SHAY
SHAY HAS
SHAY HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THIS CASE SINCE ROGERS WENT MISSING IN
JULY OF
2015.
EARLY ON-- THERE WERE SEVERAL
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CASE.
BUT FOUR MONTHS INTO THE
INVESTIGATION, NEW INFORMATION
SEEM TO SLOW.
HERE IS SHAY MCALISTER WITH A
LOOK BACK OF THOSE FIRST CRUCIAL
MONTHS.
MONTHS.
MONTHS. FOR FIVE YEARS HER FAMILY HAS
SEARCHED, PRAYED, FOUGHT FOR ANSWERS.
SHERRY BALLARD
"I'M GOING TO GET THOSE ANSWERS
ONE
ONE
ONE DAY."
ONE DAY." LAST SEEN ALIVE ON JULY 3RD OF
2015.
FAMILY SAYS ROGERS' COUSIN SAW
HER
WALKING OUT OF WALMART-- AND
THEN
SHE SPENT THE NIGHT WITH HER
BOYFRIEND BROOKS HOUCK.
HOUCK TOLD POLICE THE WERE AT
HIS MOM'S
FARM, FEEDING THE COWS, AND THEN
THEY
WENT HOME-- AND HE SAYS HE WENT
TO BED.
DETECTIVE
JON SNOW
"SO YOU GO TO BED. WHAT'S SHE
DOING?"
BROOKS HOUCK
"SHE'S JUST ON HER PHONE,
PLAYING A
GAME. I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE."
JULY 4TH-- ONE DAY AFTER SHE IS
LAST
LAST
LAST SEEN
LAST SEEN ALIVE-- HER FAMILY STARTS TO
WORRY-- THEY SAY THEY COULDN'T
GET
AHOLD OF HER.
HER MOM-- SHERRY BALLARD-- FILES
A
MISSING PERSONS REPORT AT THE
NELSON
COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE. AND ON
JULY 5TH-- THE FIRST BIG
DEVELOPMENT-- SOMEONE SPOT'S CRYSTAL'S MAROON CHEVY SEDAN ON
THE
THE
THE SIDE
THE SIDE OF THE BLUEGRASS PARKWAY--
WHEN HER DAD TOMMY BALLARD GOES
OUT TO
OUT TO
OUT TO SEE FOR HIMSELF HE FINDS HER KEYS,
PHONE AND PURSE INSIDE. TOMMY
BALLARD
"IF CRYSTAL'S OUT THERE AND CAN
SEE
SEE
SEE US-
SEE US- WE'RE HUNTING FOR YOU." DOZENS OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY
SPENT THE
REST OF THE DAY AND NIGHT
SEARCHING THE
HIGHWAY AND RURAL AREAS
SURROUNDING
IT.
SURROUNDING IT. BUT FAMILY SAYS HOUCK NEVER
FERED TO HELP.
TOMMY BALLARD
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU LIVE
WITH
WITH
WITH THE
WITH THE MOTHER OF YOUR BABY FOR THREE AND A
HALF YEARS AND YOU DON'T REPORT
HER MISSING."
HER MISSING." JULY 6TH-- FAMILY ANNOUNCE A 25-
25-
THOUSAND
THOUSAND DOLLAR REWARD IN HER CASE. THE NEXT DAY-- JULY 7TH--
BROOKS HOUCK IS BROUGHT INTO AN
INTERROGATION ROOM
INTERROGATION ROOM AT THE NELSON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT WHERE HE SITS DOWN
WITH
WITH DET.
WITH DET. JON SNOW-- AND EXPLAINS WHEN HE WOKE UP BABY ELI WAS IN BED NEXT TO HIM--
AND
AND CRYSTAL WAS GONE. DETECTIVE JON SNOW
JON SNOW
JON SNOW "SO YOU WAKE UP AND HE'S THERE BUT
CRYSTAL NOT?"
BROOKS
"I CALLED HER AT SOME POINT THAT
MORNING." THAT INTERVIEW WAS
INTERRUPTED BY
HOUCK'S OLDER BROTHER-- WHO AT
THE
THE TIME
THE TIME WAS A BARDSTOWN POLICE OFFICER- NICK HOUCK TELLING
BROOKS HE SHOULD LEAVE THE INTERVIEW. AND
BROOKS DID.
