BARDSTOWN, Ky. — It's an arrest that has everyone's attention.
Brooks Houck, Crystal Rogers’ boyfriend and the main suspect in her disappearance, was charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence on Wednesday.
The charges were filed at the Nelson County Courthouse, and within minutes of the arrest announcement Rogers' mother and daughter were there.
The two were seen sitting inside the Circuit Clerk’s Office, with Nelson County Sheriff’s deputies by their side.
According to the indictment, the charges stem from an incident on the weekend of Fourth of July 2015. That was just days before Rogers' car was found abandoned on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway with her keys, phone, and purse left inside.
Federal investigators accuse Houck of intentionally causing the death of Rogers and destroying, concealing, mutilating or removing physical evidence in connection to the crime.
He was arrested without incident early Wednesday morning while at a work site in a neighborhood outside of Bardstown, Kentucky. He has since been booked into multiple jails, taking three different mug shots with two in orange jumpsuits.
Houck was named the main suspect within three months, but was never charged until now.
“My first reaction was just Sherry and her family getting the justice that they have fought so much for. They never gave up faith. That's just been inspiring to everyone. And to get into today just it gave me chills, you know, for her,” Bardstown native Annette Patton told WHAS11 News outside of the courthouse.
For the Ballard family, this arrest has been years in the making.
Sherry Ballard has been outspoken about her belief that Houck was responsible for her daughter’s disappearance. She has also been fighting for custody of the son Brooks and Crystal shared, Eli. He was just a toddler when his mom went missing. That’s what brought her to the courthouse Wednesday.
WHAS11 News talked to Ballard about it two years ago, after she lost all visitation rights and had no communication with the little boy.
"One day that baby is going to be old enough to come and see me and he's going to know everything I have done to fight for him,” she told WHAS11 News in a 2021 interview.
Now her fight continues with a petition for emergency custody, according to someone close to the case. Sources confirmed the petition was denied for now, but a hearing later this week could change that.
As for Eli’s dad, he is currently in Hardin County Detention Center on a $10 million bond.
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