BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- FBI agents descended on a Bardstown farm Monday morning to search the site where Crystal Rogers was last seen alive before she disappeared seven years ago. 

Agents began searching before sunrise at the farm on Paschal Ballard Lane. The farm is owned by the family of Brooks Houck, the last person to see Rogers alive. It has already been searched multiple times, most recently in 2020. 

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.

Houck was named as the main suspect but has never been charged in relation to the case.

Multiple FBI and other law enforcement vehicles converged on the farm Monday. Many of them were in side-by-side ATVs to get in and out of different areas of the nearly 300-acre farm. A mobile command center and multiple trailers and several tents were also set up. 

The FBI took over the investigation into Rogers' disappearance two years ago. Since then, the agency has executed several search warrants for the many properties the Houcks own in Bardstown.

Last summer, FBI agents spent more than a week in a Bardstown neighborhood in search of information in Rogers' disappearance. Agents said they found "multiple items of interest" that were "potentially relevant" to their investigation after they zeroed in on the driveway of one home, which was built by a construction company owned by Houck. 

The FBI is also still investigating the death of Rogers' father, Tommy Ballard, who was shot and killed in 2016 while hunting on his own property more than a year after Rogers went missing. FBI officials said the search could take several days, depending on weather and ground conditions. 

Crystal Rogers' mother, Sherry Ballard, spoke to reporters Monday afternoon as the search continued. "I don't really know how I feel. I'm trying not to get too excited about it because I don't want such a letdown if nothing's found. But at the same time, how can I not?"

FBI agents started searching the Houck family farm early Monday.

Ballard said she is "just praying God is giving me the answers today, or tomorrow, or whatever it takes. This is such a big day for us. It's such a hard day. Gosh, it's very hard."

The FBI has always kept Ballard up to date, she said, although she understands "they can't tell me about a search before it's happening or anything like that. I respect that."

She added: Everything they do is a blessing to me, because it may take me one step closer to finding my daughter. 

Although the farm has been searched several times, Ballard says she always worries something might have been missed. 

"It's such a huge farm that it takes so long to go through something like that," Ballard said. "I guess as a mom in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking, 'gosh could she still be there?' I guess until I find her I'm never going to be happy with that farm. I always think that's the last place she was seen. Could she be there and maybe it was overlooked. We've searched through the woods numerous times, and we have walked through something and come back by and seen something we totally missed."

Ballard says Houck told investigators and others that the farm was the last place he saw Rogers. 

"You know they've never really given me an answer on that," Ballard said. "Just because Brooks said they went to the farm. That's the only answer I've ever got, is that Brooks said that was the last place that they went. I don't even know for sure that my daughter made it to that farm, honestly. I don't have proof of that, and I'm sure the police are not sharing everything. They can't share everything."

Ballard took a moment to thank the public for the support she has felt during the past seven years. "I can honestly tell you without the support of this community backing me, I could not be where I'm at today. It's nice to know that people feel what I feel in my heart and that they really do support me on that. And they're vocal about it when I'm out in public. And I appreciate all their prayers."

After seven years of investigation Ballard said she still can't figure out why no one saw her daughter's car as it was abandoned on the Bluegrass Parkway. 

"I think we've pretty much covered most everything," Ballard said. "The only thing that would be in the back of my mind is how my daughter's car got on that BG (Bluegrass Parkway). Someone had to see that car on that BG. It was a busy holiday weekend, and I can't believe that nobody saw that car just dropped off there.... 

"So if it strikes someone's memory that they may have seen that, that's the biggest thing I would want out there: that if anybody saw her car on that BG if they could just come forward."

Related Stories:

Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.