An arrest has been made in connection with the presumed death of a Kentucky woman who disappeared in 2015.
Crystal Rogers’ grandfather told WLEX that Joseph L. Lawson, 32, has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. The grandfather, Tim Ballard, said that FBI agents had informed family members of the arrest.
Lawson pleaded not guilty in Nelson Circuit Court on Thursday. His bond was set at $500,000, according to WDRB.
Rogers was reported missing on July 5, 2015, after she was last seen at the home of her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, CrimeOnline previously reported. Houck has been named a main suspect in the case but has never been charged.
The indictment charging Lawson does not mention Rogers by name but says the crime took place in Nelson County on July 3 and/or 4, WDRB said. It says that Lawson ““agreed to aid one or more persons in the planning or commission of the crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit the crime when he, and/or, a co-conspirator intentionally caused the death of another.”
Lawson’s attorney, Kevin Coleman, said that the charges do relate to Crystal Rogers, but he decline further comment.
Lawson was indicted earlier this summer, but the indictments were sealed until his first court appearance. His next appearance is in October.
Two days after her disappearance, Rogers’ car was found abandoned with a flat tire on the Bluegrass Parkway. Her keys, phone, and purse were inside the vehicle, as CrimeOnline reported.
A year after the disappearance, Houck’s brother was fired from the Bardstown Police Department for allegedly interfering in the investigation.
Sixteen months after his daughter vanished, an unknown gunman shot and killed her father, Tommy Ballard, while he was hunting on his property.
The FBI took over the investigation in 2020 and has since conducted numerous searches, including a five-day search of a farm owned by Houck’s family, where Rogers was reportedly last seen. Evidence recovered from that search and the others was sent to FBI labs for analysis.
In January, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the deaths of Rogers and her father.
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[Featured image: Crystal Rogers/handout Inset: Joseph Lawson/Nelson County Jail]
