Hammer, teeth among items seized in new search in Erica Parsons case

Investigators searched a storage shed today on land owned by the the parents of missing teen Erica Parsons' adoptive father.

According to a search warrant, they seized teeth, a hammer, a videotape pieces of a vacuum cleaner and school records for Sandy and Casey Parsons from the shed at 270 Sutton Road in China Grove.

Although the red storage shed is behind the home of William Parsons, the search warrant said, only Sandy and Casey Parsons have access to the locked building.

This search comes a week after local, state and federal investigators descended on the Parsonses' home on Miller Chapel Road.

In that search, the investigators seized a number of items including red-stained flooring and drywall, two large knives in shrink wrap, and literature about child death cases including JonBenet Ramsey and the Susan Smith case in South Carolina, the warrant said.

They dismantled a wooden deck behind the home, moved an above-ground pool and dug in the backyard.

In an affidavit requesting the search warrant last week, an investigator said James Parsons claimed his parents, Sandy and Casey Parsons, “routinely abused Erica both mentally and physically.”

Family members told investigators they often saw bruises on her that the adoptive parents said were caused by other children, according to the affidavit.

Erica Parsons — a niece who the couple took in as an infant and adopted at age 2 — has been missing nearly two years, but was only reported missing on July 30 by her adoptive brother, James.

Sandy and Casey Parsons say they let their adopted daughter go to live with her biological grandmother in Asheville, and they believe she's still with the woman they know as Irene “Nan” Goodman.

Investigators haven't been able to verify that woman's existence and the Parsonses say they haven't spoken with her since February 2012 and don't know how to contact her.

Authorities say the information the Parsonses have provided has not been truthful. The couple stopped cooperating with the investigation after a couple of days and hired an attorney.

Sandy Parsons failed a lie detector test on the Dr. Phil show, which aired today. Casey Parsons didn't take the test because she was in pain from a recent surgery, the talk show host said. She was offered a chance to take the test after taking pain medication but declined, the host said.