BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Almost a decade after the mysterious disappearance of Crystal Rogers, jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the trial of her former boyfriend, Brooks Houck, along with another man implicated in her presumed death.
Houck, who is the father of Rogers’ youngest child, faces serious charges, including complicity to murder and complicity to tampering with physical evidence. Authorities assert that he enlisted Steven and Joseph Lawson to assist in the alleged murder of the mother of five on July 3, 2015, just hours before she vanished from the Houck family farm.
“I’m filled with hope, but now I feel like a single parent,” Houck said soon after Rogers went missing.
Steven Lawson, one of the men implicated, was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and evidence tampering. During his trial, he admitted to abandoning Rogers’ car on the Bluegrass Parkway. His son, Joseph Lawson, who faces the same accusations, is also slated to stand trial alongside Houck.
While the exact motive behind Rogers’ disappearance has not been disclosed by prosecutors, her mother, Sherry Ballard, has persistently suggested that Houck was involved in her daughter’s disappearance as well as in the murder of her husband, Tommy Ballard, a year and a half later. Tommy Ballard was fatally shot while hunting with his grandson.
“I completely believe there’s a connection. I think the same individuals that took my daughter’s life also took my husband’s. They did this to eliminate my husband so we couldn’t search for my daughter anymore,” Ballard stated.
Despite extensive searches of the Houck family property and Thompson Hill Road, where Steven Lawson claimed he and others were digging and burning near an abandoned trailer, Rogers’ body has never been recovered.
The upcoming trial may uncover details regarding Rogers’ case or provide further insight into the allegations that Houck’s family members may have acted as co-conspirators, although neither has been formally charged.
Due to courtroom policies, cameras will not be allowed during the proceedings, ensuring that the family and involved parties maintain a degree of privacy in this ongoing legal battle.
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