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

[Danaya]

I do believe you're very close to the perp, though with these tyoes who are interested in pre-pubescent girls are child-like in their interests, gravitating toward kids of both sexes for 'regular fun,' then usually have a boy or girl preference for molestation.

I'm NO expert but I've had to read some really hard material written by experts in researching for my blog. So, whether or not the offender was a teen is a hard question to offer any insight on. But as you so insight-fully said, yes it does seem like something a teenager might do--because these jerks spend an awful lot of time hanging out with kids, thinking about kids, fantasizing about kids ... and on and on.

Sickening to the core.

Hmm. Interesting to note. I'm thinking of a video game spot where kids and adults in my city alike go to play games. I've often thought how easy it'd be for an adult to strike up a "friendship" with one of these kids, then when the opportunity arises, prey on them. Using their shared interest as a "gateway".

We see this time and again in sports, where there is a level of trust built between child and coach. Adults inserting themselves into positions and areas of trust, where they're surrounded by their victim of preference.

I think the same thing may have happened to Asha, which is why she went with this perp willingly and quietly. Very sad. He may have quietly moved out of the area after this happened, or possibly still resides nearby. This would explain dumping her belongings in a shed, something I don't see a passerby doing because he wouldn't have known of this location and wouldn't necessarily feel the urgency to get rid of it.

 

[damitajo1]

It is so hard for me to imagine that young girl walking at night on a highway....Just odd.

 

[WendyH]

Hmm. Interesting to note. I'm thinking of a video game spot where kids and adults in my city alike go to play games. I've often thought how easy it'd be for an adult to strike up a "friendship" with one of these kids, then when the opportunity arises, prey on them. Using their shared interest as a "gateway".

We see this time and again in sports, where there is a level of trust built between child and coach. Adults inserting themselves into positions and areas of trust, where they're surrounded by their victim of preference.

I think the same thing may have happened to Asha, which is why she went with this perp willingly and quietly. Very sad. He may have quietly moved out of the area after this happened, or possibly still resides nearby. This would explain dumping her belongings in a shed, something I don't see a passerby doing because he wouldn't have known of this location and wouldn't necessarily feel the urgency to get rid of it.

I've gotten a whole bunch of flack from folks over at reddit about my runaway theories, but you have made point I can't seem to get them to think about it. Yes, I agree with you about how a stranger wouldn't know about locations and bother with all that planting of stuff. If they were an unknown, they wouldn't have buried the bookbag, either. The driveway to that barn (called a shed in the media) was a long one and only a local would have known it was there.

I'm of the 'opinion' that the perps lived in the area and (my opinion) still does.

 

[Catchy kitty]

Any closer to a resolution?

 

[WendyH]

Any closer to a resolution?

Just this week I've had a few bombshells delivered to my inbox. I wish I could spill it
but I have a few major things to wade through. But at the risk of my sounding like
I'm only interested in building a fortress around my theories only, what I learned
sure supports (most of) them. I'll let you know as soon as I can. I really have to
be careful. I'd hate to run off at the mouth and it fall in to hurt me or someone else.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Where is Asha?

http://www.gastongazette.com/article/20160213/NEWS/160219532

For 16 years, people throughout Cleveland County and across the nation have been asking, “Where is Asha?"

In the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2000, 9-year-old Asha Degree apparently left her family home on Oakcrest Drive near Fallston. She walked from the home onto N.C. 18 and was never seen again.

After the 15 year anniversary, the sheriff’s office teamed up with the FBI, and decided to up the reward to $45,000 for information leading to Asha's whereabouts.

To bring attention back to the case, law enforcement began using a combination of media publicity, digital billboards, online promotion and social media to publicize the new reward, as well as to gain as much new information as possible.

“My goal is to return Asha back to her family and if there is someone to arrest, see that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Norman said.

Iquilla said their family has expanded. Their son, O'Bryant, now has a daughter of his own - another joy brought into their lives in the midst of so much pain.

"She is about 6. She looks so much like Asha did at that age," Iquilla Degree said with a slight choke in her voice. "And she'll do something, and I just stop and look at her."

Website dedicated to finding Asha Degree

 

[0101ABA]

The FBI is now searching for a car that she may have gotten into. It’s a new lead that comes after the FBI, the State Bureau of Investigation and Cleveland County investigators launched an effort to reexamine the case and re-interview witnesses.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/fb...in-16-year-old-case-of-missing-girl/302458404

 

[lisette]

Why would this JUST NOW be coming to light?!

 

[Sutton]

Why would this JUST NOW be coming to light?!

Right. Those are noticeable vehicles. How many people could have had one registered in 2000? Even if it was unregistered, if you knew someone who had one of those vehicles it would probably come to mind right away.

Maybe this is a criminal supplying the info or something along those lines and they had a reason to keep quiet?

Is someone supposed to see this poster and remember they saw a young girl getting into it in the early morning hours? Or is LE hoping someone will call in anyone who drove one of those types of cars?

Sorry this is so rambley, no sleep.

