The vanishing of 9 year-old Asha Degree

Liv

2 years ago

Asha Degree was 9 years old when she went missing from Shelby, North Carolina on February 14, 2000.

This has been a fairly cold case until recently and there has been some movement in the case.

Asha was born on August 5, 1990 to Harold and Iquilla Degree. Her parents had been married on Valentine’s Day in 1988. They had a son, O’Bryan in 1989.

The Degree family lived in a house on Oakcrest Drive in Shelby.

Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina. The population was 21,918 at the 2020 census.

The 2022 crime rate in Shelby, NC is 370 (City-Data.com crime index), which is 1.5 times higher than the U.S. average. It was higher than in 92.5% U.S. cities.

In 2000, Harold worked as a dock loader at the time and Iquilla worked for a piano manufacturer. We have also read that Harold had multiple jobs and would do shift work, so kept odd hours. The kids would let themselves into the family home after school. They were told to behave and do their homework while their parents were at work. They were expected to have their homework and chores done by the time their parents finished work.

Iquilla has said that their life was very family oriented and they focused on school and church. The family did not have a computer in their home. The children did not socialise much outside of their close family circle.

“[E]very time you turned on the TV there was some pedophile who had lured somebody’s child away, via the Internet,” Iquilla recalled in a 2013 Jet interview.

Iquilla has said that Asha was a well-behaved and reliable child. She was said to be content to stay within the limits that her parents set for her and they said she was cautious and shy.

“She was scared to death of dogs,”

Iquilla said, years after Asha disappeared. “I never thought she would go out of the house.”

In 2000, Asha was in the fourth grade at Fallston Elementary School. Schools in the county where the family lived were closed on Friday, February 11. Harold and Iquilla still had to work so Asha and O’Bryant spent the day at their aunt’s home. They went to basketball practice on the 11th at their school.

Asha played her first basketball game of the season, on February 12. Asha was fouled out and the team lost. Her parents said she was upset about this and cried with her teammates after the game. Asha was said to have quickly moved on though, and she watched O’Bryant’s game later that day. She was said to have cheered up by that point.

On Sunday, February 13, the children went to church from a relative’s house and they then returned to their own home.

Both kids went to bed at around 8pm that night. They shared a bedroom and nothing was said to be amiss.

At 9pm that night, the power went out in the neighborhood, following a car accident. We assume the car slammed into a pole or similar. The power came back on at about 12.30am on Monday, February 14, 2000.

We have listened to some podcasts on this case. There is some varying information, which is inevitable given how long ago this case happened. We believe that Harold worked that night of February 13. Most reports say that he got home at around midnight, going into February 14.

Harold went and checked on the kids and said they were both asleep in their beds. He said he checked them again before he went to bed at 2.30am, and they were both still asleep.

Some reports say that at some point after 2.30am, O’Bryant heard Asha get up to use the bathroom. She then returned to the bathroom and O’Bryant said that he heard Asha’s bed make a squeak. He assumed that she must be moving and getting comfortable and did not look to see what was happening.

Asha was not asleep though. She got out of bed, and got her bookbag and her Tweety Bird purse. She had previously packed the bag with changes of clothes and some personal items. She walked out of the house on Oakcrest Drive.

Both a passing truck driver and a motorist would later tell authorities that they saw Asha between 3.45am and 4.15am, walking south along Highway18. They both said Asha was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and white pants.

The motorist said he turned his car around because he thought it “strange such a small child would be out by herself at that hour.”

The driver circled the area three times and Asha seemed to get spooked. The man said that Asha ran into the woods and vanished. It was a rainy and stormy night, so not great conditions to be running into woods.

Law enforcement would later say that they thought both of these sightings were credible. County sheriff Dan Crawford said, “We’re pretty sure it was her because the descriptions they gave are consistent with what we know she was wearing.” He added that they also saw her at the same place, heading the same direction.

Iquilla woke up at 5.45am on February 14. She started to run a bath for the kids, as they had been unable to bathe the night prior, due to the power outage.

She went into the children’s room to wake them before their alarm, which was set for 6.30am. Only O’Bryant was in his bed. Iquillia initially thought Asha had woken up early. She started searching the house, vehicles and property for Asha. She was nowhere to be found.

