On July 30, 2013, Erica's brother Jamie reported to police she was missing and that he had not seen her since November 2011, stating their parents "killed Erica and buried her in our back yard", but later retracted this. Erica had been adopted at birth and raised by Sandy and Casey Parsons, relatives of her biological mother. When questioned by police, the Parsons claimed that Erica went to live with her biological paternal grandmother. Further investigation revealed Erica had not been seen alive since her disappearance in 2011, and police could not find evidence to support the existence of the grandmother, who relatives claimed was already deceased. In 2014, Casey and Sandy Parsons were convicted of fraudulently accepting federal benefits for Erica when she was not living with them.