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

[Sweetluv]

The contents of the bag, with the technology of today, do we know if DNA testing was done?
Hair strands, carpet fibers?
Does the hair bow still exist?
I just cant shake the fact of the eyewitness reports...BOTH not reported to the police until AFTER the news report!? The one guy feels the need to get on his CB radio to warn other truckers of his sighting but not the authorities? I'm missing something here...

 

[T rex]

Bumping

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Quote RSBM.

I just cant shake the fact of the eyewitness reports...BOTH not reported to the police until AFTER the news report!? The one guy feels the need to get on his CB radio to warn other truckers of his sighting but not the authorities? I'm missing something here

Are you questioning why neither called 911 right away? Or questioning the truthfulness of their reports?

 

[Sweetluv]

FEBRUARY 14, 2000
WHERE IS ASHA AND WHAT HAPPENED TO HER??

 

[dotr]

Feb 14 2022
Monday marks 22 years since disappearance of Asha Degree – WSOC TV

''The FBI said they believe someone took Asha but they do not have any suspects.

“Somebody knows something,” said Iquilla Degree, Asha’s mother. “A 9-year-old just don’t disappear off of the face of the Earth without a trace. No, there is no way.”

There is still a $45,000 reward for information about Asha.

Anyone with information regarding Asha’s whereabouts should call 704 484-4788. Asha’s family said they still have an investigator working solely on finding her with help from state and federal investigators.''

 

[Sweetluv]

Just checking in..

 

[Sweetluv]

IMO, Asha is deceased. Her personal belongings were buried and found...but where is her body? Does anyone know the extent of the search conducted by law enforcement?
Do we know how long they think the bookbag had been buried before being found?
Asha needs justice....

 

[emem1138]

Bumping for Asha

 

[ImALawyer]

One of the issues I have with the runaway theory is that Asha and her brother O’Bryant were allegedly close. The two were a year apart, shared a bedroom, and Iquilla had reported checking the area beside O’Bryant’s bed on the morning of 02/14, she had been known to fall asleep there too. If she were to have planned to runaway from home, wouldn’t she have told her brother or at least shared with him a “special” friend or exchanges of gifts/money? Or wouldn’t they have ran away together even? It just seems very plausible he would have been involved (if she had runaway) or had more knowledge.

 

[Sweetluv]

I believe Asha ran away, but with intentions of returning home shortly thereafter. The bag she packed was light. IMO, for a young girl to leave her home in the cold dark of night, she must have been promised something significant, and might of been told to keep this to herself. This "reward" was worth her leaving on a rainy February night alone.
I do find it interesting she chose to bring her basketball outfit...
I also believe she could have checked out the Dr. Seuss book at her school library....its not surprising to me the parents didnt recognize the book. The nightgown is interesting since she just came from a sleepover.
Foul play for sure....and I still want to know who the little girl was in the picture found in the shed that supposedly was among some of Ashas belongings. What's the connection?
Puzzling case for sure!!

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

I find it very strange that anyone that would encourage her to meet with them would have her walk such a long distance--it would make more sense to meet up closer to home or in a thousand more convenient ways. I wonder if something was going on that was intolerable to her, not necessarily at home? I just think it would take a lot to get her to leave in that way.

 

[annpats]

I wonder if the person who buried the bag and T-shirt also buried Asha's body too?

And I also wonder how far away from the bag it would be? It may be quite close, even just a mile.

 

[annierb]

Would it be possible that she was lured away to get a Valentine/Anniversary surprise for her parents? Maybe someone had promised her a surprise for them.
Reports are she was close to her brother but maybe she wanted to surprise him too and that is why she didn't tell him.
Not sure why she would have needed to pack a bag for this but just a thought with it being Valentines Day and her parents Anniversary.

 

[Quill]

Would it be possible that she was lured away to get a Valentine/Anniversary surprise for her parents? Maybe someone had promised her a surprise for them.
Reports are she was close to her brother but maybe she wanted to surprise him too and that is why she didn't tell him.
Not sure why she would have needed to pack a bag for this but just a thought with it being Valentines Day and her parents Anniversary.

