'I’m Just Hoping This Is It,' Mother Remains Hopeful As FBI Searches Home Built By Crystal Rogers' Boyfriend

The mother of Crystal Rogers remains hopeful as this week’s FBI search has zeroed in on a home built by a potential suspect in the case.

“Just wanted to take a moment and say a huge thank you to the FBI team that is working their butts off to help bring my daughter home,” Sherry Ballard posted on Facebook Thursday morning. “It’s been very hot conditions and everyone is working so hard. I know they must all be exhausted. [...] I pray that this is Gods timing and he is going to finally give me some answers and finally bring my daughter home.”

This week, the FBI brought out cadaver dogs to search a subdivision in Bardstown, Kentucky, where the mother of five vanished in 2015. By Tuesday, agents began excavation efforts at a home built by Rogers' boyfriend, Brooks Houck, local outlet WLKY reports. He has been the only person identified by authorities as a suspect in the case, according to WLKY.

FBI agents returned to the same house on Wednesday with a mobile command unit and more equipment. WLKY reports that they have been digging near the home’s driveway.

Ballard told WLKY that this home is the same home that both she and her late husband Tommy Ballard searched during their own investigation into Rogers’ disappearance. Tommy was then shot to death in 2016 by an unknown person while hunting on a family property. His death remains unsolved.

"May he [God] give us the answers we need and closure for Tommy and Crystal," Sherry posted on her Facebook on Thursday.

A spokesperson for FBI Louisville told Oxygen.com on Thursday morning that the search is still ongoing.

Sherry told KLKY that she is encouraged by the new search but is worried about getting her hopes up.

"I just feel like if this isn't it, I'm going through everything again. I'm just hoping this is it," Ballard said.

A spokesperson for FBI Louisville told Oxygen.com on Tuesday that they will search for “as long as it takes.”

Rogers, 35, was last seen alive in her Bardstown home in July of 2015. Her car was later on a parkway with a flat tire days later. Her keys, purse and cell phone still inside. While her body has never been found, investigators presume that she is dead.

Houck has vehemently denied having anything to do Rogers' disappearance and he has never been charged. He now has sole custody of the one child he had with Rogers. 

Last summer, the FBI took over the investigation from the local police. Bureau investigators have said they've been analyzing evidence and conducting dozens of interviews while searching homes — including Houck's.

For more on this case watch "The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers" on the Oxygen app, or on Peacock.