Potential Human Remains Found In Search For Missing Crystal Rogers

In the three years following her disappearance, hundreds of volunteers have conducted multiple searches for Crystal Rogers, the mother of five who mysteriously vanished from her home in Bardstown, Kentucky. Though Rogers has been presumed dead by police and her remains have yet to be found, her family continues to search for answers.

Before his death, Rogers' father, Tommy Ballard, led his own personal investigation into her disappearance. Sherry Ballard, his wife and Rogers' mother, believes Tommy was getting close to finding out what happened to her before he was fatally shot in the chest by an unknown person during a 2016 hunting trip.

“From the minute my daughter started missing my husband was like the investigator ... If he wasn’t physically looking for my daughter, he was on the internet looking at everything," Sherry told Oxygen's docu-series "The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers."

Tommy kept all of his findings in a box, which has only been shared with close friends and family ― and, now, reporter Stephanie Bauer and retired homicide detective Dwayne Stanton.

“Tommy kept his entire investigation inside of that box. Videotape, locations, addresses, communication documented — categorized, inventory,” Stanton said. “I’ve been doing this almost 40 years now. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

During the third episode of Oxygen's docu-series "The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers," Bauer and Stanton accompanied yet another search organized by Rogers' friends and family, who have dubbed themselves "Team Crystal."

"One of the reasons we're here is that this is the location that was noted in Tommy's box," Stanton explained. "And the second reason for this search is, a new tip recently came in that Brooks [Houck] was seen in this area shortly after Crystal went missing."

Houck, Rogers' boyfriend, was allegedly the last person to see her alive and has been named a suspect in her disappearance. He denies any involvement in the case and has never been charged. 

Once Team Crystal reached the location, they split into two groups — each with one cadaver dog — to cover the area. When the second search team, accompanied by a cadaver dog named Geena and her handler, Judy McKee, came upon a pile of dirt and rubble, Geena checked the site and alerted ― indicating the possible scent of human remains.

The first search group then made their way to the area team two had canvassed, and a cadaver dog named Duke also alerted in the same spot.

Tammy Finci, Duke's trainer, told Sherry: "Now honey, it may not be her, OK? But we got two great dogs on the same spot."

"It's something, I do believe it's something," Sherry said through tears. "I just hope it's my answer."

To find out what happens next, watch "The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers" on Oxygen.

[Photo: Oxygen]