‘Coon hunters’ tip led KY investigators to car connected to Crystal Rogers
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Crystal Rogers trial
A decade after the disappearance and presumed death of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers, a jury will hear evidence against two men charged with killing her.
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A single hair found in the trunk of a white Buick LeSabre in 2016 matched the profile of missing Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers, a detective testified Monday.
Jamie Brooks, of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said the hair, found in the left side of the trunk, may have belonged to Rogers, 35, who went missing in July 2015.
And a strange attempt by Houck family members to trade in the car raised alarms for a salesperson at a car dealership.
The car was a key piece of testimony during the fifth day of a joint trial for Brooks Houck, 43, and Joseph Lawson 34.
Houck is charged with complicity to commit murder and evidence tampering. Lawson is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and evidence tampering. The hair marked one of the only pieces of tangible evidence for prosecutors, who have admitted much of their case is circumstantial.
The white Buick belonged to Brooks’ grandmother, Anna Whitesides.
Houck was dating Rogers at the time of her disappearance, and is the last person to have seen her alive on July 3, 2015. Her body has never been found, but she is presumed dead.
Houck and Rogers went to Houck’s family’s farm on Paschal Ballard Lane in Nelson County on the night of July 3, he told investigators. He said they were there from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. before returning to their home in Bardstown.
Houck told police that when they returned home, Rogers stayed awake playing games on her phone, while Houck went to sleep.
But prosecutors say phone records show Rogers’ phone likely died at 9:23 p.m. July 3. Her phone turned on briefly at 11:57 before it was manually shut down and never turned on again.
What led investigators to the Buick
The tip that led investigators to the white Buick originated from two men who were out “’coon hunting” the evening of July 3 at a property next to the Houck family farm, said detective Brooks.
Daniel Donahue and Ryan Cecil spotted the car on a gravel path. They thought it was odd because it was late and pouring rain.
Donahue went up to the car and spotted a fleece jacket and water bottle inside, he told jurors Monday. He noticed the license plate had Nelson County tags.
In a Facebook post by Tommy Ballard, Rogers’ father, who was killed off the Bluegrass Parkway in November 2016, he requested information about the white Buick.
The post was made April 28, 2016, and Ballard went to the police with the tip.
Police showed up with a search warrant at Whitesides’ home, where they found a different car, a 2012 Mazda 3 with a temporary tag. Whitesides told police she sold the white Buick.
Detective Brooks discovered the car was traded at Town and Country Ford just four days after Ballard’s Facebook post.
Police obtained video surveillance from Sternberg Automobile that showed Whitesides and Nick Houck, Brooks Houck’s brother, initially attempting to trade in the Buick.
Keith Stivers, a sales manager at Sternberg, said the interaction with Nick Houck and Anna Whitesides was “very, very unusual” because they wanted to trade the car in without assessment.
Stivers explained Houck made clear he was not going to give over the keys, let Stivers inspect the car, or get inside before he agreed to buy it.
Stivers declined to do the trade-in.
The Buick was eventually taken to a police impound lot in Louisville. No blood, bodily fluids or tissue were found inside, Brooks said.
Multiple hairs were found in the trunk of the vehicle, said Houck’s lawyer, Steve Schroering.
K9 alerts on Buick for human remains
A police dog also alerted investigators to the scent of human remains on the Buick, according to testimony Tuesday morning from Terry Benjamin, owner of Lone Star Search and Rescue in Texas.
The K9, Ranger, was taken to a police impound lot in Louisville in May 2016, and performed a double blind search where he quickly went to the Buick and alerted investigators to the scent of human remains near the trunk of the car, Benjamin said.
Det. Brooks had met Benjamin at a National Rifle Association conference in Louisville and asked if his K9 could perform a search for human remains.
Both Brooks and Benjamin testified that Benjamin knew nothing about the case or where the dog would be searching.
“The trained, final alert he gave was for human remains,” Benjamin said.
But Schroering pointed out several issues with the search.
He asked Brooks whether he requested Kentucky law enforcement to do any type of cadaver search, and Brooks said, “It honestly didn’t come to his mind” to do so.
Schroering also noted that Tuesday was Benjamin’s first-ever testimony for a case as a search-and-rescue leader. The Lone Star Search and Rescue is a volunteer organization run through Benjamin’s church ministry.
In addition, any records pertaining to Ranger and his training were lost in 2017 during a move, so there was no documentation proving Ranger was capable of searching for human remains.
Where was Nick Houck?
Monday was not the first time jurors heard about Nick Houck during Brooks Houck and Lawson’s trial.
Prosecutors mentioned Nick Houck during their opening statements, alleging he was involved in Rogers’ disappearance and presumed death.
Amber Bowman, Nick Houck’s ex-girlfriend, testified about Nick’s whereabouts on July 3, 2015, the last day Rogers was seen. At the time, Nick Houck was a Bardstown police officer.
That weekend, Bowman and Nick Houck were moving from their house on Glenview Drive to a fixer-upper on Olympia Drive in Bardstown.
They were also arguing about the move, which Bowman said she was unhappy with because the Olympia Drive home was not in livable condition.
Bowman testified Nick Houck woke up early the morning of July 3, 2015, and said he was going to help Brooks Houck with rental properties. This agitated Bowman, who thought he was going to help with their move.
Bowman decided to take truckloads to the Olympia Drive home herself — attempting to call Nick Houck multiple times throughout the day. Each time, his phone went straight to voicemail.
Cell phone records confirmed Nick Houck’s phone was off from July 2 to early July 4. Bowman testified this was not typical.
She wouldn’t see Nick Houck for the remainder of Friday, and said he didn’t come home that night. She awoke early Saturday, July 4, and tried to call again. In total, Bowman called Houck 15 times in a span of 24 hours. None of those calls were answered.
The couple broke up in 2016.
Prosecutors have argued that Nick Houck is tied not only to Rogers’ disappearance, but also to the death of her father, Ballard, whose killing has not been solved.
At one of Brooks Houck’s first court appearances, prosecutor Shane Young said a rifle they believe was used to kill Ballard back in 2016 belonged to Nick Houck.
At the time, Young said further tests were pending on the firearm, but early results matched the rifle to four out of five criteria that prove the firearm was the one used to kill Ballard.
Nick Houck sold the firearm under a different name, Young said. It’s unknown when Houck reportedly bought the rifle, who he sold it to, or what name he sold it under.
Nick Houck has not been charged in either murder.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 11:38 AM.
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