Erica Lynn Parsons, who would today be 15, has not been seen since 2011, but she was not reported missing until August 2013, when her 19 year old step-brother went to the authorities. Erica’s adoptive parents, Casey and Sandy Parsons, claim that they left her with a biological relative, but their story does not add up and neither Erica nor the biological relative are anywhere to be found. Relatives who knew the family are now saying that the Parsons household was often violent, and that Erica frequently bore suspicious bruises. There was also a previous child abuse case that had been closed. Erica was not reported missing by her school because she was homeschooled from 2005, when she was seven, until her disappearance. When they began homeschooling Erica, Casey and Sandy filed the required North Carolina homeschool paperwork, establishing “Parsons Christian School.” Authorities did not know that Erica did not participate in the required standardized testing in the two years since her disappearance because the state does not check up on homeschools or require them to submit their test scores. As the adoptive parents of a special needs child, Casey and Sandy continued collecting state checks until she was reported missing. The search for Erica is ongoing, and her biological mother has been calling for greater oversight of homeschooling.
Date: August, 2013
Location: Salisbury, North Carolina
