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

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StoryUntold said:
LONG POST ALERT* So many things about this case perplex me & I have read a lot of inconsistencies over last few month which could be a result of unreliable sources.
The timeline is what I keep coming back to. The articles from Shelby newspaper in days around her disappearance don't mention things that to ME seem important details to omit:
The power outtage duration & all areas impacted.
The father's trip to get candy for valentines day/anniversary has been said to be around 11-11:30.
Those 2 pieces stand out because its reported that Asha had already taken a nap in early evening (tired from staying up night before, went to church, visited fam then home). She woke up & joined parents to watch around 8? Then sent to bed about an hour later due to power off. It's quite possible she wasn't sleepy enough to go to bed for the night having taken a nap. She could have gotten back up for a snack or to watch TV while father was at the store? It wasn't clear whether mom was awake while he was at the store.
It's also Sunday at 11:30 pm in rural area, and a power outtage...how far did the father travel to find an open store for candy? Other than a gas station or Walmart/CVS type store what was open? Did he lock the door behind him? Its not necessarily odd to go get candy on a late stormy Sunday if your anniversary/Valentines day is in the morning. But it's the only time period we know that someone left & returned during the outtage leaving the home "vulnerable" if everyone else is supposed to be in bed. If other residents power was also out is it possible someone was using opportunity to prowl? If she got up & encountered someone in the house while father was gone ...
Yes I know he said he checked on the kids after he returned (reports say about hour later) then power restored around midnight-12:30am. But did he SEE her when he checked? It would make sense for him to check on kids again if door wasn't locked or if any indication someone had been up. Usually if you just sent them to bed & another parent in the house a parent is usually looking in to be sure they aren't awake (listen for noise) versus doing an actual physical bed check. This is reported to be around 2:30am...few hours after returning from the store. IF he was accurate about the time based on a watch or what program was on TV then brother hearing her get up shortly after means she got up in the dark, didn't turn on lights or make noise got dressed & grabbed items, unlocked doors left in cold with no coat in February after 2:30am-5:45am.
That troubles me. Normal family routine vs circumstances of this night. It's Valentines day AND her parents anniversary.
Had she planned to get herself up & out early and misjudged the time? Did they typically meet up with friends on way to school to walk a bit together?
It's not that "adventurous" for a kid to move around if it's their routine to be up early, get themselves ready & walk a familiar route even if you aren't supposed to do it alone. That time of year it can be dark out as late as 7am...
The fact her key is gone.
The assumption is that SHE had it.
I lost my housekey all the time. There was no school Friday...so the last time she used it was? That's an important question. When was SHE last seen with/used HER key. Could someone had used it to get in her home that knew it belongs to her?

I'm not insinuating parents had anything to do with it (though stranger things have happened) but the entire night wasn't he usual routine so normal habits & assumptions can 'cloud" memory of timelines & small details like if doors locked or unlocked.
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Do we know why the power went out? Was it just at Asha’s house, or was it a utility outage? I can’t imagine Asha going out in pitch darkness.
 
Rhibread said:
Looks very 90s to me lol

It's tour merch from either the Magic Summer Tour in 1990 or Hangin Tough Tour in 1988? I think
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I'm in Canada, but I bought my daughter one of these nightgowns in the 90s. I want to say it was 1991ish Christmas. Hanes brand and bought at KMart because that was the big store to shop at in small town army base that I was then posted to. Didn't leave that base until 1995, so def KMart and def prior to 1995.
 
There is alot of loose ends with this case that dont add up.
From a young girl walking alone along a dark road in the cold and drizzle at 4am...only to be seen by 2 people who dont report this until watching a news broadcast.
Items in a shed, including an unknown pic..then her bookbag and belongings found wrapped as if though to preserve conveniently found during a construction excavation.
A cold case team, fresh eyes, needs to revisit this. Reinterview people and comb over the evidence, which I hope is still in storage.
 
