BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Investigators were seen searching a property in Bardstown, Kentucky, Wednesday afternoon after receiving a tip related to the Crystal Rogers investigation.
The property is located in Cox's Creek, just south of Mt. Washington, near the Nelson and Bullitt county line. This is at least the second day of the search.
According to Nelson County real estate records, the property has ties to the Houck family. Brooks and Nick Houck's grandmother Anna Whitesides owned this land in 2017, and it was owned by another Houck family member before that.
Whitesides has since passed away. In 2016, she invoked her Fifth Amendment right and refused to testify before a grand jury.
A family unrelated to the Houcks now owns the property.
Brooks Houck is one of three people charged in the death of Bardstown mother-of-five Crystal Rogers. She disappeared over the Fourth of July holiday in 2015.
Nick Houck is Brooks' brother and a former Bardstown police officer. He was fired after then-Police Chief Rick McCubbin said he interfered in the investigation.
The Nelson County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday authorities are searching for Rogers' body. The search will continue Thursday.
The Ballard family said they searched this land with cadaver dogs years ago, with reason to believe a missing part of their case may be traced back there.
Last October, Special Prosecutor Shane Young said he believed they are in possession of the gun that killed Tommy Ballard, Crystal's father, who was mysteriously shot and killed while on a hunting trip with his grandson in 2016.
Young said they purchased the gun from Nick Houck - who used a fake name - and were testing it. But prosecutors believe that gun killed Crystal's father.
"The firearm that we purchased is from Nickolas Houck, who was using a fake name when he sold the rifle," Young said, adding the caliber of the rifle matched the one that killed Tommy. "There are five criteria that we are looking at and so far it matched four out of the five criteria."
FBI Louisville released the following statement about the property search in Bardstown on Wednesday:
“FBI Louisville is conducting a search in Cox’s Creek, KY as a follow-up to tips received related to the Crystal Rogers investigation.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies are on scene, including FBI Louisville and Nelson County Sheriff's Department.
The last time a property was searched in connection to the Crystal Rogers investigation was last year when the FBI and Kentucky State Police combed through a wooded area off Thompson Hill Road in Cox's Creek.