[20:33:42] NANCY GRACE, HOST: Live, Bardstown, Kentucky, where a mother of five, Crystal Rogers, Maroon Chevy, found on the side of the road with a flat tire. She has not been spotted alive since.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A search party is looking for Crystal Rogers on the Bluegrass Parkway after her car was found there abandoned with a flat tire.
TOMMY BALLARD, FATHER OF MISSING KENTUCKY MOM: She would never have got out of that car. She would never have turned it off.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Air and ground search will continue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody saw something somewhere that will get us going in the right direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining us right now in addition to Crystal`s parents, her boyfriend, the father of her baby. She was at their three-bedroom home, there in a quiet subdivision, just before she went missing.
But first, to Scott Johnson, WVLK, tell met progress of the search for this Kentucky mom.
SCOTT JOHNSON, WVLK: That search continues, Nancy. The search has centered on the Bluegrass Parkway, the state freeway that runs near Bardstown. It has now moved on and expanded to a state highway, Highway 49, that runs south of Bardstown, and to a local waterway, the Beach Fork River.
GRACE: The Beach Fork River. Let`s go first to the mother and father of missing Crystal Rogers, a young -- a gorgeous young mom of five.
[20:35:07] Mr. and Miss Ballard, thank you for being with us.
SHERRY BALLARD, MOTHER OF MISSING KENTUCKY MOM: You`re welcome.
T. BALLARD: You`re welcome.
GRACE: I want to go first to Mr. Bauer. You were discussing with me how she would never have left her car on the side of the road and the sheriff has confirmed with us it was a genuine flat. That there was a nail that had gotten into her -- her tire and had been embedded. You believe, because she has done it before, that she would have driven on the rim of that car, the rim of that tire, that wheel, until she got to safety, or would have called you or her boyfriend or someone else to come help her. Instead, her car is found with her cell phone, her keys, her purse and a diaper bag in the car.
You also say, Mr. Ballard, she would never have just gotten out of the car leaving all that behind. She would either drive it on the rim to safety or sit there I guess with the car locked and call somebody, correct?
T. BALLARD: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Let me ask you, Mr. Ballard, was the car locked and were the keys in the ignition when police find the Chevy, the maroon Chevy?
T. BALLARD: Yes, ma`am. Me and her brother found the car and her keys were in it. It was unlocked. Her purse was in the passenger seat with her phone beside it. And I know she would have never got out of that car.
GRACE: Were the keys still in the ignition?
T. BALLARD: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: So keys in the ignition. Let me understand this. Keys still in the ignition, both doors -- her door unlocked, her cell phone on the passenger seat beside her, correct?
T. BALLARD: Yes.
GRACE: Let me ask you this, Mr. Ballard, I assume either you or one of your sons got into the car. Was the seat in the position she would have had it in or was it moved back for a bigger person, say, a man to drive?
T. BALLARD: We didn`t get in the car. My son opened the door and I made him close it back. I told him not to bother nothing.
GRACE: That was wise. That was wise.
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 the last husband. She has a young child by Brooks Houck, who formerly ran for sheriff in that jurisdiction. 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.
BROOKS HOUCK, BOYFRIEND OF MISSING KENTUCKY WOMAN: Thank you.
GRACE: Mr. Houck, what happened the night Crystal goes missing exactly?
HOUCK: Earlier that day, she showed rental property. She went to Wal-Mart.
GRACE: With who?
HOUCK: We have established a timeline of all the facts and events.
GRACE: Who did she go to Wal-Mart with, Brooks?
HOUCK: I was not there at Wal-Mart with them. She had some of the children with her.
GRACE: Mm-hmm. OK.
HOUCK: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: That`s important, Brooks, because as you know, with your interest in law enforcement, it establishes a timeline. So that was Friday around 4:00 p.m. then what happened after Wal-Mart?
HOUCK: When she left Wal-Mart on Friday, late afternoon, early evening, she showed a rental property that we have listed, in the Kentucky standard, in a large ad, multiple properties. She then left that and preceded home.
GRACE: So that was Friday evening. What time did she get home, Brooks?
HOUCK: After 5:00.
GRACE: After 5:00. And what, if anything, did she do at that time?
HOUCK: It was a normal -- normal evening. At that point, she showed the property and came home.
GRACE: Well, what day of the week was this?
HOUCK: This was on Friday, would have been July 3rd, 2015.
GRACE: Did you have July 4th plans?
HOUCK: Yes, we did.
GRACE: What were they?
HOUCK: My uncle, Fabian Ballard, and Loreto, about 49, had a large gathering at his home. My mother has a very large family, there`s 13 brothers and sisters, and we -- we had planned on going there on Saturday, July 4th.
GRACE: Did you go?
HOUCK: Yes, I did. I went with my family.
GRACE: And what time that was?
HOUCK: That was about 5:00 or 5:30 on Saturday --
GRACE: OK. Let me understand the timeline, Mr. Houck.
[20:40:02] So on Friday night, she shows a property in the evening, well, the evening, she gets home after 5:00.
HOUCK: No. Incorrect. Incorrect.
GRACE: No? OK. Explain.
HOUCK: Friday evening.
GRACE: Friday? Yes, that`s what I said.
HOUCK: July 3rd.
