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

[SAMS]

Hi, everyone. This is my first post on a case besides The Springfield Three. I'm from Shelby North Carolina and attended Fallston Elementary School from August 1999 - June 2005. I lived about fifteen minutes away from where Asha disappeared, and also rode the same bus she did. I didn't know her personally but knew of her, and I have a memory of her sitting a few seats in front of me on the bus with her head turned talking to another student. I was in kindergarten at the time, so I obviously don't remember much about her disappearance when it initially happened but grew up hearing about it, and the many clues and tips they found over the years. The location they found her backpack is baffling to me because it's so far away from where she was supposedly spotted. The storage shed she ate her candy in as well is also odd to me, because of how far away from the road it is. I believe she could have been groomed by someone at Fallston school. Don't get me wrong, I had many wonderful teachers during my time there, but there were also adults, that even as a child, made me feel uncomfortable to be around at that School. The Dr.Seuss book also makes me think it could have been taking directly by an adult from the Library without it being checked out. At the time, there were no security codes in the books, and the librarian would simply stamp the slip in the back of the book. There were also two ways into the library, one right by the librarian's counter, and another off to the back where anyone could leave without being spotted. There was also an emergency exit protected by an automatic fire alarm. The N.K.O.T.B shirt seems like something a teenager would have worn at the time. If she did go to that barn, my guess would be that she had to have been there before. I don't like pointing the finger towards her stepfather, but his actions do seem questionable in regards to him emphasizing she took her book bag when making the initial 911 call. I don't understand why she wouldn't take her coat. It's cold here in Shebly during February, especially back then. We always had late snowstorms back then. The eyewitness could also be wrong, or perhaps someone else was walking that night. Her billboard is still standing where she was supposedly last seen. I pass by it all the time and wonder what happened that night, and how a 9-year-old disappeared in the middle of the night. Shelby is very rural, and highway 18 doesn't have a lot of lighting along the way. Sadly, I do not think she's still alive. I wish she was, but in this case, it seems like this mystery will only be solved if someone comes forward. Again, not accusing anyone directly, but there were weird people who taught at Fallston. All of this is just my opinion, but I hope this case gets solved someday.

Great post!

 

[Eireboy]

"Asha stayed over at cousin Catina's house Sat. night. Were there any male family members hanging around? The older cousin was 15. Did Asha look up to these girls and want to be "grown" and venture out on her own?"

This is a quote from one of my previous posts on this thread. It just came to me. Which direction did her older cousin live? Could Asha have been wanting to go back to her cousins house? Could they have planned something and Catina has kept it her secret for all of these years over guilt? MOO

M

"Asha stayed over at cousin Catina's house Sat. night. Were there any male family members hanging around? The older cousin was 15. Did Asha look up to these girls and want to be "grown" and venture out on her own?"

This is a quote from one of my previous posts on this thread. It just came to me. Which direction did her older cousin live? Could Asha have been wanting to go back to her cousins house? Could they have planned something and Catina has kept it her secret for all of these years over guilt? MOO

You could be on to something there. The slumber party I believe has been hugely ignored by this investigation. Without knowing more details, all we can do is speculate what might have happened there. There is so many possibilities as is the case with everything to do with this very sad case.

 

[Korbin]

One thing that has stuck out to me in this case is the animal bones found by her body. Was the species identified? I recall reading she was terrified of dogs so if they were dog bones I feel it could be connected.

 

[psych-nurse]

One thing that has stuck out to me in this case is the animal bones found by her body. Was the species identified? I recall reading she was terrified of dogs so if they were dog bones I feel it could be connected.

Her body was never found but there were animal bones found near the buried trash bag containing some of her belongings. I have never heard what type of animal they turned out to be.

