NC NC - Asha Degree, 9, Shelby, 14 Feb 2000 #2

[Noirdame79]

One of the eyewitnesses is a former police officer who happens to know Asha's father. Also, I am very troubled that these people supposedly saw a little girl walking along a dark highway in the very early morning hours and didn't report that to the police as soon as possible. Didn't several of Asha's relatives also live in the neighborhood?

Also, the parents' timeline and story of what happened have changed. Not a good sign. There is a degree of victim-shaming - that Asha would leave on her own accord, when it was previously stated that she was sheltered, afraid of storms, etc. As another poster pointed out, eyewitness accounts aren't always reliable; witness contamination happens, and people report false sightings or mistaken sightings all the time

I am noticing unsettling similarities between Asha's case and that of Karlie Guse. The parents changing their story is concerning. Even the mother's description of Asha's personality changed - first she was shy, quiet, obedient, was afraid of dogs, and she never thought Asha would leave the house. Then it became "Asha was a social butterfly, would talk to anyone" etc. I have also noticed that the mother does most of the talking in interviews. LE allegedly didn't check the residence until hours later, when several people had been in and out of the house. The items found in the shed could easily have been planted. Contrary to what someone posted, Asha's scent only went as far as the end of the driveway of the family home. Her scent was not picked up on the highway. When her father called 911, he made a point of mentioning that a neighbor had seen a kid walking down the road and mentioned that her bookbag and pocketbook were missing. It sounds like an attempt to paint Asha as a runaway. They seemed to have accepted that early on, which is strange, especially if Asha's home life was as happy as they had portrayed it. Even the groomer theory doesn't make a lot of sense since Iquilla (her mother) made a point of mentioning early on that her parents knew at all times where the kids were and what they were doing, they monitored what Asha and her brother watched on TV, didn't have a computer for fear that they might fall victim to an online predator, etc. The door was supposedly locked behind her, and why would a predator ask a child to meet him on a highway, and run the risk of being seen, etc? If that scenario was a possibility, the perp would most likely be close to her house. It was cold yet she didn't take her coat? She had no history of this behavior and was known to be cautious, yet she chose to leave her house on a cold, wet night. Something's not adding up here.

 

[ifindedout]

Investigators making 'significant progress' in search for Asha Degree, FBI says

Asha Degree disappeared from her bedroom in the middle of the night on Valentine's Day 24 years ago. The case remains a mystery to this day.

www.wcnc.com

The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office and FBI posted a new video on social media to mark National Missing Children's Day and their effort to find Asha. Detectives have vowed to never stop looking for her.

"There's an individual within the bounds of Cleveland County that knows where Asha's at," Sheriff Alan Norman said. "We're asking you to come forward because eventually we're going to find you and we're going to bring you to justice if you don't come forward first."

Investigators said Asha disappeared from her bedroom sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2000. There was no sign of forced entry and no promising scent trail for dogs to follow. At least two people reported seeing a young female walking along Highway 18 around 4 a.m. One person said when they went back to check on her, the girl disappeared into the woods.

 

[Noirdame79]

The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office and FBI posted a new video on social media to mark National Missing Children's Day and their effort to find Asha. Detectives have vowed to never stop looking for her.

"There's an individual within the bounds of Cleveland County that knows where Asha's at," Sheriff Alan Norman said. "We're asking you to come forward because eventually we're going to find you and we're going to bring you to justice if you don't come forward first."

Investigators said Asha disappeared from her bedroom sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2000. There was no sign of forced entry and no promising scent trail for dogs to follow. At least two people reported seeing a young female walking along Highway 18 around 4 a.m. One person said when they went back to check on her, the girl disappeared into the woods.

This probably has more to do with yesterday being National Missing Children's Day than anything. This article is very vague and pretty much a rehash of what has been said in the past (there hasn't even been a person of interest publicly announced). We'll see what happens from here.

