Chesterfield County, S.C. — Witnesses said Sandy Parsons was crying when he walked back to a police cruiser, after pointing officers to the remains of his long-missing adopted daughter.
The place where Parsons took police to find Erica Parson's body is extremely remote.
She was found buried beneath 1 foot of sand in the woods along Blair Hendrick Road, a rural dirt road between Pageland and Mount Croghan in Chesterfield County.
On Tuesday, Sandy Parsons was escorted by Rowan County sheriff's deputies, SBI agents and prison officials. He had been saying in prison that only he knew where her body was located, sources said.
Investigators said the area is so remote, only someone who knew the place could have ever found the remains.
"I just feel sad for the little girl," Wanda Douglas, who runs a business across Highway 9 near the site, said.
"It's just hard to believe that someone on the news for that long of a time, would have been found that far away," she said.
Sandy Parsons told investigators his family owned land there and he spent time here as a child.
Some, who have followed Erica Parson's story on the news told Channel 9 they want justice for her.
Dennis Terry works nearby as a mechanic.
"How somebody can have a heart and do a kid like that, I'll never understand," he said.
Chesterfield County
Sheriff Jay Brooks said after spending all day on the scene, and using sifters to search for small pieces of evidence, they only found bones, no clothing and no other evidence.
The remains were positively identified as those of Erica Parsons.
Investigators said she also had suffered a broken arm that her parents had held in place with duct tape.
Investigators said one arm bone did appear to show signs of a break.
Brooks said it's always hard emotionally when the victim of a violent crime is a child.
"Really and truly, I'm glad that the family that did care about her, has some closure," he said.
A few members of Erica's family pulled up to the scene Friday afternoon from North Carolina.
They parked and walked to the burial site, cried together, then quietly left without speaking to reporters.