BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- As another year comes and goes, Sherry Ballard still waits for answers surrounding her husband's death.
Saturday marks six years since Tommy Ballard, the father of missing Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers, was shot and killed. But the circumstances surrounding his death still remain a mystery.
"I'll go by the graveyard, but it's very hard for me to relive that day," said Sherry Ballard.
Sherry Ballard, mother of Crystal Rogers and wife of Tommy Ballard, on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, talking about the mystery surrounding her husband's death six years later. (WDRB photo)
Ballard has endured more pain than any person should have to. As the spotlight remains bright on the investigation into what happened to her daughter, who disappeared seven years ago on July 3, 2015, she also mourns her husband, whose death has produced far more questions than answers over the years.
Her husband, Tommy Ballard, was shot in the chest and killed on Nov. 19, 2016. It happened right as he was about to go hunting on family property in Nelson County with his young grandson.
While police initially called his death a hunting accident, Sherry Ballard has said from the beginning that it was no accident. She believes her husband was murdered.
"There's a murder out there, walking around, that murdered my husband," she said.
The FBI now calls his death a homicide.
"I want people to know he's still out there, and I'm still pushing for justice," said Ballard.
She believes that when she gets answers about what happened to her daughter, she will also learn what happened to her husband, believing the two tragedies are linked as Tommy spent the last year of his life tirelessly searching for their daughter.
"Nothing would have stopped him, you know, he was going to bring our daughter home," she said.
Last month, the FBI spent a week searching a 200-acre farm belonging to the family of Brooks Houck, the only suspect ever named in Rogers' case, and her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance.
When the search was over, FBI agents said some of the evidence found in connection to Rogers' case was being sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, but didn't say what evidence was found.
Ballard said she called agents a few days ago for an update.
"They are still waiting on lab results," she said. "I don't understand why that stuff takes so long, but gosh they are still waiting on some (from) the time they searched the farm before."
But the waiting goes on, with Ballard marking another painful anniversary — muscling through each day for her loved ones still here, including her daughter's five children.
"You know, I still have two kids," she said. "And they deserve a mother."
She also finds comfort in imagining her husband and her daughter reunited.
Crystal Rogers disappeared in Bardstown seven years ago on on July 3, 2015. A little over a year later, her father, Tommy Ballard, was shot in the chest and killed on Nov. 19, 2016, before going hunting on family property.
"I look at that all the time and I think, he did find our daughter," she said.
While the FBI is leading the investigation into Rogers' disappearance, Kentucky State Police leads the investigation into Tommy Ballard's death.
Anyone with information in either case is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
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