BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- The mysterious, unsolved disappearance of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers has captivated audiences in Kentucky. And now the case has the attention of Dr. Phil.
Sherry Ballard was invited on The Dr. Phil Show to share the story of her daughter’s disappearance and her husband’s death. The Dr. Phil Show is the fourth national television show she's been on since Rogers, her daughter, went missing Fourth of July weekend 2015.
“I think I was more nervous for this than anything I've ever done in my life,” Ballard said after taping the episode.
That’s because, for the first time, she had to relive all the pain on stage in front of an audience by herself.
“It just brings everything back, and you're so overwhelmed,” Ballard said.
She said she was overwhelmed with memories from the very beginning: when Rogers was first discovered to be missing, and her car found abandoned on the Bluegrass Parkway with all her belongings still inside. And also when Rogers' boyfriend, Brooks Houck was named the main suspect in her case and his brother, Nick Houck, was fired from the Bardstown Police Department for interfering with the investigation.
There’s also the flood of memories of countless searches for Rogers and the shocking death of Rogers' father and Ballard's husband, Tommy Ballard, who was shot and killed just before going hunting with his grandson.
“He was shot one time," Ballard said. "And that shot fatally killed him."
On the episode with Dr. Phil, an FBI crime profiler weighs in on the shot that killed Tommy Ballard.
“She said it was definitely a murder," Ballard said. "So I was happy about that, that someone is finally admitting that it was murder."
Currently, Tommy Ballard's case is just classified as a death investigation by Kentucky State Police. Before he was killed, he worked tirelessly conducting his own investigation on what happened to his daughter.
“I think they thought his searches would stop, and I think it would have just been easier for the killer if my husband was not in the picture,” Ballard told Dr. Phil.
Sherry said the crime profiler thought it was a red flag for both cases.
“That she thought they were 100-percent related,” Ballard said.
Sherry and Tommy Ballard vowed never to stop looking for Rogers, and now Ballard is bravely carrying on that mission for her husband to find justice for him.
“I promised him I would never stop,” Ballard said. “But I know to keep Crystal's story out there and to find justice for Tommy, I have to do this. I have to keep it out in the public.”
The Dr. Phil episode will air at 3 p.m. Wednesday on WDRB.
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