Ky. man arrested in connection with disappearance of woman missing since 2015
09/08/2023 11:59 am PDT
NELSON COUNTY, Ky. (TCD) -- A man was arrested seven years after a mother of five went missing and who has yet to be found.
Crystal Rogers was last seen the night of July 3, 2015, and her mother reported her missing two days later on July 5 after not hearing from her. That day, officials located her vehicle — which still had her keys, cellphone, and purse inside — on the side of the road in Bardstown with a flat tire. The FBI said in their missing person bulletin that Rogers "is the mother of five children and is not known to go anywhere without her children."
Sixteen months after Rogers disappeared, her father, Tommy Ballard, was shot and killed while getting ready to go hunting with his grandson. He was shot once in the chest, which "instantly killed him."
WDRB-TV reports 32-year-old Joseph Lawson was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence in connection with Rogers' disappearance. He pleaded not guilty Thursday, Sept. 7, to a Nelson County Circuit Court judge while in the hospital.
According to WDRB, the indictment alleges Lawson "agreed to aid one or more persons in the planning or commission of the crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit the crime when he, and/or, a co-conspirator intentionally caused the death of another."
Rogers' boyfriend at the time and the father of one of her children, Brooks Houck, was believed to be the last person to see her alive. Investigators have searched Houck’s property several times but have still not found anything. Investigators reportedly named him as a suspect, but he has not been arrested or charged.
The FBI created a Crystal Rogers Task Force following her disappearance.
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