Who pays for property repairs after the FBI’s recent Crystal Rogers search? | News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The FBI said it will pay property owners in the Woodlawn Springs subdivision whose homes or yards were disrupted during the recent search for clues related to the disappearance of Crystal Rogers.

On Wednesday, Timothy Beam, a spokesman for the FBI Louisville, told WDRB News that anyone whose property was damaged would be reimbursed.

“(FBI Louisville) will pay for the restoration,” Beam said in a statement. “It will be our responsibility to get the homeowners’ property back to ‘pre-search’ conditions.”

During the search, which began Aug. 24 and was declared complete on Sept. 7, the FBI said it uncovered “multiple items of interest.” The agency declined to elaborate on the nature of the items. 

At one point during the investigation, the search zeroed in on the driveway of one particular home, which was built by a construction company owned by Brooks Houck, Rogers’ boyfriend at the time of her disappearance on July 3, 2015. Houck is the only person who has been named as a suspect in her disappearance, but has never faced any charges. Property records show the home at the focus of the FBI’s search was built the same year Rogers went missing.

Large construction equipment tore up the driveway and hauled large piles of dirt and concrete slabs away from the search. Agents were also seen earlier in the week using SONAR equipment.

Rogers’ family said the search gave them renewed hope that the case will be solved.

“I physically didn’t really know that they were completely finished,” said Sherry Ballard, Crystal’s mother. “I know they were done in some areas, but I don’t know that they still don’t have interest in that subdivision.”

She said she had mixed emotions when she was told the FBI found multiple items of interest.

“Oh gosh, very upsetting at first, you know? But I mean, how do I feel about that?” she said. “I want them to find my daughter, but I don’t want them to find my daughter, you know? It’s very hard. It’s hard to deal with your emotions on that end.”

Six years after her daughter went missing, Ballard said every time a new search like this happens, it brings her right back to 2015.

“The week that they worked out there was exhausting for me, very, very hard week,” Ballard said. “It’s like it brings everything back to the beginning and then you have to get through all that again. It’s very hard.”

But it still gave her hope that she can eventually lay her daughter to rest.

“I’m praying that the items that they found are gonna be associated with my daughter and we’re gonna be able to put her to rest beside her daddy,” she said.

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