Crime Time ~ On the Case with Paula Zahn ~ “Where’s Crystal”

#CrimeTime with Alicia Dean ~ 

On the Case with Paula Zahn ~ Season 17, Episode 4, “Where’s Crystal”

Bardstown, Kentucky – July 2015

I usually avoid episodes where the victim survives (sorry, but I find murder much more interesting than attempted murder) or the case is never solved, but sometimes I get sucked into one or the other. Today’s post is about a case that was never solved.

Crystal Rogers, a thirty-five-year-old mother of five, went missing on or around July 3, 2015. Her family became concerned when a few days went by with Crystal not responding to their texts or calls. According to her live-in boyfriend, Brooks Houck, on the evening of July 3, he and Crystal and their two-year-old son went to Houck’s family farm and stayed until around midnight. After they returned, Crystal stayed up late playing games on her phone. When Brooks awoke the next morning, she was not in the house. Funny that he didn’t bother reporting her missing. He claims that she often went to stay at her cousin’s, so he didn’t think anything about it. However, all those who knew her insist she never went anywhere without her youngest son, Eli.

Other suspicious/interesting facts…

• Crystal’s car was found on July 5, 2015 on the shoulder of the Bluegrass Parkway. Her tire was flat and her purse, keys and cellphone were found inside. The seat was moved back in a position that would have been too far back for Crystal.
• Brooks was named a suspect but has denied having anything to do with Crystal’s disappearance. Brooks’ brother, Nick, was a police officer in Bardstown. He was fired for interfering after calling Brooks in the middle of his interview with police and warning him not to say anything. He wanted him that “they might be trying to trip him up” and “he should protect himself.” Video surveillance captured the two brothers, Nick in his police cruiser and Brooks in his truck, going to the family farm a few hours after Brooks’ interview with police.

Brooks’ interview:

• Nick was questioned and claimed he does not remember what they did at the farm. He was given a polygraph and failed. As a cop, you would think he could do better than ‘I don’t recall what we did’ – That sounds highly suspect. When confronted with the results, Nick denied that he was lying, saying, “I don’t give a goddam what your f*cking computer said… You’re calling me a f*cking liar [and] I don’t like it when people call me a liar.”

Nick’s interview:

• Crystal’s father, Tommy, launched his own intense investigation into his daughter’s disappearance. He checked out every lead and searched relentlessly. On November 19, 2016, he was fatally shot when he took his grandson hunting. The shooter has never been identified. Coincidence? I think not.

Sherry and Tommy Ballard

• In November of 2018, a panel of judges determined that Brooks’ and Crystal’s son, who was six by then, could no longer visit Crystal’s mother, Sherry Ballard. She and her now deceased husband filed for grandparent visitation after Crystal’s disappearance and Sherry was exercising visitation with the child every other weekend. However, Brooks filed to have those visits stopped. He testified that after returning from visits with his grandmother, the child is sullen and uncooperative. And that he is accusatory, asking him ‘what did you do to my mommy,’ and that ‘everyone wants to know.'”
• Crystal’s mother appeared on an episode of Dr. Phil in February of this year. Since then, new tips have been pouring in. Hopefully, they will lead to the arrest and conviction of Crystal’s killer, and her body will be found.

I’m just completely amazed that the case has not yet been solved and the brothers have gotten by with the lies and subterfuge. What do you think? Are the brothers guilty?

[I love true crime shows, and I watch them every night. (Since I write suspense, thriller, and mystery, it’s not a waste of time…it’s research, right? 🙂 ) I love Investigation Discovery and watch many of the various shows, although some are a little too cheesy. However, there are plenty of shows that are done well enough to feed my fascination with murder. Each week, I’ll blog about some of the recent episodes I’ve seen and I’d love to know your thoughts.]