The adoptive parents of Erica Parsons, who has been missing nearly two years, canceled an appointment with Rowan Social Services earlier Tuesday but showed up for a supervised visit with their two youngest children.
Sandy and Casey Parsons were expected to arrive at the Rowan County Department of Social Services. A Post reporter went to Rowan Social Services, but the two never showed.
Rowan Sheriff’s investigators, assisted by the State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI, have questioned the couple regarding Erica’s disappearance.
She was last seen November 2011, but was reported missing in July by the Parsonses’ biological son, James. The Parsonses have said they let Erica live in Asheville with her biological grandmother, Irene Goodman, but investigators and other family members say Goodman doesn’t exist.
The Parsonses’ two youngest children were taken into DSS custody shortly after James reported Erica missing and have since been in the care of Casey’s mother, Shirley Stone. Stone brought the youngest children to the Rowan County courthouse shortly before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday for a visit with Sandy and Casey.
Investigators have not charged Sandy or Casey and have not released any new details regarding the case.
The couple’s attorney, Carlyle Sherrill, said he wasn’t aware of any new leads or developments in the case. He said law enforcement has not requested follow-up interviews with Sandy or Casey, nor have they mentioned issuing more search warrants.
Investigators searched the Miller Chapel Road home where the family had lived since April 2011 and a storage shed located at Sandy’s father’s, William Parsons’, China Grove home.
Investigators took various items from the Miller Chapel Road home including baby teeth and knives, as well as pieces of wall and flooring with red stains on them.
A week ago, firefighters were called to the home for a small kitchen fire. Fire investigators have not confirmed the cause of the fire, but have said they sent evidence to a lab to determine if faulty wiring or a microwave was the origin of the fire. A microwave plugged into an outlet in the kitchen caught fire. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting in the investigation.
Sherrill said he’s heard his clients were planning a trip to Louisiana, but had not advised them about heading there. The couple have said they were going to New Orleans, where Erica’s biological mother, Carolyn, lives. Sherrill said he felt his clients needed to be available here in Rowan County “in case a lead comes” or if law enforcement needed to question them.
“To me, this is an effort to try to seek out Erica, believing that she’s somewhere close to Carolyn,” he said.
When asked what would lead his clients to believe Erica was near Carolyn, Sherrill said it’s because the information Irene Goodman had about the Parsonses came from the birth mother.
Carolyn has said Irene Goodman, whom the Parsonses knew as “Nan” did not exist. In fact, Carolyn told the Post that her mother has been dead for years. Members of the Goodman family have said Erica’s paternal grandmother, Chloe, has been dead for years as well.
“I think she’s out there somewhere, I don’t know where, but just the way things have happened, it appears that Casey and Sandy were duped by this woman and she’s out there somewhere,” Sherrill said.
Anyone with information about the disappearance of Erica Parsons is asked to contact investigators at the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office at 704-216-8700 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253. Twitter: www.twitter.com/salpostpotts Facebook: www.facebook.com/Shavonne.SalisburyPost.