 

[Noirdame79]

No-Body Homicide Cases: A Practical Approach​

By Michael L. Yoder, M.A., M.A.​

In 2014 the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) entered 635,155 missing person records into its database.1 Records cleared or canceled during the same period totaled 634,367—a clearance rate of 99.87 percent with 788 records remaining.2 Possible reasons for these removals included 1) a law enforcement agency located the subject; 2) the individual returned home; or 3) the entering agency removed the record after deeming it invalid.3

<modsnip> MORE AT LINK…

https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/no-body-homicide-cases-a-practical-approach

 

[Sweetluv]

Does anyone know how far of a walking distance it is from Ashas house to the highway she was spotted walking on? Also, how far by car?

 

[dotr]

'Feb 15, 2022 Inside the FBI Podcast
More than 20 years ago, 9-year-old Asha Degree disappeared from her home in North Carolina in the middle of the night. While some clues have emerged about what could’ve happened to her, we still haven’t found Asha. On this episode of Inside the FBI, we spoke to law enforcement officers investigating Asha Degree’s disappearance. You’ll hear about the various efforts to find Asha, what we know so far, and how to come forward if you have any information'

 

[Dr. Willy R. Salamander]

Does anyone know how far of a walking distance it is from Ashas house to the highway she was spotted walking on? Also, how far by car?

Right at a mile, both ways.

 

[Dr. Willy R. Salamander]

The other thing that's not often mentioned, just like the guy from CHC podcast talked about, I remember the roadblocks that morning. I pulled my dl out bc I thought it was a license check, but I did think it was odd bc it was so early in the morning, but when I got up to the officer, they had the flyer, asked had I seen anyone walking that morning, glanced in the back of my truck and waved me on. The part that doesn't get mentioned much, and I remember from both local news and a VFD chief both mentioning, that they'd had several eyewitnesses that believed they saw her that morning, and as far down as the intersection of 18 & 180, which is further down than the shed and the sign that remains there today denoting the "last place" she was seen alive. Maybe they discredited those eyewitnesses later or something. Who knows? I do think it's relevant , however, that the house LE dug in the yard of..... right at intersections of 18 & 180. The bottom line is, this is not an unsolvable crime at this point, but an unprosecutable one. Historically, if they were stumped on a case, they'd continue to trickle info about the case. Touch DNA technology was just being pioneered in the early 2000s and, therefore was relatively unknown to criminals at the time(i.e. the bookbag being placed inside of the plastic), however it grew leaps and bound over the years, and IMHO the "witness" to the green car was likely the trace DNA garnered from the bag or the plastic, and subsequently, they also likely obtained enough trace DNA for an offender profile as well. That, coupled with the fact that Sheriff Crawford(may he rest in peace) was noted as saying that he'd like to just go up and knock on his door and ask, no charges, nothing, just ask where she(Asha) was so he could bring her home(Not exact quote, but close), says to me that they likely have an offender in mind(whom I feel is now deceased, for several reasons) but only a circumstantial case. Hence the fairly recent fbi plea of "if you know anybody". But at this point, it's been almost 25 years. Say something. Release something. Especially for our community. We all felt this and look how much attention, across the world it has garnered. It's time for sure.

 

[Dr. Willy R. Salamander]

This probably has more to do with yesterday being National Missing Children's Day than anything. This article is very vague and pretty much a rehash of what has been said in the past (there hasn't even been a person of interest publicly announced). We'll see what happens from here.

That post echoes exactly what I last posted about on this forum. "Someone within the bounds of Cleveland County knows..." "We're eventually going to find and prosecute IF YOU DONT COME TO US FIRST". It is just my humble opinion, however, I truly believe that the offender profile was garnered from trace DNA left on the bag. I think that that coupled with old-fashioned boots on the ground detective work, resulted in a likely offender. However, I am also of the opinion that the evidence in this case is either circumstantial or in some way not solid enough that prosecutors feel comfortable moving forward. I also believe that since time has elapsed, that this person is no longer living, hence The wording of the FBI message " You may know someone or have known someone, that person may even now be deceased" and now what I believe to be the veiled threat from the sheriff of if you don't come forward and give information we will likely prosecute you for withholding this information, and possibly aiding in abetting this crime. Otherwise why would it be worded as (paraphrasing) "if you don't come forward we will eventually find you and prosecute you IF you don't come to us first"? This stands to prove what many locals have felt about this case for quite some time, that the likely offender has now passed away, but has family or friends that know exactly what happened who have refused to come forward as of yet.