BARDSTOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — The FBI has announced it has recovered an "item of interest" in connection to the 2015 disappearance of Crystal Rogers.
FBI agents and other investigators were out in full force in Bardstown Friday for the fourth straight day of digging for evidence in the disappearance of Crystal Rogers.
The search centered around a house in the Woodlawn Springs neighborhood, the same house where investigators had already removed a concrete driveway.
For hours on Friday, truck after truck hauled away large loads of dirt from the property. Nelson County sheriff’s deputies guarded the site to make sure that only homeowners in the neighborhood could get through a checkpoint.
The sheriff asked the curious public to stay away from the area out of respect for the family and so that agents could do their job.
“If you take pictures don't post them,” Nelson County Sheriff Ramon Pineiroa said. “If that was your family what would you do?”
FBI have not released any information about what the “item of interest” recovered is, but have said they will provide updates.
Since Rogers went missing in 2015, only one suspect has ever been publicly named — her boyfriend Brooks Houck. Houck has a direct tie to the neighborhood FBI agents are scouring. He is listed as the owner of Houck Rentals, LLC, a company that owns three houses in the neighborhood.
Rogers’ mother, Sherry Ballard, has said that Houck was building houses in that neighborhood at the time that Rogers went missing.
Houck is the last person known to have seen Rogers alive before she disappeared on July 3, 2015. Rogers went missing on July 3, 2015. Her car was found with a flat tire on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown with her phone, purse, and keys still inside. In the days and years that followed the search for Rogers gained national attention.
Investigators will likely continue to search over the weekend.
The FBI encouraged the public to come forward with any information.
"We know there are individuals in the community who have information on Crystal's disappearance," the FBI writes in a statement. "Now is the time to come forward."
If you have any information, go to crystalrogerstaskforce.com/tips or call (502) 263-6000.
