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Woman in 'Slender Man' stabbing found after escape

admin - Latest News - November 24, 2025
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Woman in ‘Slender Man’ stabbing found after escape



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November 7, 2025
Nov. 7, 2025, 5:26 PM EST / Updated Nov. 7, 2025, 5:42 PM ESTBy Tim Stelloh, Rachel White, Justin Smith and Marissa MaierIt was almost the perfect crime.But in the end, a pair of mundane events on Kentucky’s Bluegrass Parkway — a flat tire and a phone call — played an outsize role in solving the disappearance and presumed death of Crystal Rogers more than a decade ago.That, at least, is how the prosecutor who tried three men convicted this year in connection with Rogers’ death views the resolution of a case that was based on a mountain of circumstantial evidence. Authorities never found Rogers’ body. Nor did they identify a crime scene or a murder weapon.“If they had not gotten a flat tire, we probably wouldn’t have solved this case,” said Shane Young, the commonwealth’s attorney for the state’s 9th Judicial Circuit. “That phone call was the one hiccup in the plan because that phone call was not supposed to be made.”For more on the case, tune in to “The Trouble in Bardstown” on “Dateline” at at 9 ET/8 CT tonight.DATELINE FRIDAY SNEAK PEEK: The Trouble in Bardstown01:48In an exclusive interview with “Dateline,” the veteran prosecutor reflected on the yearslong effort to bring justice to Rogers’ family and to other unsolved homicide victims in Bardstown, the scenic small town in the heart of Kentucky’s bourbon region where Rogers lived. Among the other victims is Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, who was gunned down roughly a year and a half after his daughter vanished on July 3, 2015.Tommy Ballard.DatelineAt the time, Ballard, 54, was leading an effort to investigate his daughter’s disappearance.Rogers’ boyfriend, Brooks Houck, 44, was convicted of murder in Rogers’ killing and sentenced to life in prison in September. His attorneys are appealing the verdict.Two men whom prosecutors identified as accomplices, Steve Lawson and his son, Joey Lawson, were convicted of conspiracy and tampering with physical evidence. Steve Lawson, 55, was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Joey Lawson, 34, was sentenced to 25 years to life. They’re also appealing their convictions.In court, attorneys for the men said they were victims of police coercion — one of the lawyers described the interrogation tactics to “Dateline” as “the Bardstown inquisition” — and said there was no physical evidence linking them to the murder.A relationship on the rocks?Young was tasked with taking over the case as a special prosecutor in 2022. At trial, Young argued the couple’s relationship was deteriorating. The killing, he said, was motivated by Houck’s fear of losing custody of the couple’s 2-year-old son. Rogers was likely killed at the Houck family farm, prosecutors have said.That theory was partly backed up by a cousin of Rogers’ who testified that when she saw Rogers on July 3, Rogers said she and Houck were going on a surprise date that night.In interviews with police, Houck said he’d last seen Rogers that evening, after they’d gone to the farm for several hours with their toddler and walked around in the fields. Back at home, he said he fell asleep before Rogers did, according to a video of the interview.Crystal Rogers.DatelineThe next morning, Houck said that when he awoke, Rogers was gone — something he said she’d done before when she needed space, according to the video.Jon Snow, the former Nelson County Sheriff’s detective who questioned Houck, pressed him for details during a follow-up interview. It was raining on July 3, Snow pointed out, but Houck said he’d spent hours outside with their toddler.“Four and a half hours is a long time to be outside in the rain, in the mud, with a 2 1/2 year old,” Snow said. “Does that make sense?”“I understand what you’re saying,” Houck responded.Problems on the parkwayAccording to prosecutors, the Lawsons were responsible for getting rid of Rogers’ car — a maroon Chevrolet Impala that was found, with a flat tire, on July 5 on the side of the Bluegrass Parkway.“I think the plan was to make it look like she left,” Young told “Dateline.” “Whether they were gonna drive the car into a lake or a river or whatever, I don’t think the car was ever supposed to be found again.”Crystal Rogers and Brooks Houck.DatelineBut then, according to the prosecution, Joey Lawson got a flat tire while driving the Impala. So he dialed his father, who then called Houck, Young said. (Joey Lawson has denied driving the car or playing a role in Rogers’ disappearance.)The call was made around midnight and lasted just 13 seconds, according to Snow. In the follow-up interview with the detective, Houck said that he didn’t recall what the conversation was about, but that it had been made by Steve Lawson, who worked for him.So Houck dialed Steve Lawson on the spot, a video of the interview shows.Steve Lawson during a police interview.Dateline“Can you remember what you asked me or what you were after?” Houck said.“Sure, I can,” Steve Lawson responded. “I called and asked you for them numbers for the house.”Steve Lawson initially denied having been on the parkway, though he later admitted it to a grand jury. Under questioning from investigators, he said that the phone call from his son was actually a request to pick him up on the parkway, a video of the interview shows.An FBI analysis of Steve Lawson’s phone confirmed that he’d been on the parkway, near the spot where Rogers’ Impala was found on the night of her disappearance. At trial, Joey Lawson’s attorneys disputed the analysis and said the phone actually showed Steve Lawson not on the parkway, but on a road parallel to it.Joey Lawson.DatelineThe same FBI analysis showed that Joey Lawson had repeatedly called his father before Steve Lawson finally answered and made the 13-second call to Houck, according to Steve Keary, an FBI agent who investigated the case.Steve Lawson told authorities that when he arrived at the parkway, he found Rogers’ Impala, got in and scooted the seat forward, a video of the interview shows. His son was taller than Rogers, he said, and Steve Lawson said he was worried his son had gotten caught up in something bad. Moving the seat, he told investigators, was his way of covering that up.Steve Lawson also told authorities that before Rogers’ disappearance, Houck had described the couple’s relationship as troubled and said he wanted her “gone.”