Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Well, hi, everybody. I'm Lester Holt. Welcome to Talking Dateline. Today, we're with Andrea Canning to talk about her latest episode, The Trouble in Bardstown. Andrea, first off, it's good to see you.
You too, Lester.
All right.
Chapter 2: What happened to Crystal Rogers in Bardstown, Kentucky?
So to recap, mother of five, Crystal Rogers, disappeared from Bardstown, Kentucky in July of 2015. The mystery went unsolved for eight years until police charged Crystal's former boyfriend, Brooks Houck, with her murder. This year, Houck and two other men were convicted in connection with Crystal's death. But four additional murders remain unsolved, and Bardstown still wants answers.
Now, for this Talking Dayline, we have an exclusive clip from Andrea's interview with Crystal's mom, Sherry. So let's get started. Andrea, before we get into the nuts and bolts of the case itself, let's talk a little bit about the town. This is a town that people took a lot of pride in. They called it the most beautiful small town in America.
How did that reflect in your reporting as you went along in the story?
Yeah, I mean, first of all, I actually have a friend from Bardstown. So when I was a local anchor in Cincinnati, my next-door neighbor was from Bardstown, Therese Wethington. So I had already heard about it through her. But it's a very charming small town in Kentucky. It's just, you know, 40 minutes from Louisville. And it's the Bourbon Trail.
And, you know, it's just one of those Americana-type towns, you know, a little bit like Mayberry. It's... beautiful, the people are all so nice, and the downtown is very charming. So it is quite the juxtaposition, you know, when you think about the town and everything that's happened in the town and around the town. You know, it's almost like they don't fit together.
Yeah, I mean, let's face it, five murders in four years is a shocking statistic in a small town like that, where people are open to talk about their anxiety because there's a greater anxiety that's hanging over this murder case.
Yeah, I mean, there was fear, anxiety. You know, I grew up in a town at the time that was 12,000 people myself. And I can't even imagine if there were, you know, five murders in four years in the town I grew up in. So, of course, it's just going to set everybody, you know, it's going to give everyone that uneasy sense.
It seems like it fed this sense of distrust or at least people reluctant to talk to police along the way.
There were some elements of that for sure. When you're from a small town, everyone knows each other or everyone knows someone who knows that person, you know, and it's a different vibe, right? It's not like the city, it's your neighbor or your friend or your, you know, your pastor or your dry cleaner or your teacher. So like everyone knows each other.
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Chapter 3: What is the significance of the community's pride in Bardstown?
And so we have the utmost sensitivity to their family. But at the same time, you also want to give this, you know, idea of who's this other family, right? And also, you know, Nick and his mom, Rosemary... They are unindicted co-conspirators is what they've been called. And so they have not been arrested or charged.
So, of course, there's that sensitivity as well that, yes, the Ballard family is pointing the finger at them, but they have not been nabbed by law enforcement. That's the first time I've ever in a story had unindicted co-conspirators, you know, where they're publicly charged. naming family members but not arresting them.
And how many times have we heard this before? The relationships seem good. In this case, a relationship between Brooks and Crystal. Is there a sense of when things soured? Because suddenly these stories come out, you know, after the fact.
I think it was all right in the beginning. And then I think the problem, according to the family, started probably when Eli was born. That was the child they shared together. And Brooks, again, according to the family, seemed to care so much about Eli, but not Crystal's other four children.
And they told stories, her daughter, of, you know, the things he would do, unscrewing light bulbs, you know, if they wouldn't shut the lights off, turning off the water in the house if they used too much water, unscrewing their doors, you know, if they were slamming doors, things like that. It sounded really awful. You're talking about Ashley, right? Ashley, yeah.
Yeah. What a poised young lady. That's what struck me.
Yeah. The way that she talks is very much like what I remember from Kentucky because I worked, you know, on the... I covered part of Kentucky. And... I loved hearing her sort of like that folksy talk. And, you know, she admitted, she said, I had problems with my mom, you know, sometimes. But she misses her mom so much. And she just, I just thought she did such a good job in her interview.
Because you don't get to see the whole thing. Like I sat down with her, you know, for like two hours. And so I was very impressed with her.
Yeah.
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Chapter 4: How did the murders impact the relationships between the Ballards and the Houcks?
And you're proof that it can pay off. Yes, ma'am.
She is such a compelling interview. And as I listen to her, I think, you know, she's not just talking to unnamed people out there. She's talking to people that we have featured on this program from time to time. People confront these sorts of situations. Yeah. They hope and they believe that the law enforcement system will eventually solve or bring about justice.
Yeah.
But they know that, you know, they bear or want to take on a certain amount of responsibility.
Yeah, and I tell people, like, when people approach me about unsolved cases, I always just say I've done enough of these where sometimes you just have to be patient. You know, it doesn't happen on your timeline, you know, but it absolutely can happen. And sometimes it's, you know, 20 years later, 30 years later.
Well, Andrea, thank you for sharing some insight into this episode, and we appreciate you bringing it to us and also bringing us those really personal stories. It's really important. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All right. We're going to take a quick break. Andrea, we're going to be back for a bit of a conversation with you and Rachel White, a producer on this program. Looking forward to that. It's coming right up.
Hey, everyone. We are back with Dateline producer Rachel White, who you probably know already from Dateline True Crime Weekly. And Rachel, first of all, great to see you. Good to see you, too. Thanks for having me. All right. So let's get to our... Wonderful viewers who we love so much. The first question is from Randy Giamarco on X. She said, this is really terrible.
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Chapter 5: What challenges did Andrea Canning face while reporting on the case?
You would know. Soccer practice, ballet, like how many people are in and out of her car? I'm sure a ton. So you're right. I'm sure there's a lot of DNA in her car. I just don't think it was helpful in this case.
Yeah. Linda Marie on Facebook asks, Nick said his phone was off the night Crystal went missing because he was in a fight with his girlfriend. Did anyone ever corroborate that story with the girlfriend?
So his girlfriend at the time testified at Brooks and Joey's trial. And she did say that she said she and Nick were in the process of moving. And so she was actually calling him several times that day. And it was just going to voicemail. It was off. His phone was off. Hmm. He was nowhere to be found to help with the move that they're in the middle of.
And she said that it was really unusual for his cell phone to be off. Remember, he's a police officer. So first responders typically have to have their phones on and respond when they get a call. And he just kind of went dark. And then she also said he didn't come home that night.
Emily Mancini on Facebook says, my question is since her significant other owned a home building company, could they have buried her body late at night in the basement of a house being built? Just curious if that angle was ever looked into. Good question, Emily.
It is a great question. I think a lot of the Houck properties were searched. A lot of, you know, over the years, many different places were searched by many different versions of law enforcement, many layers of law enforcement.
I know that recently, in the last five years or so, when the FBI had taken over and started doing a lot of searches in Bardstown, they did search at least one property that Brooks Houck was in charge of developing. They dug up a driveway. But still, there was no evidence or remains found of Crystal.
Yeah, I mean, that's the saddest thing about all of this. It's all sad, but I mean, the fact that they don't have that critical answer, you know, about where Crystal is, it breaks your heart for her kids, for her mom. I mean, imagine that, just that void of...
of all of this, you know, like not being able to have a proper funeral or go to her gravesite or, you know, just not knowing where she is. It's excruciating.
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