Iquilla told Harold about what was happening. He suggested that Asha may have gone to his mother’s home across the street. Iquilla called there and was told that Asha was not there.

“That’s when I went into panic mode. I heard a car next door … I put shoes on and ran outside.” Iquilla called her mother, who told her to call the police.

The first police arrived at the home by 6.40am. The Sheriff arrived a few minutes later. They asked Harold and Iquilla for photos of Asha.

Police also used K9’s early on to track where Asha had gone. According to a Jet Magazine article, Iquilla said the dogs were unable to find anything but her own scent.

Iquilla said she was walking through the neighborhood screaming for Asha, and the whole community was awakened by around 7am. Friends and family cancelled their plans for the day and all searched fruitlessly for Asha.

All that was found during the first day of the search was a mitten, which did not belong to Asha. Iquilla said that no winter clothing was missing from their home.

Local media jumped on the story and this prompted the two drivers that we mentioned earlier, to report the sightings of Asha to the police.

On February 15, candy wrappers were found in a shed at an upholstery business along the highway, near where Asha had run into the woods. Debbie Turner, the owner of the property, said that she found the items next to a tractor.

A white Atlanta 1996 Olympics pencil, a green marker and a Mickey Mouse yellow hair bow were also found. These items were identified as belonging to Asha. Asha’s basketball team had been given treat bags with candy for Valentine’s Day and it is believed that is where the wrappers came from.

“What that pencil tells me is there is renewed hope, now that we know that she left the road,” said Sheriff Dan Crawford. “That pencil is unique to her, and her parents told my detectives that the items belonged to her.

“It’s great news, even if it is only a couple of items. Without question, it’s a boost to the morale of the dedicated officers and volunteers who have searched and researched, and most importantly, the family.”

There are photos online showing where the items were found in the shed:

Debbie would later say that she didn’t think the items would help the investigation until police went to her property on February 17 and asked to search it.

“I know that the stuff shouldn’t have been there,” Debbie said, “But we live so far south of where the girl lived that I never thought it might be hers. I just hope this helps find her, and I’m happy that it gives hope to everyone looking for her.”

Also found in the shed, was a photo of an unidentified girl. There has been much discussion online about who this girl is, and to this day, she has never been identified.

Asha’s family didn’t recognize her and, despite the picture being shared widely by news outlets, no one has ever come forward to identify her.

“Detectives showed the picture to the family and they didn’t recognize the girl, and neither did the people at Fallston School,” Sheriff Crawford said. “Right now, we are not sure who it is a picture of, or where it came from. The FBI has entered it into evidence.”

After Asha vanished, police took inventory of what was missing from her home. They discovered that she had taken blue jeans with a red stripe, a white long sleeved shirt and a black pair of overalls.

Sheriff Crawford said that after detectives interviewed Asha’s classmates at Fallston Elementary School, police think she may even have some money in her purse. He said Asha showed a few dollars to classmates on the last day that she was at school.

The search for Asha was called off a week after she disappeared. The weather in the area at the time was said to be torrential rain and harsh wind, with frigid temps. A week seems fairly soon to call off the search, but perhaps the weather played into that decision?

Police said at the time that they had spent 9,000 man hours looking for Asha and that all of their leads had been investigated. Cleveland County Deputy Fire Marshal Dewey Cook said ‘We have searched that area so thoroughly, we feel like she’s not there.”

Police also said they had received 300 leads by that point, but there were none that were really viable.

“We have never really had that first good, substantial lead,” said county sheriff Dan Crawford at a news conference.

The Star reported that 60 to 70 volunteers worked “from sun up to sun down looking for even a scent, only to turn up nothing.”

“I’m so thankful to those who have looked all day for Asha, but I just want my baby home,” Iquilla said. “I just want my baby back home with me.”

The FBI and North Carolina’s SBI got involved in the case in the month that Asha went missing.

Investigators said that they believed Asha had planned and prepared to leave for several days before she vanished. This observation was based on what Asha had taken with her – some of her favorite belongings and clothes. “She’s not your typical runaway,” observed SBI agent Bart Burpeau.

According to a spokesperson from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, most runaways are aged at least 12. The FBI said that most children run away due to an issue such as a tumultuous home life or poor performance at school. Asha was not said to be experiencing any such dramas.

