body remains missing.