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Netflix’s hit documentary The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers caught the attention of viewers nationwide. The mysterious disappearance of Crystal Rogers, a Kentucky mother of five, hit home for many as she seemed very much the woman next door. She had many close friends and family members, so how could someone with so many ties to both family and the community just up and disappear without a trace? It seems the answer may lie closer to home than anyone could have imagined.

When Crystal Rogers, then 35, disappeared from her boyfriend Brooks Houk’s family farm in Bardstown, Kentucky on July 4th, 2015, authorities and the community were baffled. She had reportedly gone to bed with boyfriend Houk on July 3rd, but he claimed when he awoke on July 4th, she had simply vanished. Her car and purse were found abandoned a few days later, yet Rogers was nowhere to be found. While it certainly seemed suspicious to many and Houk was at one time considered a suspect, no arrests were made or charges filed. Until now.

Where is Brooks Houk now?

Houk and Rogers had been together for a few years and shared one son together. The two had reportedly been having difficulties in their relationship at the time of her disappearance which cast a pall of suspicion on Houk’s involvement in her disappearance. Not to mention that he was the last person to see Rogers alive. Yet many felt that due to Brooks’ brother Nick Houk’s role in the Louisville Police Department, Brooks was never charged. It turned out their suspicions were valid as he was let go from the department for interfering in the case according to the Kentucky Standard. Now, eight years later, the family of Crystal Rogers may finally see justice served.

Houk, now 41, was taken into custody on September 27 and could face charges of murder and evidence tampering. He remains in the Nelson County Jail on a $10 million bond. Yet while Houk was the most recent arrest in the case, he wasn’t the first.

Earlier the same month, 32-year-old Joseph Lawson was also arrested in connection with the Crystal Rogers disappearance. He is being charged with conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering. Lawson has an extensive criminal history, but the family does not know how he might have been connected to Crystal or her former boyfriend.

Rogers has never been found, and her family remains guardedly optimistic about both the outcome of the trial and investigation. They released a statement to WLKY saying they “continue to pray that justice is served and we bring Crystal home.” Rogers’s mother, Sherry Ballard is seeking emergency temporary custody of her 10-year-old grandson that Rogers shared with Houck.

The disappearance of Crystal Rogers has remained a mystery for almost a decade but Rogers’s friends and family have never given up hope in finding answers. Now, eight years later, on the heels of an illuminating Netflix documentary, the family may get the answers they have so desperately sought for almost a decade.

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