BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- The FBI and other law enforcement agencies continued searching a Bardstown farm for a second day Tuesday, looking for evidence in the case of Crystal Rogers, who hasn't been seen since July 2015.

After showing up before sunrise Monday, FBI agents returned to the property Tuesday to continue searching. The farm is believed to be the last place Rogers was seen alive by her then-boyfriend, Brooks Houck. Crews used backhoes and other heavy equipment to dig up ground. 

There's no estimate on how long the search will take, but an FBI agent said they could be out there for "several days." 

The 300-acre farm is owned by the Houck family, and has already been searched several 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 a suspect three months after Rogers disappeared. He remains the only suspect in the case, but has never been charged. We spoke with Houck in 2018 about the case. 

"I don't have anything to say. I really don't have anything to say," Houck said at the time. "I really don't have anything to say because I don't know anything. So I really don't have anything to say."

During an interview Monday afternoon, Ballard said Rogers and Houck often took the children to the farm, but she doesn't know for certain that it was actually the last place her daughter was seen alive. 

"You know they've (the FBI) 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."

The FBI took over the investigation into Rogers' disappearance in 2020. Since then, the agency has executed several search warrants for properties the Houcks own in Bardstown.

In the summer of 2021, 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. 

Rogers' mother, Sherry Ballard, says the FBI has always kept Ballard up to date, although she says 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."

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