 

[Eireboy]

When you take time to think about this case you realise that she never left her house. What 9 year d girl leaves at 03:00 am during a storm, a girl who is timid and afraid of the dark. I don’t buy the theory that someone manipulated her into leaving to meet them. What predator of kids does that at 03:00am in the middle of nowhere. I know witnesses say they saw her but have we ever seen these witnesses ever appear in a public interview like most do in major cases. Her fate was sealed in her family home. Its a very tragic and sad story

 

[Eireboy]

All the evidence found after she went missing is clearly the work of someone looking to create a certain narrative, which is that Asha left the house for some reason. The candy wrappers and the unknown pic and other items found in the shed were planted there. The candy wrappers along the road. Can you imagine Asha just casually eating Candy in the dark on the Highway. If someone said they saw her biting her nail nervously I would believe that. Then we have the book bag which just so happened to be found at the same time Workers were in the area working. They say her family used to keep Asha and her Brother away from the outside World for their own protection, well I believe it was actually so that the outside World wouldn’t know what was really happening inside that Home

 

[dotr]

By Sarah-Blake Morgan | February 13, 2018 - Updated August 14 rbbm.
''BURKE COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - It was raining when Iquilla Degree put her children to bed on February 13th, 2000. The power had gone out and the family was relying on candlelight inside of their Shelby home. She was the protective type of mother who dedicated her life to raising her two children. You'd rarely see her without the children in tow.''

"I begged them to come out and work on Asha because I feel like their expertise is unmatched," FBI Special Agent Karen Walsh said. "There's nothing easy about this case. If it were easy, we joke that it would already be solved. So we try to take creative fresh looks at this case".

''Detective Tim Adams came out of retirement to work Asha's case and nothing else.

"There are multiple people of interest that we've looked at over the years and we continue to look at and new names still arise," he said''

''Asha's parents have never been considered suspects in this case.''

 

[Eireboy]

Yeah but in twenty years the Police have not come up with one suspect. How can she go into the Woods and then there be no sightings or trace of her whatsoever, its impossible. People say why didn’t she wear a coat. The reason why she didn’t need a coat is cause you don’t need a coat if you don’t leave the house. People need to stop with all these elaborate theories and realise that the answer to her disappearance is with her Family

 

[ChatteringBirds]

People need to stop with all these elaborate theories and realise that the answer to her disappearance is with her Family

Quote RSBM.

I don't have an opinion on what happened, though it does seem some of the items were possibly planted (just seems strange that her belongings show up in three suspicious places, including where she was said to be walking at around 3:30 a.m.) but how to explain those sightings of her around 3:30 - 4:15 a.m. by two different truck drivers?

Asha Jaquilla Degree – The Charley Project

 

[Eireboy]

The Truck Drivers could have seen somebody else, or maybe thought they saw someone when in reality maybe they saw something else. Its not beyond the realm of possibility that the Police said that there were witnesses when in fact there were none. If she really was seen by people they would have called the Police straight away and she would have been found. Thats why I think she never left the house

 

[?unknown?]

How do we know the weather was a full storm at the point she apparently left the house? Everyone always says “why would she go out in a raging storm” but for all we know the weather could have settled down for a while and the rain stopped. Also, how can candy wrappers even survive a strong storm to be neatly in a line along a highway ? They’d have blown away within seconds after she dropped them, no? Has it been confirmed whether the storm was still in full affect at the time she went? Maybe it was dying down

 

[dotr]

How do we know the weather was a full storm at the point she apparently left the house? Everyone always says “why would she go out in a raging storm” but for all we know the weather could have settled down for a while and the rain stopped. Also, how can candy wrappers even survive a strong storm to be neatly in a line along a highway ? They’d have blown away within seconds after she dropped them, no? Has it been confirmed whether the storm was still in full affect at the time she went? Maybe it was dying down

rbbm. 2010
Vanished: Tips on Asha Degree's Disappearance Roll In Even 10 Years Later
''The driver who reported seeing Asha on Highway 18, just outside Shelby, N.C., said there was a storm raging when he saw her around 4 a.m. Feb. 14, 2000. Thinking it strange such a small child would be out by herself at that hour, he turned the car around.

Circling three times, he watched her run into the woods and disappear.''

 

[Dylansmom08]

This case has held my attention since I first came across it on here. There are so many things that don't add up in her disappearance. I wonder why her parents were never considered suspects? In every disappearance or murder investigation it's fairly common to have the person or persons that last saw the victim as the number one suspect and then rule them out. Also, it seems clear to me that the items that were found had to have been planted to throw off the investigation or trying to steer it in a direction away from the area of her home. It's just sad that she has never been found.

