ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – More than three months have passed and Barbara Parchem's death is still unsolved.
Parchem disappeared on April 6 from her St. Johns County home. Her body was found weeks later in a wooded area in St. Johns County. Thursday night, St. Johns County Sheriff's deputies told Channel 4 they believe Parchem's daughter, Lilly Ann Chavez, is a person of interest in the case.
An affidavit released reveals their reasons for searching Chavez's home. It lists a number of items, blood stains and inconsistent statements from Parchem's daughter as reasons she's considered as a person of interested. Channel 4 spoke with Chavez's lawyer for the first time Thursday night about the case.
According to the document, Lilly Ann Chavez was the last person to see the 67-year-old alive. The document shows that the day before Parchem disappeared, she and Chavez went on a drive in Parchem's vehicle so they could talk.
Investigators said after reviewing Chavez's cell phone records, it appears that they traveled in areas other than where Chavez told investigators they did. The affidavit also says when officers investigated Parchem's vehicle after her disappearance, there was debris and fresh scratches on the car. The vehicle also tested positive for the presence of blood.
Chavez's Attorney, Thomas Cushman, sat down with Channel 4 Thursday night to look at the affidavit. Cushman said the affidavit does not prove anything.
"I don't take what's been contained in the affidavit to be the gospel truth, I don't know where the information came from. I don't know who put it together and how reliable it is," said Cushman.
Cushman said Chavez has suffered greatly from the scrutiny of being considered a person of interest while grieving for her mother. Even though deputies seized guns, ammo and knives from inside her home, Cushman said deputies were not authorized to do that.
"Why not do it the correct way?" asked Cushman. "If you think it has some value, go back and get a search warrant that authorizes the seizure. They are kind of jumping to conclusions that may not be justified. Law enforcement often does that. As a result, they end up convicting innocent people."