Erica Parsons Update: Autopsy Reveals Details About Missing Girl’s Life And Death

The newly released results of an autopsy revealed some details about the mystery surrounding Erica Parsons, a young girl who went missing years ago in North Carolina. Parsons, 13, was last seen in 2011, though she was not officially reported missing until 2013.

Parsons remains were found in 2016. Authorities said it appeared she had been beaten and tortured for years prior to her death.

The autopsy report, released Tuesday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said Parsons died of “homicidal violence of undetermined means,” according to WRAL-TV. Parsons, who was developmentally disabled, may have died of blunt force injuries sustained over a long period of time or may have been strangled or suffocated, the autopsy report said.

"We cannot exclude the possibility of a terminal blunt force injury, suffocation or strangulation," the coroner said.

The report also showed that in the week before she disappeared in 2011, her siblings remembered her as “looking grey with sunken eyes, smelling bad with open, oozing cuts, very weak and complaining of not being able to breathe,” according to WSOC-TV. It also revealed that she “suffered multiple blunt force injuries over a prolonged period of time” and was malnourished, WSOC reported.

The documents showed reports from family members detailing the girl’s abuse, including horrific treatment like beatings with a belt buckle, being choked, being forced to sleep in a closet and having her fingers bent back, according to WCNC-TV. It appeared her parents would not seek medical treatment for any of her injuries.

Testimony in 2013 from James Parsons, the girl’s adoptive brother, also revealed that she suffered abuse at the hands of many people in the family. His father would punch the girl, he said, while his mother would break her fingers.

“She looked like a zombie,” James told the court of the last time he saw his sister in 20121. “[She] didn’t feel good, couldn’t breathe too good.”

Sandy and Casey Parsons, who adopted the girl, remained in prison on federal fraud charges connected to her disappearance, including collecting adopting support checks after she died. Parsons confessed to treating her “harshly,” and admitted disposing of her body. Neither Sandy nor Casey, however, were ever charged in direct connection to her death.