 

[dotr]

A glimpse of the cultural climate at the time of Asha's disappearance.
February 14th, 2000 - Facts

-''February 14th, 2000, fell on a Monday.''

-''January 30th, 2000: Super Bowl XXXIV: The St. Louis Rams defeat the Tennessee Titans by 23-16 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.''

-''The movie "Scream 3" was at the top of the box office on this date''.

-''Movies released in 2000 included Mission: Impossible 2, Gladiator, Cast Away, What Women Want, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Meet the Parents, The Perfect Storm, X-Men, What Lies Beneath, Snatch, Almost Famous, Memento, Traffic, Final Destination and Scary Movie''.

-''Popular music artists in 2000 included Christina Aguilera, Eiffel 65, Céline Dion, Montell Jordan, Santana, Faith Hill, Sisqó, Destiny's Child, N Sync, Linkin Park, Enrique Iglesias, Matchbox Twenty, Mya, 3 Doors Down, Backstreet Boys and Eminem.''

-''Children's and Teen TV shows that would have been airing on this date in 2000.
"Malcolm in the Middle" - "Roswell" - "Rocket Power" - "Dora the Explorer" - "SpongeBob SquarePants" - "Ed, Edd n Eddy" - "Bob the Builder" - "The Powerpuff Girls" - "The Wild Thornberrys" - "That '70s Show" - "CatDog" - "Dawson's Creek" - "Bear in the Big Blue House" - "City Guys" - "Recess" - "The Angry Beavers" - "Pokemon" - "Teletubbies" - "Daria" - "Hey Arnold!" - "Arthur" - "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" - "Blue's Clues" - "7th Heaven" - "Kenan & Kel" - "Moesha" - "Hang Time" - "Dexter's Laboratory" - "Friends" - "All That" - "Rugrats" - "Beverly Hills, 90210" - "The Simpsons"

 

[Eireboy]

I went searching for Interviews or a Press Conference that her Family have done. Could only one Interview with her Mother. The parents talking to the media is the norm with missing child cases. They should be looking for as much media attention as possible. Seems very odd to me

 

[Eireboy]

Another thing is lets remember that there is a Detective working full time on this case. Not many cases that have been unsolved for 20 years have a dedicated Detective working the case all the time. I would love to know how they fill their working day with the little evidence that they have to work with

 

[T rex]

Another thing is lets remember that there is a Detective working full time on this case. Not many cases that have been unsolved for 20 years have a dedicated Detective working the case all the time. I would love to know how they fill their working day with the little evidence that they have to work with

We really don't know how much evidence LE has in this case. Like the book and shirt they had in their possession for many years unbeknownst to us. They may possibly even have suspects.
In the years immediately after Asha' s disappearance I was very suspicious of the fact that her father had left the house late that night to get Valentine's candy. I don't know but I really don't think the family had anything to do with it. Why would the authorities including the FBI give the Degree family a pass on this matter? Didn't the father take and pass more than one polygraph or am I thinking about some other case?

 

[?unknown?]

I went searching for Interviews or a Press Conference that her Family have done. Could only one Interview with her Mother. The parents talking to the media is the norm with missing child cases. They should be looking for as much media attention as possible. Seems very odd to me

Maybe they only do interviews when it’s asked of them by a specific media segment that is covering the story? From what I’ve seen and heard about her parents they seem like very old school and private people. I doubt they would be all over social media groups and sticking themselves in front of tv cameras every chance they get. They’ve taken part in several appeals, sponsored walks, and things of that nature over the years. I don’t think the lack of in-your-face activism is a reason to suspect them.

 

[Eireboy]

I was also thinking his Candy buying story was dodgy. I have also read that the whole family passed Lie detector tests

 

[Dylansmom08]

I don't feel like the parents were involved in her disappearance the FBI said rather quickly that they were not suspects from what I gather and I trust the FBI to make the right call they are the best at what they do in my opinion. However, that doesn't rule out anyone else either in the family or close to the family being involved. Sadly, I feel like unless either her body is found or some other piece of big information is brought forward there may never be closure on this case.