GRACE: Correct. That`s what I said.
HOUCK: She showed the property. And then on -- you asked me if we had plans on July 4th, which was in the following day on Saturday.
GRACE: Right. Right. That`s what I just said.
HOUCK: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: So Friday evening, she shows the property at a multi-property spot that had been advertised in the standard. She gets home after 5:00 and what children, if any, did she have with her at that time?
HOUCK: Two children.
GRACE: And --
HOUCK: The other two children had already been dropped off at their dad`s house.
GRACE: And what did you guys do for supper that night?
HOUCK: We just ate here -- we ate here at the house.
GRACE: Did she cook?
HOUCK: For about an hour and a half and then we left here about 7:30.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Did she cook that night?
HOUCK: You`re cutting out on me. I didn`t hear what you just said, ma`am.
GRACE: Oh, I`m sorry. Did she cook that night, Brooks?
HOUCK: She did not. We just ate here at the house. It wasn`t anything special or new anything like that. We knew that we had plans, wasn`t going to kill a lot of -- kill a lot of time and then we proceeded -- we proceeded out there to the family farm.
GRACE: OK. Now. On July 4th I thought was the family farm get-together, no?
HOUCK: Well, the Fourth, that right there is another family member.
GRACE: Oh, I get it.
HOUCK: That we went to.
GRACE: I get it. So that night, you get back and what was she doing when you went to bed?
HOUCK: She was playing games on her phone.
GRACE: Really? OK. Where was the baby?
HOUCK: The baby was still up.
GRACE: OK. And who -- who had the baby while she was playing games?
HOUCK: He was just running loose in the house.
GRACE: OK.
HOUCK: If a light`s still on in the living room, he is not going to go to bed until all the lights are out. So if there`s still activity going on in the home, he is going to stay it up with me.
GRACE: Now what time did you go to bed and was she still up playing games on her phone?
HOUCK: She was still up playing games on her phone. And it was really close to midnight.
GRACE: OK. And was the baby still awake?
HOUCK: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: So you go to bed. She is playing phone games and -- was she playing with another person or just by herself?
HOUCK: I`m not aware if she was, you know, texting anybody else or talking to anybody else. I`m under the impression she was just playing one of the games on her phone.
GRACE: And when did you realize --
(CROSSTALK)
HOUCK: Just standard and normal for her to do that.
GRACE: Brooks, when did you realize, Brooks Houck, that she was gone?
HOUCK: The very next -- the very next morning.
GRACE: So you slept through the whole night and did not realize that she was gone?
HOUCK: That`s true.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:47:21] GRACE: Joining me right now in addition to her parents, Tom and Sherry Ballard, her boyfriend that she lived with there in their three-bedroom suburban home, Brooks Houck is with us.
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?
HOUCK: No, ma`am.
GRACE: Why?
HOUCK: That is a great question and one that I definitely want the public and the media -- I was not in the least little bit alarmed in any way, shape or form. 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 occasion.
GRACE: When you say several, do you mean one, three, 20?
HOUCK: In the neighborhood of four to six.
GRACE: OK.
HOUCK: Something like that.
GRACE: OK. To Tom and Sherry Ballard, were you aware of that? Do you know who Sabrina is?
S. BALLARD: Yes, ma`am.
T. BALLARD: That`s my niece.
GRACE: OK. Did you know she goes and spends the night over there when she is having an issue at home?
T. BALLARD: I`ve known probably one time.
GRACE: Right. OK. I want to go back to Brooks Houck who was the last person to see her alive.
Brooks, did you go on to the July 4th get-together that day?
HOUCK: Yes, I did.
GRACE: Even though you didn`t know where she was?
HOUCK: Well, I was expecting -- I had put in a phone call that morning and then around lunch and usually, the maximum period of time that she has stayed gone has only been like a day to a day and a half, at the most. And as a result of that, I thought that she would --
GRACE: Did you try to call her?
HOUCK: -- join us. I`m sorry, I didn`t hear you, ma`am.
GRACE: Did you try to call her during that time?
HOUCK: Not while I was there -- there at the -- at the Fourth. I called her prior to leaving to head in that direction, yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Some people have accused you of not being involved enough in the search efforts. What`s your response?
HOUCK: That is a great question and one I certainly appreciate you asking me. And that is all of my effort in searching for her has been done behind the scene. With the Nelson County Sheriff`s Office.
[20:50:14] GRACE: What? What?
HOUCK: Detective Snow who is leading the investigation and Jason Allison who is a deputy there assisting him along with the Kentucky State Police
Agency Post Number 12.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: My question was what you had been doing with them. Let me ask you this. I know that you agreed to take a polygraph. Did you pass?
HOUCK: Because of the way that the lines or whatever were they, they determined it to be inconclusive. I`m not exactly sure what that means. 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.
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.
GRACE: 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 cell phone 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.
S. BALLARD: I don`t think Crystal would, either. I can`t see her getting out the car. I can`t see remember once her leaving her baby at home. I can`t see her getting out of the car in the dark, not with a cell phone 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.
GRACE: It doesn`t make sense to me, either, Mr. and Miss Ballard.
Everyone, the tip line, 502-348-3211, 502-348-3211. The reward has climbed to $40,000. Please join us in the search for Crystal.