 

[SweetCaroline]

I don't understand where this lead is coming from and why they're just now getting this info, but hopefully it will jog someone's memory. Would've been much more helpful 16 years ago, though. If it's related, the abductor has had plenty of time to get rid of that car and nobody would even remember he ever had it.

 

[Sutton]

It sounds like LE just received this information. Last year LE agencies began re-examining all the evidence and re-interviewing all witnesses.

"FBI agents said the new tip came from that effort."

The article also says,

"Authorities said she might have gotten into the car on Highway 18 near Shelby, where she was last seen by a trucker."

Was the trucker the source of this information?

Further down,

"A year after her parents reported her missing, a passerby found what what's believed to be her shoe and her backpack in a wooded area near Morganton, but searchers never found anything else."

What about the barrettes and pencil that were found outside the barn very close to where she was last seen? Was that determined not to belong to Asha?

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/fb...02458404?ecmp=wsoctv_social_facebook_2014_sfp

 

[MysteryMaven]

Why are some of these news reports so vague. In reference to the shoe and backpack being found, they make it seem like they were just casually tossed in a wooded area. I thought the backpack was found buried in 2 plastic bags with some of the things Asha packed. LE would not disclose what other evidence they found on the bag, maybe DNA? I thought a contractor doing work found the bag while digging at a job site?
The 3 items found at the upholstery place seem so staged, including the candy wrappers. It's like the perp placed them there to create a false run away scenario. I have a hard time believing Asha made it over a mile down a rough stretch of terrain in the freezing cold with a wet backpack (soaked from the storm)
It's more likely that someone had a planned pickup time with her close to her house. But then I can't explain the eyewitnesses who say they saw her on the side of the road. Hopefuly this new car evidence will lead somewhere.

 

[ruined detroit]

How was the brother sure it was 2:30 when he saw her go to the bathroom? Did he look at a clock (there is mention of an 'alarm' but also that her mother went to wake them up before their alarm) in the bedroom? Was it a battery or electric clock? Who/was it reset it after the power went out?

What is the age difference between Asha and her brother? Who is the eldest?

 

[Sutton]

Asha was nine. O'Bryant was 10.

The ABC segment by Ashleigh Banfield in 2010 gives different details from other reports:

Asha's dad goes out to get Valentine's Day candy at 11:30pm. He comes home, watches tv, checks on the kids and goes to bed at 2:30am.

The report does not mention the power outage, Asha going to bed at midnight, her father staying up to watch the kerosene heater, O'Bryant seeing Asha get up at 2:30 or hearing her return to bed.

https://youtu.be/5ljD8CHOWAU

 

[ruined detroit]

Is it possible she left the house with what she had with her (only for weight or 'real effect') as some sort of dare or child's minded punishment for fouling out? Could she have been told this was a 'survival run' to toughen her up and she expected to be home before everyone was up?

 

[Aeronomy]

This guy has been trying to work out what happened to Asha, here's his website https://findingashadegree.wordpress.com/

From what he's written I think someone she trusted outside of the family, such as a teacher/priest, should be looked at.

Hm, is there any known information about her basketball coach? Was that person ever questioned? Surely she trusted the coach. Perhaps, even relied on the coach to build her up, especially after the game they'd just lost.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

The recently publicized information about the car was already known to investigators. It wasn't made public until the new detectives pursued the information a little more and decided to highlight it.

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/August-2016/Lost-Faces-of-Charlotte/Shelbys-Sweetheart-Asha-Degree/

On May 25, 2016, National Missing Children’s Day, the Charlotte Division of the FBI and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s office announced that on the day Asha went missing, someone matching her description may have been seen getting into a distinctive vehicle along N.C. 18 where she was last seen. The vehicle was described as an early 1970s Lincoln Mark IV or possibly a Ford Thunderbird, dark green, with rust around the wheel wells. Shores says the information had been in the case file for years, but was “brought forward” when officers reopened the case and began looking at it from the beginning with fresh eyes. As officers continued looking into the possible sighting of Asha, the information “got to the level that the public needed to know.” Shores says.

 

[thenotebook]

I listed to The Trail Went Cold podcast today about Asha's case. Well done!

One thing that I'm not sure of is how people say the perp wanted the backpack to be found at the construction site. I don't agree with this because if they wanted it to be found, they could have just left it randomly on the side of the road. I think the perp really did try to conceal it in the bags and buried it to hide it, not knowing the area would be developed. And the timing of the discovery in August near her birthday was merely a coincidence. Maybe this wasn't an experienced criminal but rather an amateur who thought the best way to hide something was to conceal it in bags and bury it. Makes sense.

 

[thenotebook]

The recently publicized information about the car was already known to investigators. It wasn't made public until the new detectives pursued the information a little more and decided to highlight it.

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/August-2016/Lost-Faces-of-Charlotte/Shelbys-Sweetheart-Asha-Degree/

It drives me crazy when important information like this gets buried in files because LE chose not to release it. WHY would this not have been released to the media years ago?!?!

 

[modesty blaise]

Bumping for asha....

As a pair of fresh eyes i would "disregard"those sighting for now. Start fresh, answer is probably closer to home than one might imagine.