'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX/xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA//aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAAn1Bj/8QAHBAAAgICAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIAAwQREjFB/9oACAEBAAE/AMnPVbqzWrh+bCwlu18g0QDqf//EABcRAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAhH/2gAIAQIBAT8AlYf/xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABABH/2gAIAQMBAT8AXb//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Brooks Houck, the former boyfriend and main suspect in the disappearance of Crystal Rogers, a 35-year-old mother of five who went missing under suspicious circumstances on July 3, 2015, was arrested in connection to the case.
In a press release on Wednesday, September 27, the FBI announced that Brooks Houck was arrested without incident and was facing charges stemming from the Rogers investigation. Houck was charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection to Rogers' disappearance and presumed death. He is being held on a $10M bond.
Multiple people around Houck have been implicated in Rogers' disappearance, including Joseph L. Lawson, 32, who was arrested in connection with the presumed death of the missing Kentucky woman.
As previously reported, on September 8, NBC, citing Nelson County circuit court documents, reported that Lawson was indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy to commit murder and complicity in tampering with physical evidence.
While the indictment did not elaborate on Lawson’s role in the incident, the document stated that the suspect agreed to help an unidentified person in planning and carrying out the murder of Crystal Rogers.
What we know of Brooks Houck's role in Crystal Rogers' disappearance
Crystal Rogers, a mother-of-five, vanished from her Kentucky home during the Fourth of July weekend of 2015. Rogers was reportedly last seen by her boyfriend Brooks Houck at the Bardstown home where they lived with their young son.
At the time, Houck told police that the day before Rogers vanished, they got into an argument over “how he treated her children.” However, he alleged that she was still at home when he went to bed.
Rogers was reported missing on July 4 2015, after her red Chevrolet Impala was found abandoned with a flat tire on Bluegrass Parkway with her keys, phone and purse inside the vehicle.
While Houcks was considered a prime suspect in the case, he was never charged due to insufficient evidence. Suspicions mounted after one of Houck’s employees, Danny Singleton, pleaded guilty to lying to detectives during their investigations.
Shortly after, Houck’s grandmother, Anna Whitesides, who was called to testify in court, invoked her Fifth Amendment. At the time, investigators maintained that the suspect used Anna Whiteside's car to move Rogers's body.
In 2017, Crystal Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, was shot and killed while he was hunting on his property. In 2020, the FBI, who took over the investigation into Crystal Rogers' disappearance, searched the homes of Brooks Houck and his brother, Nick Houcks.
Brooks Houck's brother Nick was a Bardstown Police Officer at the time of Rogers' disappearance. He was fired from his job for interfering with the investigation after trying to warn his brother when police were going to interview him.
What we know about Brooks Houck, the prime suspect in Crystal Rogers' disappearance
According to Kentucky Standard, Houck runs Houck Rentals, a real estate holdings company with more than 130 parcels in Kentucky. Houcks, who has been in the real estate business for over two decades, owns 129 properties and 11 houses in the state.
