NELSON COUNTY, Ky. — FBI agents are back in Bardstown and a search is underway on a 245-acre farm, known as the last place Crystal Rogers was seen alive.
Agents were first spotted on Paschal Ballard Lane around 7:30 a.m. Monday morning. The agency confirmed to WHAS11 they are executing a search warrant on the property.
In an afternoon press conference with many of Rogers' family, Sherry Ballard, Rogers' mother, said this is a big day for her family, but "it's very hard."
"I don't know how to feel," she said. "I'm trying not to get too excited about it because I don't want such a let down if nothing is found."
The FBI has been working in Bardstown for more than two years, but one search in August of 2021 seemed to bring the most promise. Now, one year later, Ballard said she believes "justice is coming."
"Each day it's getting closer," she said. "I'm ready for answers. Our family just needs answers, and I think they are getting close."
The 245-acre farm is located on Paschal Ballard Lane, near the intersection of Loretta Road and Balltown Road. It's about nine miles south of downtown Bardstown.
"It's such a huge farm," Ballard said. "Could she be there and maybe it was overlooked? We've searched in the woods numerous times and we have walked through something and come back by and seen something that we totally missed."
She says she's prayed this is the last search.
“I pray that they find my daughter and I bring her home.”
PHOTOS: Here's a look at the FBI's latest investigation on the Houck family farm
Rosemary Houck, Brooks Houck's mom, owns the property. Brooks Houck was named the main suspect in Rogers' disappearance in October of 2015, but has never been arrested or charged in the case.
This is not the first time investigators have searched the property. WHAS11 records reveal the family farm has been searched at least three other times over the last 7 years.
Within days of Crystal Rogers' family reporting her missing, police were at her boyfriend's family farm for the first time, closing down the road and searching for hours.
Family told us they watched law enforcement spend about four hours on the farm that day.
"You would think they have something- they have to have probable cause- hopefully they found something and they're looking for more," Rogers' dad Tommy Ballard told WHAS11 in July of 2015.
After this search, Tommy Ballard, Crystal's father, said he asked the Houck family for access to the farm. He said they wanted to search the farm with cadaver dogs but the Houcks said no.
Fast forward 14 months, investigators were back on Houck property. This time with a search warrant and a lot of extra hands. That was August of 2016.
"This property was the last property she was seen at- as far as we've been told," Nelson County Detective John Snow told WHAS11 in 2016.
In total, 18 cadaver dogs, the LMPD dive team and more than two dozen investigators took part in the search lasting two days. Detectives told our crew they found items of interest and they towed those items away.
Years later, the FBI would publicly become involved in the case. They executed search warrants in the farm first in 2020. Now they are back, in the continued search for Crystal Rogers.
Ballard thanked the community on Monday for their continued prayers and support throughout the investigation.
“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.”
A WHAS11 crew is on the scene in Bardstown.