BARDSTOWN, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — A “Nancy Grace” episode from 2015 was entered into evidence in the Crystal Rogers trial, according to the Nelson County Court.
On May 1, per court documents, a flash drive containing the July 9, 2015 episode of “Nancy Grace” was entered into evidence in the case against Brooks Houck .
Read more of the latest Kentucky news Houck, the former boyfriend of missing Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers, was charged with murder and tampering with evidence in September 2023. He is one of three men behind bars concerning the case. According to the Nelson County Court, this piece of evidence will only be used in the case against Houck.
In this particular episode, titled “Dr. Sievers Murder Investigation Developments; Kentucky Woman Vanishes,” Houck does an interview over the phone with host, Nancy Grace. Rogers’ parents, Sherry, and the late Tommy Ballard, are also present.
FOX 56 has located a CNN transcript of the episode that’s now sealed in an evidence bag. Houck recalls the mere hours after his girlfriend’s disappearance and why he didn’t initially report her missing.
“Joining me right now, in addition to Crystal`s mom and dad, Tommy and Sherry, with me is her boyfriend, I guess I would say fiance. She is divorcing her last husband. She has a young child by Brooks Houck, who formerly ran for sheriff in that jurisdiction,” Grace said. “He has taken a polygraph. He has not hired lawyers. He has allowed police to search his property and says that he is on call at any time police want to talk to him. Mr. Houck, thank you for being with us.”
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According to Houck’s interview, the day of Crystal’s disappearance was fairly normal. He recalls her going to Walmart with the children, showing a rental property they had listed, and returning home around 5 p.m. on July 3. He claims Crystal was playing games on her phone around midnight before he had gone to bed.
“So, Brooks, you go to bed, and she is still playing games on her phone. The next morning, around 8:00, you noticed that she’s missing. Did you report her missing?” Grace said.
Houck tells Grace that he did not, but goes on to explain why.
“I was not in the least little bit alarmed in any way, shape, or form,” Houck said. “We have had a stressed relationship at times and one of the ways that Crystal has always chose to cope or deal with that is by going to a young woman’s name, Sabrina, that is her cousin, her dad’s brother’s daughter, whom she is very close to, she spent the night there on several occasions.”
He told Grace that he attempted to call Crystal the following morning, but went on to a family Fourth of July party without her.
In the investigation, Houck told Grace he’d been cooperative, even submitting to a polygraph test that he claimed to come back inconclusive.
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“But they did tell me it does mean that I wasn’t lying, or I didn’t pass it, or I didn’t fail it. They just ruled it inconclusive, and that is exactly the way it stands,” Houck said. “I have been 100 percent completely honest with everyone. I have been 100 percent cooperative in everything that has been asked of me. I have not asked for any kind of legal advice or assistance or an attorney of any nature. I’m 100 percent completely innocent in this and I have exhausted my efforts with the law enforcement agencies to gather all the facts necessary to allow me to have a clean name again. That’s very important to me. I have not responded to a lot of the negativity and all of this animosity because I want the emphasis to remain on Crystal’s safe return home. And that’s where I want it to stay focused in that area rather than dealing with any of the animosity between the families.”
As FOX 56 has previously reported, Rogers was reported missing by her mother on July 5. That same day, her father found her car abandoned with a flat tire at mile marker 14 on the Bluegrass Parkway. Her phone, keys, and purse were still inside her red Chevrolet Impala.
“To Tommy and Sherry Ballard, Crystal’s mom and dad, to Miss Ballard, I want to talk about her car and her getting out of that car, and leaving the car in the ignition with her cellphone and pocketbook and a diaper bag still in the car, and getting out on the side of the road. What do you make of that? Because there is no way I would do that,” Grace said.
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“I don’t think Crystal would, either. I can’t see her getting out of the car. I can’t remember once her leaving her baby at home,” Sherry said. “I can’t see her getting out of the car in the dark, not with a cellphone in her hand or something anyway. She had AAA. She had no reason to get out of the car. I just, it don’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me, either, Mr. and Miss Ballard,” Grace said.
Grace ends the episode by passing along the Crystal Rogers tip line, urging the public to join them in the search for Crystal.
It’s unclear what portion of this interview flagged authorities concern, leading it to be used as evidence in the case against Brooks Houck. However, the trial is set to begin in Feb. 2025.
If you’re interested in reading the transcript from the full televised interview, click here .
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