Adoptive father of missing girl who insists she is safe is ruled 'strongly deceptive' on Dr Phil polygraph after being accused of her murder... and his wife REFUSES to be tested
Erica Parsons was last seen November 19, 2011 but was only reported missing by her brother on July 30; he told police his parents had killed her
Sandy and Casey Parsons deny hurting the girl and say they left her in the care of her grandmother 'Nan'
After the girl went to live with her, Nan's phone stopped working and they say they do not know where she is
Dr Phil and police said there is no record of Nan
Relatives have said Erica endured years of abuse at the home - which the couple has denied - and police have searched the house for evidence
A polygraph test carried out on the adoptive father of a 13-year-old girl reported missing was found to be 'strongly deceptive' when he described how he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
Sandy Parsons and his wife Casey appeared on Dr Phil's show yesterday to defend themselves against claims they murdered and abused their daughter Erica.
Erica was last seen on November 19, 2011, when she was 13, and was only reported missing by her 19-year-old adoptive brother James on July 30. He told police that his parents had killed her.
The couple vehemently deny it and counter that they put their daughter in the care ofher biological grandmother, Irene Goodman, who she knew as 'Nan'.
They claim Nan then went on to cut off all contact. The Parsons say they do not know what happened to their daughter after that point.
However, in a follow up episode to be aired at 4pm today, FBI polygraph examiner, Jack Trimarco, says Sandy Parsons was found to be 'strongly deceptive' on the polygraph test he agreed to undergo on the issue.
He was asked two questions: 'Did you deliberately cause Erica’s disappearance?' and 'Did you have a plan to cause Erica’s disappearance?' To which he answered: 'No'.
Still missing? This age progressed sketch or Erica Parsons was released today
The expert explained that he couldn't ask about Erica's death because they do not know she is dead.
'He was what I consider strongly deceptive to both relevant questions,' Trimarco tells Dr. Phil McGraw in the clip on the show's website.
'This was not a close call - it is quite clear.'
The Parsonses’ attorney, Carlyle Sherrill, who appears on the follow-up without his clients who refused to appear says Sandy Parsons may have misunderstood the question.
Trimarco decided not to carry out a test on Casey Parsons who said she was physically unwell
He said pain could interfere with psychological reactions which would make the test unreliable.
The show offered to allow Casey Parsons to take medication and return for the test the next day but she refused.
Investigators are hunting for information about the whereabouts and the disappearance of Erica, who would now be 15.
Today they released an artist impression of what they believed Erica may look like if she is still alive.
The show was recorded less than a month after Erica's brother James reported her missing and alleged his parents had killed her.
In a tense interview yesterday, Mrs Parsons claimed that they left Erica at a McDonald's in Mooreville in December 2011 so her grandmother could collect her and take her to Asheville in North Carolina for three weeks.
Nan initially made contact through Facebook and the girl went to live with her a few months later, she said. They have not heard from Erica, whom they adopted at two weeks old, since that day, she added.
Dr Phil pointed out that detectives say Nan, whose real name is Irene Goodman, died five years ago and that his team have found no records for a woman with that name connected to the family.
Dr Phil also revealed how Erica's biological mother, a relative of the couple, denied the connection to the North Carolina town and said she has no idea what has happened to her.
'I am the birth mom,' she wrote. 'She has no family in Ashville and I nor her dad have no clue where she is and we love her and want to find her and know she is safe.'
However, the Parsons refuted the claims Nan didn't exist and said they were forced to come to terms with the separation after both Nan and Erica made plain their feelings that she should stay away.
'After living with Nan for two months, Nan said that Erica did not want to return home,' Mrs Parsons told Dr Phil. 'Erica wanted to stay with her permanently.'
'In the background, I could hear Erica saying, "I don't want that b**** coming to my birthday party" and "Tell that b****" don't come up here". That hurt a lot... That's the last time I heard from Erica.'