Shades of Amy Mihaljevic in your theory and I find it most interesting because as one who has followed both cases I had never linked them in my mind and now I can't un-see a possible similarity. Of course, there are many differences but the mere mention of someone luring Asha away with the promise of helping her surprise her parents and brother has me bending my previous theories a bit.

What if the person that lured her away did it by the phone the way Amy's abductor/murderer did? He had her meet him, albeit in the daytime after school. So many questions and so few answers.

 

[annpats]

If Asha was as afraid of the dark as we were told, then whatever lead that girl to leave home and walk that far along a lonely rural road in the middle of the night, was not on a promise of a present for her parents.

Whatever she was running from, I can't imagine.

 

[Sweetluv]

So Asha went missing in the early AM hours of Monday, Feb 14...just coming off a 3 day weekend (there was no school that Friday) IMO, something was "planned out" over the course of that weekend. She was apparently at a sleep over, basketball practice, and church during that time frame. The police arrived at her home when she was reported missing with tracking dogs, who could not find a scent. Could this mean a car pulled and Asha got right in...would explain loss of a scent and not grabbing a coat.
Then there is two highway sightings...did Asha get out of the car somehow...ran to the shed for cover?? So many scenarios!!

 

[annpats]

The police arrived at her home when she was reported missing with tracking dogs, who could not find a scent. Could this mean a car pulled and Asha got right in...would explain loss of a scent and not grabbing a coat. Then there are two highway sightings...did Asha get out of the car somehow...ran to the shed for cover?? So many scenarios!!

That would make sense with the lack of scent for the dogs to track.
And also, to walk that far in the rain in pitch darkness in the middle of the night is just......too scary to even contemplate.

 

[Quill]

If Asha was as afraid of the dark as we were told, then whatever lead that girl to leave home and walk that far along a lonely rural road in the middle of the night, was not on a promise of a present for her parents.

Whatever she was running from, I can't imagine.

With all due respect, stranger things have happened and I do not think in a case such as this that one can assume to know why she left. Theories get bounced around because no one really has the answer here. Bouncing theories can develop into leads; they can provide light bulb moments. Are you familiar with Amy's case? She met a total stranger alone without telling anyone in her family; a total stranger that simply called her home phone and was able to convince an elementary school aged child to meet him (an adult man) to buy a present for her mother. It is a bizarre case, especially back in the 90's. Amy didn't have anything in her home to warrant her actions either, just a love for her mother and wanting to do something for her.

I don't claim to know why Asha left and subsequently disappeared but continuing to considering possibilities may one day solve her disappearance. I also think it is worth noting that the family has never been suspected of any wrong doing.

 

[Quill]

So Asha went missing in the early AM hours of Monday, Feb 14...just coming off a 3 day weekend (there was no school that Friday) IMO, something was "planned out" over the course of that weekend. She was apparently at a sleep over, basketball practice, and church during that time frame. The police arrived at her home when she was reported missing with tracking dogs, who could not find a scent. Could this mean a car pulled and Asha got right in...would explain loss of a scent and not grabbing a coat.
Then there is two highway sightings...did Asha get out of the car somehow...ran to the shed for cover?? So many scenarios!!

Another fascinating theory. This one has lots of potential, IMO. No one can imagine this child walking out of her safe, warm and dry home in the middle of the night in the rain just be-bopping down the highway. Add in the lack of a coat on a rainy night and I like this line of thinking. This could explain that. Someone has arranged for her to leave the house then picks her up, drives away. Does she escape the car? Or Does she escape from a secondary location? No matter how scared she was of the dark or storms, once she realized she was in danger human nature would kick in and I believe she would run. That would make the fact that she ran from the person who stopped along the road make more sense. She might have thought it was the abductor coming back for her. Adrenaline was high and she would be running from anyone in the dark night.

 

[Proud Country Gal]

OK y'all I don't think the book or the nightgown were Asha's!
I believe there are also trying to get someone to come forward and say, those were mine so they can link it to certain people....