LENGTHY POST AHEAD. I just finished watching The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers with my husband. We watch a lot of crime shows due to his background in Law Enforcement, Firefighting and being a 911 Dispatcher, but in a couple of ways, you could say this one hit home to me. One, I live a hop, skip and a jump from Bardstown, KY where the mother of five lived and went missing from. I’ve been to that town. Walked the streets and admired how gorgeous it was. I even have a favorite restaurant there. Crime may happen everywhere, but when something of this magnitude happens in your relative backyard, it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.
Two, it’s surreal when you’re watching a true crime documentary with your husband, who happens to be the Director of a 911 Dispatch Center near Bardstown, and he keeps saying “I’ve met that Kentucky State Police Officer”, “I know where that location is” (said several times over), and he can name all three Dispatchers that were used for the call clips in the next to last episode (or maybe it was the last episode).
Three, this case is so much bigger than the disappearance of Crystal Rogers and the documentary series that Oxygen did proved that in a lot of ways I think. This is also about the assassination of a Bardstown Police Officer, Jason Ellis, the horrific double-homicide of 48-year-old Kathy Netherland and her 16-year-old daughter, Samantha, and last but never least, the assassination of Tommy Ballard, the father of Crystal Rogers who was searching tirelessly for his daughter. All of these crimes taking place in the span of four years.
My overall opinion after watching this show? There’s some shady things happening in Bardstown, KY. I feel for all of the families affected by these crimes and the community that is obviously scared and paranoid about what’s happening. I know what it’s like to lose a family member violently. My older brother was murdered almost six years ago, leaving behind three children. But my family was blessed to have closure in the sense that we were able to bury him and prosecute the two men who were arrested for his murder. And maybe I’m just overly sensitive right now because my husband’s 28-year-old nephew is currently missing, disappearing from North Carolina and last seen on August 3rd, 2018. His entire family is scared and desperate to find Chris Brown. So watching Crystal Roger’s family desperately still trying to find her scares me for what could possibly be going on with Chris’ situation.
Long story short, if you haven’t watched this show… DO IT NOW. It was a very well done story on the unsolved cases in Bardstown, KY. I pray all those families have answers and closures soon. I pray Bardstown gets closure and the chance to heal. I pray the people that are behind these crimes and responsible for so much pain and suffering are caught and prosecuted so that they never see the light of day again.
And perhaps most importantly, a couple of final closing notes.
Be aware of what’s happening in your community. Take a moment to care, because you never know, it could be your family who is the next victim of whatever heinous crime.
Hold your loved ones tight. You never know how long you’ll have them in your life. My niece and two nephews would give ANYTHING to have one more minute with their Dad. My Brother and Sister-in-Law will do anything and everything they have to do to find their son Chris.
Lastly, spread the word about this documentary. Spread the word about these crimes. Someone, somewhere out there knows something and all it takes is one critical clue or piece of evidence to bring one, if not all, of these cases to closure.
You can watch The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers by buying the whole season on Amazon. The link is listed below.