She added that Nan's phone was disconnected weeks later and she removed her Facebook profile.
But even though she could not contact her daughter, she said she had not been concerned.
'I wasn't worried, I knew that Erica was safe,' Mrs Parsons said. 'I understood that Erica was probably scared I would bring her home. I wasn't scared about Erica's well-being. This was a mutual agreement, it's not as if Nan had took her and run.'
She said that when she told relatives she wanted to contact the girl, they told her she was being selfish and that she should allow Erica to have a life filled with things the Parsons could not provide.
Her husband, Sandy Parsons, added: 'If it was OK with my wife, it was OK with me. I thought she was just being a rebellious teenager. It upset me - yes, I missed her. I still miss her.'
Dr Phil responded: 'I have to tell you, that to me it is shocking. I can understand how you can be disarmed [by Nan]... but then you last talked to her in February 2012 and not ever again. It is shocking.'
Numerous relatives of the Parsons have told police that the couple inflicted years of abuse on Erica, but the Department of Social Services has not turned up any evidence to support this.
However, last week, investigators searching the Parsons' home uncovered a treasure trove of evidence they think may answer some questions about the missing girl.
In affidavits filed to obtain search warrants for their Salisbury, North Carolina home, authorities alleged that they 'routinely abused' the girl before she went missing two years ago.
Officials found red stained drywall and baseboards that are being tested for the presence of blood, the documents said.
Two large knives were also taken from the house, along with a book detailing the disappearance of JonBenet Ramsay which contained notes about home remodeling, the paper reported.
A plastic bag filled with a magazine about Ramsay was also removed, as well as laptops, cell phones and a desktop computer.
'They're just looking for anything they can find that'll help,' Sherrill told media outside his office at the time. 'We want to help anyway we can to find Erica.'
A separate warrant was also issued to search the family's financial records after it was discovered they continued to receive payments from the state for the girl's care even after she left.
The Parsons told officials they collected the checks because they were tied to the teen's health insurance, according to WSOC.
The warrants also detailed allegations of abuse made against the parents by family members.
Relatives told investigators the missing girl was often covered in bruises.
When confronted, Casey would accuse other children of beating the innocent girl, they said.
They also allegedly forced the girl to live outside the home like a punished dog, the warrants said.
According to police investigating the case, when they questioned Casey and Sandy Parsons over a two-day period two weeks ago, the parents lied to them and were uncooperative.
Claim: Erica's adoptive brother told police she was missing and that his parents killed her.
Their attorney, however, insists that his clients did not purposefully fabricate anything, but were rather relaying information that they believed to be true.
The Parsons' maintain they failed to report Erica missing 'in a timely or reasonable time frame' due to fears of legal consequences from continuing to cash the checks.
On today's show Sherill said the polygraph questions could have been misinterpreted by Sandy Parsons.
'I don’t know if he misinterpreted the question as far as the fact that they did in fact deliver her (to her grandmother) and she’s gone now,' he said.
Despite Casey and Sandy Parsons' protestations that they have never hurt Erica, the Department of Social Services has removed their two other children from their home and launched an investigation of its own.
The couple also claimed James Parsons called police about his adoptive sister after being forced to move out of his parents’ house as punishment for assaulting his mother with a baseball bat in June.
Casey and Sandy Parsons described their son as an emotionally disturbed young man who is bi-polar, suicidal and at times violent.
In February 2010, James was charged with assaulting his then-3-year-old brother, Toby, by biting the toddler on the arm.
That summer, James was charged with assaulting his mother, who had just undergone surgery, his sister and brother, and also choking the sister’s dog.
The charges against James Parsons were later dropped because his mother failed to appear on court.
‘He always told me he was going to get me. I never thought he’d do this,’ Casey Parsons said, implying that her son filed the missing person’s report to get back at her.
Erica Parsons is described as 4 feet 5 and weighing between 85 and 90lbs. She has brown hair and brown eyes and appears small for her age.
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