Parsonses have another court hearing later this month

Published 12:00 am Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sandy and Casey Parsons, the adoptive parents of a Rowan County teen who has been missing nearly two years, are expected in court later this month for another hearing regarding custody of their two youngest children.

Erica Lynn Parsons, 15, was reported missing July 30 by her adoptive brother, Jamie.

The Rowan Department of Social Services removed the youngest children, Toby and Sadie, from the Parsonses’ Miller Chapel Road home shortly after Erica was reported missing.

A source with knowledge of the case confirmed the hearing is slated for Sept. 26 in juvenile court. A previous custody review hearing was held Aug. 22.

A judge closed the previous hearing to the public at the request of the Parsonses’ attorneys.

Calls to those attorneys, Andrea Davis and Gary Rhodes, were not returned. Attorney Carlyle Sherrill, who represents the couple in the ongoing investigation into Erica Parsons’ disappearance, said they have a scheduled meeting with Social Services today. He said the meeting is a requirement as part of kinship custody.

“My understanding is there are no hearings, maybe a meeting,” he said.

The youngest children were placed with Casey’s mother, Shirley Stone.

During the meeting, the parents, DSS officials, Stone, and attorneys for the Parsonses will discuss the plan for placement. The Parsonses can talk about what they don’t like about the plan or ask any questions they may have regarding the placement.

There will be no decisions made at this meeting, but one could be made at the hearing later this month.

Sherrill said it is not unusual to have a meeting of this kind and he believes there may have been some questions that could be answered during the meeting.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office has been working with the FBI and State Bureau of Investigation regarding Erica’s disappearance since July. The Rowan Sheriff’s Office put up a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the teen’s whereabouts or her return.

Erica was last seen in November 2011 when her adoptive parents say they let her leave with her biological grandmother, Irene Goodman.

The Parsonses have said they initially met Goodman, whom they knew as Nan, via social networking site, Facebook. Investigators determined Goodman did not exist and could not confirm a Facebook page for Irene Goodman ever existed. The couple, through their attorney, have also said they may have been duped into thinking Goodman was Erica’s biological grandmother.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Erica Parsons is asked to contact the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office at 704-216-8700.