First of all I’m really struggling to find MSM links to back up my thoughts. I don’t know if this is because I am in the UK and our Google is limited, but I can find lots of blogs and discussion forums, but not MSM. Many of the things I reference I have read on here.

Asha Jaquilla Degree – The Charley Project

It is my understanding that Asha packed some changes of clothes and shoes, including her basketball kit, her pencil case, used for school work, a nightie and importantly, some family photos.

She left at 4.00 am and seems to be determinedly walking around in the dark, something that at the age of 50, I couldn’t do, let alone when I was 9.

I don’t think she ran away, or that she was running from anything. She was going to live with someone else and wanted to have a few favourite things with her. The things she took were items that in essence represented Asha, from the basketball kit to the sweets, the wrappers of which were discovered along with a hair bow, a pencil and a marker at Turners.

I think it’s possible she left earlier than necessary because she was worried that family members may hear her if she left nearer time wise to when they usually awoke.

I don’t know whether she made it to her intended destination, wherever and with whomever that was. But I believe she left with a plan.

IMOO
OMO
 
Shamrock1 said:
I’ve found photos like that a few times. I tucked the photos back into library books and tossed if it was a purchased book.
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Yeah, for some reason I'm picturing something like...
(this is straight speculation)
Another student at Asha's elementary school checked the Dr. Seuss book found that was found with Asha's backpack out of their school library, the student brought the book to their grandma's house, grandma grabs a random photo of a grandchild as a bookmark, the photo bookmark gets forgotten about, the book gets returned to the school library, Asha checks the Dr. Seuss book out of the library, packs it when she leaves, stops in Turner barn, tries to read the book while it's raining outside?, finds the photo tucked inside the book, doesn't recognize the person in the photo it so she leaves the photo there

Like it could have truly just been a random, innocuous thing like that that is easily explainable. I just remember finding little things like that in library books when I was younger and it occurred to me that maybe that's what happened.

edited for a bit of clarity
 
Last edited:
Maybe it was in the book that was with the NKOTB nightgown.....
The 2 items they were discounting as originally being in Ashas bookbag.
 
Warwick1991 said:
Do we know why the power went out? Was it just at Asha’s house, or was it a utility outage? I can’t imagine Asha going out in pitch darkness.
Click to expand...

I believe it was a car hit a power pole in the area. I'm not sure how widespread the power outtage was but in most cases street lights are also out.
But the story is that Asha left after they were back on if her father saw her after midnight.
 
Rhibread said:
This article talks about the power outage
Click to expand...
Thanks! I too read this article and I was hoping there was some news or map of the outage area.
There was never any reported confirmation that the father left the house to go to the store. I've seen it posted but places but nothing direct from cops or parents. I'd love to know it that is true or not. That would answer a lot in terms of whether he possibly left door unlocked.
 
StoryUntold said:
Thanks! I too read this article and I was hoping there was some news or map of the outage area.
There was never any reported confirmation that the father left the house to go to the store. I've seen it posted but places but nothing direct from cops or parents. I'd love to know it that is true or not. That would answer a lot in terms of whether he possibly left door unlocked.
Click to expand...
Yeah, still trying to understand whether or not dad going to the store was true or not.. or where it came from. I know it doesn't really help, but they did say "upper Cleveland County" which I guess means only the northern part right? So not descriptive but at least that probably means it wasn't a total area wide black out.. Very frustrating

Also,
In that article it referenced the front door.. it actually explains a lot that you don't need a key to lock the door. A house I lived in years ago had a door like that and I locked myself out all the time. It actually makes it far easier for Asha to have left on her own this way
 
Interesting about the lock. They said her key was in her purse. However it still seems strange to me that she would leave and take her key, bookbag and no coat! That's the part that made me think she may have walked out to get in a vehicle or to get something then got locked out.

If it can be confirmed that dad left to go to store I could see her either asking to go too if she'd woken up or getting in the car.

