Boyfriend charged with murder and held on $10M bond in 2015 disappearance of Kentucky mom Crystal Rogers
The former boyfriend of Kentucky mom of five Crystal Rogers has been arrested by the FBI and state police for allegedly murdering her and then trying to cover it up more than eight years ago.
Brooks Houck, 41, was taken into custody by federal agents and Kentucky state troopers Wednesday morning “stemming from the Crystal Rogers investigation,” the FBI announced in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Houck was apprehended in Nelson County and was later transferred to the Hardin County Jail, where he was booked on counts of murder and tampering with physical evidence, according to court documents cited by station WHAS11.
He was ordered held on $10 million bond and barred from having any contact with Rogers’ family.
Houck’s indictment remains sealed and additional details concerning his case will be revealed during his arraignment on October 5, officials said.
Houck, who was Rogers’ boyfriend and the father of her youngest child, told officers that he had last seen her alive when they visited his family’s farm the night before she disappeared over the Fourth of July weekend in 2015.
The 35-year-old woman’s Chevrolet Impala was found abandoned with a flat tire along the Bluegrass Parkway and her keys, phone and purse were still inside the vehicle, authorities said at the time.
Houck, who was identified as the prime suspect early in the investigation but never charged, has denied any involvement in his girlfriend’s disappearance.
Four months after Rogers vanished, the local sheriff said he believed the Bardstown woman was dead, but her body was never recovered.
A little more than a year later, in November 2016, Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, was shot dead on his property as he prepared to go hunting. His murder remains unsolved.
The FBI’s Louisville field office announced in 2020 that it had taken over the Rogers investigation, which was the subject of the 2018 Peacock docuseries “The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers.”
The statement Wednesday said the FBI “has been laser-focused on our commitment to hold accountable those that were responsible for the disappearance of Crystal Rogers. Today, we take the first step in making good on that promise.”
Rogers’ family applauded Houck’s arrest and asked for privacy in a statement posted on Facebook Wednesday.
“This morning the Ballard family received word that Brooks Houck was arrested for an indictment warrant after being indicted by a Nelson County Grand Jury,” the post read. “Brooks Houck was named the number one suspect in Crystal’s case in 2015. We want to thank the FBI, Kentucky State Police, Nelson County Sheriff’s Office, Attorney General’s Office, Commonwealth Attorney Shane Young and staff as well as the juries.”
“At this time we ask for privacy as this is another step forward for justice for Crystal. Continue to pray that justice is served and we bring Crystal home,” it added.
Houck’s arrest comes two weeks after another man, 32-year-old Joseph L. Lawson, was collared on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence in Rogers’ death.
His indictments, which were handed down over the summer but remained sealed until this month, did not mention Rogers by name, but Lawson’s attorney, Kevin Coleman, said his client’s case was connected to the investigation into her disappearance.
