The sources provide a detailed overview of the decade-long investigation and eventual trials following the 2015 disappearance of Crystal Rogers, a mother of five, in Bardstown, Kentucky. The text explains how her abandoned car quickly suggested foul play, focusing initial suspicion on her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, and describing the relentless advocacy of Rogers’ parents, Sherry and Tommy Ballard, which became a national true-crime phenomenon. Critical breakthroughs are outlined, including the 2023 indictments of Houck, Steven Lawson, and Joseph Lawson for charges stemming from an “evil conspiracy” to commit murder and tamper with evidence. The source culminates with the successful prosecution of Steven Lawson in May 2025 and the subsequent joint conviction of Brooks Houck for murder and Joseph Lawson for conspiracy, though Rogers’ body remains missing and the murder of her father, Tommy Ballard, is still unresolved.

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