“It doesn’t fit,” said FBI Agent Rick Shaffer. “She comes from a well-regarded family. She does very well in school.”

Sheriff Crawford said at this time “Something caused her to leave the road. The worst scenario, I think, is that she has been abducted.”

In the months after Asha vanished, her family conducted a media blitz in an attempt to keep her case in the public. They went on The Montel Williams Show. Her case was also featured on America’s Most Wanted and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

On August 3, 2001, almost 18 months after Asha vanished, a black and beige backpack was unearthed by construction worker Terry Fleming. The bag was found 25 miles north of where Asha was last seen and was less than 50 yards off Highway 18.

Inside it was Asha’s name and her family’s home phone number.

Terry said that police asked him not to tell the media any details about what he had found.

A nearby resident, however, told the local Shelby Star newspaper that the backpack had been found wrapped in a plastic bag. In an October 2010 profile, “Good Morning America” reportedly said that it had been wrapped in trash bags.

After the backpack was found, Sheriff Dan Crawford said it no longer appeared that Asha was just a runaway.

“[The backpack] was thrown out by a moving car,” he told the Star. “It’s highly likely now that this has involved foul play.”

The backpack was sent to the FBI for further testing.

Jumping ahead slightly, some of the backpack’s contents were made public in 2018.

The bag held the Dr. Seuss book “McElligot’s Pool” from Asha’s school library, and a New Kids on the Block concert T-shirt that her mother said didn’t belong to the girl. Investigators have not said whether DNA or other testing has yielded any significant results.

The search for Asha continued as the years went on, but all leads turned out to be dead ends.

An age-progressed photo of Asha was created by the FBI in 2005. The photo was placed on 28 vehicles belonging to North Carolina waste and water companies.

Harold and Iquilla established a scholarship in Asha’s name for local students. They also host an annual walk to raise awareness and money to keep the search going.

Iquilla spoke to the media outlet Jet in 2013. She said that her daughter’s disappearance had not gotten as much media attention over the years as some subsequent cases of missing children because Asha was Black. “Missing white children get more attention. I don’t understand why,” she said. “I know if you ask them they will say it’s not racial. Oh, really? I’m not going to argue because I have common sense.”

In 2016, Iquilla spoke to the Shelby Star and said that she believed Asha was still alive. “I fully expect for her to walk through the door.”

Info from the article:

The Degree’s still live in the same home as they did when Asha went missing. Inside the living room is a testament to how important family is to the Degree’s. Pictures of Asha, their son O’Bryant, a granddaughter and other family are adorned on the walls. Some of the aged-progression photos created by investigators hang next to actual photos of Asha as a young child.

“This year has been hard,” Iquilla said. She rocks back in a recliner and shakes her hands a bit before clasping them together. “You would think I’d get used to (Asha being gone.)”

In February 2015, the FBI announced that they were re-examining the case and would be reinterviewing witnesses. A reward of up to $25,000 was offered for “information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for her disappearance.”

In May 2016, authorities shared information from a tipster that someone matching Asha’s description might have been seen getting into a “distinctive vehicle” along the highway where she was last seen. They described the car as an early 1970s-model dark green Lincoln Continental Mark IV or Ford Thunderbird, with rust around the wheel wells.

“This vehicle is right now considered a vehicle of interest, and it was occupied two times on the day of her disappearance,” Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said. “It had been discovered by leg work with by the sheriff office investigators along with the federal government.”

Iquilla spoke to the media in 2016 and said that O’Bryant now had a daughter of his own. “She is about 6. She looks so much like Asha did at that age,” Iquilla said. “And she’ll do something, and I just stop and look at her.”

In September 2017, the FBI announced that its Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team was in Cleveland County to assist in the investigation and “provide on-the-ground investigative, technical, behavioral analysis, and analytical support to find out more about what happened to Asha”. The team worked alongside FBI Charlotte employees, Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office investigators, and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agents for ten days. The agencies also meet “several times a month to go over the latest on the investigation.” Since September 2017, local agents and investigators had conducted approximately 300 interviews.

In November 2020, an inmate named Marcus Mellon, who had been convicted of sex crimes against children six years earlier, wrote a letter to The Shelby Star, claiming that Asha was murdered and he knows where to find her. In February 2021, Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman wouild later tell the media that these claims lead to more dead ends.

