Murdered girl found in SC finally going home, with release of remains for burial

The remains of 13-year-old Erica Lynn Parsons have been released by the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office and are being returned to Rowan County for burial.

A statement from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office says the girl will be buried Saturday Feb. 25, the day after what is Erica’s birthday. The service will be 2 p.m. Saturday at First Bapist Church in, Salisbury, 223 North Fulton Street Salisbury, and it will be open to the public.

No one has yet been charged in Erica's death, despite the fact her adoptive father admitted last year that he buried her body in a shallow grave in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office issued the statement Tuesday that said no new information about progress of the investigation is being released. “The investigation of this case continues and all of the findings are still being reviewed by the Rowan County District Attorney,” said the statement.

Authorities have been vexed by the case since Erica Parsons was reported missing July 30, 2013, by her adoptive brother, James Parsons. He went to authorities after a fight with his parents and said no one had seen Erica for 20 months.

Family members revealed the girl suffered a long history of abuse, including being frequently locked in a closet, fed dog food, beaten with a belt buckle and choked her. UNC School of Medicine Dr. Cynthia Brown characterized the treatment of Erica as child torture.

Her adoptive father, Sandy Parsons, was convicted of cashing Erica's child support checks long after she disappeared from their home near Salisbury. His wife, Casey Parsons is serving 10 years for the same crime in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla.

In November, the Observer reported that Sandy Parsons told investigators that he'd buried the dead girl six days before Christmas 2011. He agreed to lead them to the spot in rural South Carolina where remains were discovered.

Erica was adopted by the Parsonses as an infant, and the couple received government payments because Erica had hearing problems and a learning disability. Her biological mother had at one point been married to Sandy Parsons' brother, but Erica's father was another man.

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Murdered girl found in SC finally going home, with release of remains for burial."