BROOKS DID. ON JULY 10TH-- THE NELSON COUNTY
SHERIFF'S OFFICE EXECUTES A
SEARCH WARRANT AT THE HOUCK FAMILY
FARM--
THE LAST PLACE CRYSTAL WAS SAID
TO
TO
TO BE
TO BE ALIVE. JON SNOW
"THIS PROPERTY IS THE LAST
PROPERTY SHE'S
BEEN SEEN AT AS FAR AS WE'VE
BEEN TOLD" SHERRY BALLARD
"WHETHER THEY FIND SOMETHING ON
THE
THE
THE FARM
THE FARM OR THEY DON'T, I FEEL THAT'S WHERE IT
HAPPENED. THAT'S JUST HOW I'LL
ALWAYS FEEL."
LATER THAT WEEK-- ON JULY 15TH--
BROOKS BROTHER NICK IS
INTERVIEWED BY KENTUCKY STATE POLICE DETECTIVES-- THEY TELL
HIM THEY FOUND BODILY FLUIDS IN
HIS VEHICLE-- HE SAYS HE CAN'T
EXPLAIN WHY. FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS-- THE
FAMILY CONTINUES TO SEARCH--
WALKING
WALKING THROUGH WOODS, WADING THROUGH WATER-- DETERMINED TO FIND THE
MISSING
MOTHER OF FIVE-- AND WAITING FOR
WORD
FROM POLICE.
MID-OCTOBER-- LOCAL AUTHORITIES
DROP
DROP
DROP THREE MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
CASE.
CASE.
CASE. FIRST-- THEN SHERIFF ED MATTINGLY
ANNOUNCING CRYSTAL IS OFFICIALLY
PRESUMED DEAD.
PRESUMED DEAD. SHERIFF ED MATTINGLY "THERE'S CERTAIN THINGS THAT
PEOPLE
DO WHEN THEY'RE ON THIS EARTH
AND SHE
HAS VANISHED FROM EARTH. I THINK
ITS SAFE TO SAY THAT SHE'S
DEAD." THEN-- WE LEARN NICK HOUCK HAD
BEEN FIRED
BEEN FIRED
FROM
FROM HIS
FROM HIS JOB AS A BARDSTOWN POLICE OFFICER-- AFTER INTERFERING WITH
HIS
BROTHER'S POLICE INTERVIEW AND
THEN
FAILING A POLYGRAPH HIMSELF.
RICK MCCUBBIN
"NICK INJECTED HIMSELF IF A WAY
I
I
I DIDN'T
I DIDN'T LIKE- ETHICS AND INTEGRITY SOMETIME
INTEGRITY SOMETIME
ARE
ARE ALL
ARE ALL WE HAVE AND I DIDN'T THINK HE DISPLAYED A GOOD EXAMPLE OF
EITHER." LATER THAT SAME DAY IN
OCTOBER OF 2015-- THE SHERIFF
DECLARES HE HAS HIS EYE ON ONE MAN IN THE CASE.
SHAY MCALISTER
"THEY ARE LOOKING AT ONE SUSPECT
AND ONE
AND ONE
AND ONE SUSPECT ONLY- THAT'S ROGERS' LIVE IN BOYFRIEND- BROOKS HOUCK"
BUT BROOKS HOUCK IS NOT
ARRESTED. HE IS NOT CHARGED.
THESE DEVELOPMENTS-- IN THE
FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THE CASE--
WOULD BE THE MOST TANGIBLE AS
THE WAIT CONTINUED FOR FIVE MORE YEARS.
NELSON COUNTY SHERIFF
RAMON PINEIROA SENT OUT A
STATEMENT
STATEMENT EARLIER, SAYING IN PART... "I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE TIME
TODAY TO THANK OUR TEAM AT THE
NELSON COUNTY
SHERIFFS OFFICE FOR ALL THE WORK
THAT
THEY HAVE PUT INTO THE CRYSTAL
ROGERS
CASE OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
SHORTLY AFTER