Exclusive sit-down reveals FBI took over case years earlier than publicly known, breakthrough technologies cracked it open, and made the connection between Bardstown's biggest cases clearer than ever before.

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Getting an FBI agent to talk on the record about an investigation is nearly impossible. Getting the lead investigator on one of Kentucky's most high-profile cases to sit down and walk through the entire investigation? That's something I never thought would happen.

But Special Agent Steve Keary did just that- marking only the second time I've interviewed the FBI about Crystal Rogers' disappearance in the ten years I've been covering it, and the first time I had the chance to interview the case agent.

What he revealed changes everything we thought we knew about when the FBI got involved, how they broke the case open, and why they believe the Jason Ellis case is without a doubt connected to the murders of Crystal Rogers and Tommy Ballard.

The FBI named this investigation "Operation Justice Rising."

Credit: FBI; 2022 search for Crystal's remains at Brooks Houck's family farm

The secret meeting that changed everything

The FBI's involvement actually began in late 2017- almost three years before the public knew the FBI had taken over the case.