I also feel like the items found in the barn were not placed there. Winds blew WSW up to 51mph gusts. These items could have blown from the road or something? I also considered that if she was put in a car that she may have intentionally tossed them out of a moving vehicle or fell out of a bag in a struggle to get her in a car.
 
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/20th-anniversary-of-asha-degree-disappearance-021420
2020
''On August 3, 2001, some 30 miles north of the last sighting, construction workers digging an access road for a new home in neighboring Burke County found a book bag that belonged to Asha. Inside was a concert T-shirt featuring boy band New Kids On The Block and a children’s book, McElligot’s Pool, by Dr. Seuss. Neither belonged to Asha, though the book was from the library at Asha’s school, Fallston Elementary. Investigators released images of the shirt and book in 2018, hoping to jog the memories of people who may have helpful information.''

''The 2015 re-investigation also turned up another possible lead: Asha may have been seen getting into a dark green 1970s-model Lincoln Continental Mark IV or Ford Thunderbird with rust around the wheel wells. The FBI publicly announced the potential lead in 2016 and released images of the vehicle models.''


Clues and potential leads include items discovered in Asha's book bag, which was recovered 30 miles from where she was last seen. They include a New Kids On the Block concert T-shirt and a Dr. Seuss book, which had been checked out of her school library.

Tipsters also said they may have seen Asha getting into a green 1970s model Ford Thunderbird or Lincoln Mark IV on the night she disappeared.
 
I just think there is no way she walked the road...but someone seems to have walked it. Perhaps it was the perp's wife / gf wearing a nightgown, with pigtails and a bookbag. Maybe she was a short woman. Seems far-fetched but if I think of Phillip Garrido and Nancy Garrido, I'm reminded it is a possibility that a couple could have taken Asha. The shed items could have been placed in the shed before the abduction...it was very risky at night if the Turners were around. The perp may have gone to the shed after waiting to see their car leave in the daytime...maybe if they went to church or something he sneaked to the shed. As for how Asha left the house...the perp maybe asked her to meet him at the front door ( a window is also a possibility ) and then maybe took her from there. Again, if he had a gf or wife he maybe asked her to go meet/fetch Asha at the house. So if anything went wrong his partner would get in trouble and he would claim total innocence. And they would probably have said they were at the house to help Asha throw an early morning Valentine's surprise party...
 
I wonder said:
I don’t think she ran away, or that she was running from anything. She was going to live with someone else
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But why do it at 4am on a miserable rainy night?!
Her parents were both at work when she got home from school, so why not do it then?

And where was she actually going to along that road? There was hardly anything along there, it was quite a rural road. The town was the other direction.
 
I've been reading the thread and numerous news sites and it really bothers me how Asha always seems to be described as afraid. She was deathly afraid of dogs, afraid of the dark, afraid of strangers, afraid of being alone. How do you get like that? There are primal fears like fear of the dark, snakes, fire and heights. They seem to be universal. But some of her fears are fears than are instilled in someone. It can be crippling to have so many fears.
 
branmuffin said:
I've been reading the thread and numerous news sites and it really bothers me how Asha always seems to be described as afraid. She was deathly afraid of dogs, afraid of the dark, afraid of strangers, afraid of being alone. How do you get like that? There are primal fears like fear of the dark, snakes, fire and heights. They seem to be universal. But some of her fears are fears than are instilled in someone. It can be crippling to have so many fears.
Click to expand...

Must be something in her upbringing, instilling fears?
Either that, or she was just naturally an extremely nervous and fragile child.
Could be a mixture of both.
 
annpats said:
Must be something in her upbringing, instilling fears?
Either that, or she was just naturally an extremely nervous and fragile child.
Could be a mixture of both.
Click to expand...
I can possibly answer this. Without sharing too much, I personally had every single one of these fears as a child. Afraid of dark/strangers/dogs and walking to school alone Bc of it. (My school was literally across the street.) I also grew up in a toxic DV household. The trauma is still felt today at 48. So it could be possible not all was as it seems in the Degree household. Or she could have just been a timid, fragile child. IMO. MOO
 
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