Crystal Rogers case on Dateline - A detailed case overview

Dateline returns to Bardstown with a two-hour look at the Crystal Rogers case, laying out key events, convictions, and the questions that remain. The episode titled The Trouble in Bardstown follows the disappearance of the 35-year-old mother of five, the long investigation, and the courtroom outcomes that arrived a decade later. The case drew statewide and national attention.

Rogers was reported missing on July 5, 2015. Her maroon Chevrolet Impala was soon found on the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire, her keys and purse inside. No remains have been located. Authorities later secured convictions in 2025 tied to her presumed death, while appeals are pending.

---

Dateline case background: the night and the car

Rogers was last seen on July 3, 2015, after spending time with her then-boyfriend, Brooks Houck. By July 5, the Impala sat near mile marker 14 with a flat tire. Investigators treated the scene as suspicious from the start. There was no clear crime scene and no weapon recovered.

Rogers’ car was found on the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire on July 5, 2015 (Image via Unsplash)

Prosecutors built a circumstantial record that placed the focus on movements that weekend and on phone activity around 12:00 am, reportedly for 13 seconds, between people later tied to the case. Per NBC News, investigators alleged the car was repositioned to look like Rogers had left on her own.

---

Dateline case background: suspects, calls, and alleged cover-up

A 12:00 am 13-second call was logged and folded into the case timeline, investigators said (Image via Unsplash)

Houck was named a suspect in 2015. Interviews and call logs drew attention to contacts with associates, including Joseph Lawson and Steven Lawson, who were later charged and tried.

In interviews, retired detective Jon Snow described how early statements lacked specifics and how the quick call at 12:00 am raised concerns about coordination. WHAS11 reported Snow’s view that the case required years of follow-up on small details and tips that slowly added weight to the timeline.

Prosecutors also explored other Bardstown events. Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, was shot and killed in 2016 while hunting, a homicide that remains unsolved. The FBI continues to seek information. Any link among the cases remains a matter of debate, and some connections are still described as alleged or under review.

---

Dateline case background: trials, verdicts, and sentences

Courtroom action finally arrived in 2025. A Nelson County jury found Brooks Houck guilty of murder and complicity in tampering with physical evidence. He received a life sentence and is appealing. Joseph Lawson was convicted of conspiracy to murder and tampering with physical evidence, receiving 25 years.

Steven Lawson was convicted of the same counts and received 17 years. According to WHAS-TV, both Lawsons and Houck have active appeals. The case remained largely circumstantial, with no body, no confirmed crime scene, and allegations of cleanup and planning that jurors found persuasive.

Investigators and the prosecution team pointed to gaps in stories, phone data, travel patterns, and the placement of the Impala as the backbone of the case. Reportedly, the 12:00 am call and movements near the parkway helped anchor the timeline that jurors reviewed.

---

For more on the case, tune in to The Trouble in Bardstown on Dateline at 9 ET/8 CT tonight.

The two-hour Dateline special gathers voices central to the story and tracks the choices that shaped the probe. The special also revisits early interviews and the methods used to test accounts against phone records and travel paths.

---