“To me, ‘gone’ means gone,” a video of the interview shows him saying.Making the case in courtEven though investigators had only gathered circumstantial evidence, Young told “Dateline” that he believed they’d gathered enough to prove their case.Shane Young.DatelineIn Houck’s trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict in only a few hours.It’s unclear if two people identified by prosecutors at trial as unindicted co-conspirators will face charges, he said.One of those alleged co-conspirators is Houck’s brother, former Bardstown police officer Nick Houck. The department’s former police, Chief Rick McCubbin, told “Dateline” that he fired Nick Houck because McCubbin believed he hadn’t fully cooperated with the investigation into Rogers’ disappearance.Nick Houck has denied playing a role in the disappearance and has never been charged with a crime. His attorney did not respond to a detailed list of questions from “Dateline.”Prosecutors say they have identified a possible link between Nick Houck and the killing of Rogers’ father, Tommy Ballard, who was fatally shot while on a hunting trip with Rogers’ 11-year-old son on Nov. 19, 2016. In a court hearing and in his interview with “Dateline,” Young said that Nick Houck sold a gun to an undercover officer that investigators believe has the same or a similar caliber as the weapon used to kill Ballard.Officer Jason Ellis.FBIHe sold the firearm using the name Nick Ballard, Young told “Dateline.” Houck has not been charged with a crime in Tommy Ballard’s death.Young is also investigating the killing of Bardstown police officer Jason Ellis, who was fatally shot on May 25, 2013, while clearing tree branches from an exit ramp on the Bluegrass Parkway — branches that investigators believe were placed intentionally. McCubbin said there was evidence the shooter had been lying in wait at the top of a nearby rock wall.Asked if he expects charges in either case, Young said: “Don’t know. We’re working on them.”Tim StellohTim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.Rachel WhiteJustin SmithJustin Smith is the sheriff of Larimer County, Colorado, a graduate of the FBI National Academy and a member of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections.Marissa MaierMarissa Maier is a producer for “Dateline.”
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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleSept. 29, 2025, 12:13 PM EDTBy Freddie ClaytonLONDON — The royals are in turmoil again.It had all been going so well, with the pomp of President Donald Trump’s state visit and Prince Harry’s tea with King Charles III building a sense of a family steadied after a litany of crises. Then came the fallout. Harry has accused unnamed palace figures of “sabotage” and of planting false accounts of his meeting with his father. Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson face renewed scrutiny over ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Meanwhile, Prince William opened up about what he called “the hardest year” of his life.Together, the stories have jolted the palace narrative from triumph to turbulence — with Harry’s latest clash with the British media at the center of the storm.Prince Harry in Nottingham, England, on Sept. 9.Max Mumby/Indigo / Getty ImagesBritain’s The Sun newspaper claimed last week that Harry’s first meeting with the king in two years was “distinctly formal,” claiming the prince had expressed feeling more like an “official visitor” than a son.Harry’s camp rejected that outright. “Recent reporting of The Duke’s view of the tone of the meeting, is categorically false,” a spokesperson told NBC News, referring to Harry’s title, Duke of Sussex. “The quotes attributed to him are pure invention fed, one can only assume, by sources intent on sabotaging any reconciliation between father and son.”The public feud over the meeting has only deepened tensions at a moment when the family is seeking to project unity, and it could set back attempts to mend the relationship, according to NBC News royal commentator Daisy McAndrew.“I think the king will be really disappointed,” she said.Harry had earlier sounded eager to build on the brief tea, emphasizing his desire to spend more time with his father while defending his tell-all memoir in an interview with Britain’s Guardian newspaper following that trip to the U.K.The accusations from Harry’s camp came just a week after the family showcased its finest pomp and pageantry during Trump’s state visit — a triumph quickly overshadowed by a return to all-too-familiar controversy.President Donald Trump and Britain’s King Charles III at Windsor Castle on Sept. 17.Kirsty Wigglesworth / AFP – Getty ImagesWhile Trump’s trip was only briefly marred by the Epstein scandal, the subject was soon back on newspaper front pages with new royal revelations.The king has instructed Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duke and Duchess of York, that they will not be welcome at the royal Christmas, according to weekend reports in Britain’s Telegraph and Sunday Times newspapers that cited multiple sources.Buckingham Palace did not respond to requests for comment on the report and on the statement from Harry’s spokesperson.That comes after Ferguson was dropped as a patron by a number of charities following a newly surfaced email that revealed she had referred to Epstein as a “supreme friend,” despite the disgraced financier’s conviction on sex offenses. A spokesperson for the duchess said the email was sent to counter a threat Epstein had made to sue her and accuse her of defamation.The disclosure reignited scrutiny of royal ties to Epstein, long centered on Andrew.The palace will hope, McAndrew said, that something else will “come along to take the attention away.”“The problem with Andrew is he’s always grabbing the attention back,” she said.While at odds with itself in recent years, the royal family has also been buffeted by external crises.William described 2024 as the most challenging year of his life in comments that aired Sunday — a period that saw both his wife, Kate, the Princess of Wales, and his father undergo cancer treatment.“I’d say 2024 was the hardest year I’ve ever had,” he said, speaking to “Schitt’s Creek” star Eugene Levy on his show “The Reluctant Traveler.” William, the heir to the throne, added: “Life is said to test us as well, and being able to overcome that is what makes us who we are.”Freddie ClaytonFreddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London. 
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