FBI called in to retrieve remains from area where Kentucky mom went missing years ago
The Nelson County sheriff’s office called in federal agents on Friday to help retrieve possible human remains, leading some in the community to wonder if authorities had found Crystal Rogers, a Bardstown resident missing since 2015.
The sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Sunday that possible remains were recovered and sent to the FBI lab at Quantico, Va., for testing. Investigators wouldn’t be able to say if the remains are connected to Rogers until they get results back.
“Out of respect for family members of multiple missing persons in these areas, we will not be commenting on this until we have more information from the lab,” representatives from the sheriff’s office said.
Nelson County law enforcement became aware of the possible human remains near the border of Nelson and Washington counties on Thursday, according to the sheriff’s office. The FBI’s Evidence Response Team was called in because the location of the potential remains was difficult to reach, according to the sheriff’s office.
A Facebook page dedicated to Rogers acknowledged the findings.
“We ask at this time for everyone to please give the family some privacy,” the post on Team Crystal said. “We do not know anything more than has been released.”
Rogers disappeared in July 2015. Her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, was named a suspect in her disappearance by the Nelson County sheriff’s office. Houck’s home was destroyed in a 2019 fire, according to the Bardstown Fire Department. Authorities had previously searched a large farm belonging to Houck’s mother in August 2015.
Houck’s brother, Nick, was fired from the Bardstown Police Department after allegedly interfering with the investigation into Rogers’ disappearance.
More than a year later, Rogers’ father died of a gunshot wound while hunting, police said. He had been looking into his daughter’s disappearance.
Rogers’ case has received national attention. It was the subject of a series on Oxygen and featured on Investigation Discovery.
Rogers’ disappearance and the subsequent killing of her father are just two of several unsolved cases in small Nelson County. In 2013, Bardstown police officer Jason Ellis was found dead on an exit ramp. He was shot and killed while on his way home from work, according to the FBI. A passing driver found him.
Kathy Netherland, 48, and her 16-year-old daughter Samantha were found dead at their home in April 2014. Kathy had been shot, Samantha had been beaten over the head, and both had their necks slashed, police said.
Kathy was an elementary school teacher, and her daughter was a sophomore at Bardstown High School. An anonymous inmate told the Oxygen Network that their deaths were part of a gang initiation.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 8:28 AM.