In March 2024, Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman spoke to the media and said that advances in technology will help investigators crack the case eventualy.

“We actually have things that aid us now that we didn’t have 24 months ago, much less 24 years ago,” Sheriff Norman said.

Asha’s parents spoke to the media at this time also.

“We’re hoping and we’re praying that she’s had a halfway decent life anyway, even though we didn’t get to raise her,” Iquilla said in a video shared by the FBI. “We’ve missed everything. But I don’t care. If she walked in the door right now, I wouldn’t care what I missed. All I want to do is see her.”

There has been some recent movement in the case and Asha’s story has been in the headlines again.

On September 10 and 11, 2024, police carried out searches at a home on Cherryville Road in Shelby.

Search warrants were obtained “based on physical evidence directly connected to Asha’s disappearance,” a press release read. It was not immediately clear what investigators were looking for at the property.

Investigators did not find a body while searching the property, Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said in his release on Friday.

Officers and agents could be seen carrying boxes to and from a home during their search, and an older green vehicle was towed from a home on the property. “Multiple items of interest” were taken from the property and will be analyzed.

A vehicle was towed away from the property. The car drew particular interest due to its resemblance to a vehicle wanted in connection with Asha’s disappearance. .

As we mentioned earlier, in 2016, the FBI said they were looking for a 1970s-era green Ford Thunderbird or Lincoln Mark IV. The vehicle taken was not an exact match for those cars but did resemble them.

The property that was searched belonged to the Dedmon family.

The family held a press conference following the search. It was led by Attorney David Teddy,

The attorney said more answers would be forthcoming once the search warrant is made public, which is expected to happen some time next week (this week so check for info)

The search – and ensuing silence by law enforcement – has spurred rumors of death-bed confessions, the discovery of a body or multiple bodies, and more speculation.

David said Roy Lee Dedmon was questioned by law enforcement the day of the search and he denied knowing any information about what happened to Asha. David said they were able to supply information to law enforcement that supported that claim.

The search – and ensuing silence by law enforcement – has spurred rumors of death-bed confessions, the discovery of a body or multiple bodies, and more speculation.

The attorney said that Roy Lee was questioned by law enforcement the day of the search and he denied knowing any information about what happened to Asha.

He said not only Roy Lee, but the 80-year-old’s wife, daughters and other family members have been interviewed and said they have no information on what happened to the little girl.

David said they were able to supply information to law enforcement that supported that claim.

“It is my practice for the last 36 years to not do this,” David said, “to not make public statements about cases that are pending. Now we don’t have an actual case in a courtroom that’s pending at this juncture, it’s merely an investigation, but I feel compelled because of the rampant conjecture and speculation that has been happening in our community.”

“I want to thank Sheriff Norman for his press release today because in his press release he cleared up some of the misinformation that is out there. There’s been no body found, let alone seven bodies. Some people are putting out there on social media that a number of bodies have been found and that is just not true. There is a statement on social media that Roy Dedmon has confessed to having information or somehow being involved in the disappearance of Asha Degree, that is false,” he said.

David said to his knowledge, no person has made any type of confession that they have any information about what happened to Asha.

He said he is concerned not just for Roy Dedmon and his family, but for Asha’s family as well.

“I do not know Asha’s parents personally, but I do know a number of their relatives, and they are good and decent and honorable people and they deserve better than what some people in this community have done recently by spreading false information that Asha’s remains have been found. I don’t think that the press will be notified about what happened to Asha Degree until Asha’s parents are told first,” David said.

He asked people to honor Asha, her family and the Dedmon’s by not making statements about the search that are not known.

“If you spread something that is not fact, then you are participating in a disservice to Asha Degree and her family and a disservice to Roy Dedmon and his family,” he said.

David reiterated that once the search warrant is made public, the connection to Dedmon’s property will become clear.

“I think there will also be some information in that search warrant that will sadly link a person to the circumstances to Asha’s disappearance that is no longer living,” he said. “And it’s very possible, not saying the person that was named in the search warrant that had anything to do with her disappearance because I don’t know any more than you do … but it’s very possible that that person, who’s no longer here, has the answer as to what happened to Asha and the answer may very well never be known.”