LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Sherry Ballard said a mother's fight for justice never ends. Nearly 11 years after her daughter Crystal Rogers disappeared, she became emotional when she learned the brother of her daughter's killer was arrested. 

"It was just really good news for me," Sherry Ballard said. "I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time."

Nick Houck, the brother of convicted murderer Brooks Houck, was arrested Thursday and charged with perjury. Brooks Houck is serving a life sentence for the murder of Rogers.

KSP said Nick Houck "allegedly committed perjury between 2015 and 2023." According to the indictment, Nick Houck "made a material false statement, which he did not believe, in an official proceeding, while under oath required or authorized by law."

Although perjury was not the charge Sherry Ballard had hoped for, she said she is grateful to see the case move forward.

"I said, I will take what I can get, a day at a time," Ballard said. "And I’m thrilled that he got arrested."

Rogers was last seen on July 3, 2015. The next day, her car was found on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway with her purse, phone and keys still inside. But there was no sign of the mother of five. Brooks Houck was quickly named the main person of interest because he was the last known person to see her alive when they were at his family farm the night of July 3. However, Brooks Houck was never arrested or charged until September of 2023.

Sherry Ballard believes the perjury charge is tied to her daughter's murder case rather than the investigation into her husband's death.

Tommy Ballard was shot and killed on family property in November 2016, about a year-and-a-half after his daughter disappeared. Prosecutor Shane Young said in court in October of 2023 that Nick Houck is under investigation for a gun he sold to an under cover agent that may have been the gun used to kill Tommy. 

Years earlier, Nick Houck was suspended from the Bardstown Police Department in September 2015 and fired the following month after he was accused of interfering with the Rogers investigation.

This also isn't the first time Nick Houck has been accused of lying.

Nick Houck, while still a police officer, failed a polygraph examination related to Rogers' disappearance while maintaining he had no involvement in the case.

"Nick Houck as a person, he's not trustworthy," Sherry Ballard said. "He's evil."

She believes Nick Houck is nervous after his most recent arrest.

"I think this has taken a big toll, as it should," she said. "Because he doesn't know from day-to-day if he's going to be arrested for murder. Or what's around the corner for him."

Houck remains charged with one count of perjury. His bond was set at $25,000, and he was released from the Hardin County Detention Center Thursday evening. He is scheduled to be arraigned June 18. No additional charges have been filed against him in connection with Rogers' disappearance or Tommy Ballard's death.

But during Brooks Houck's murder trial, prosecutors repeatedly referred to Nick Houck and his mother, Rosemary Houck, as unindicted co-conspirators. 

"Honestly...I would love to see the whole family behind bars. The sister, the brother, the mother," Sherry Ballard said.

As the case pushes forward, the painful loss of a daughter and a husband is still very real. But even after Brooks Houck's conviction and Nick Houck's arrest, Sherry Ballard said her mission remains unchanged.

"I can't change the way things are," she said. "I can push. And I will push 'til the day I die to find justice for Tommy and Crystal."

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