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

[SAMS]

I am really curious to why LE assumes she is alive. Also curious about why the unknown picture was dropped very early in the investigation. In my opinion, the bookbag was buried to be found. It was found in a construction site and I have read before that it needed equipment to be dug up (will try to find where I have read that. Have been active in this case since 2007). I wonder if they questioned all of the workers. I never understood that if she was with someone then why was she seen alone and running into the woods off the highway?

Snipped for Focus:
Me too. What would make them think she is still alive? Perhaps its bc they dont have any evidence otherwise and if it's the local dept that says this, it may be lack of experience with these types of cases. What did happen to the unknown pic?

 

[SAMS]

Okay, last post until others post. LOL. Through research, I found the home at 3404 Oakcrest drive. It is a single level home divided into two duplexes. No downstairs for Iquilla to go down to check if Asha was in the kitchen. Bad info. MOO

نتيجة بحث Google عن الصور حول https://ap.rdcpix.com/1992449788/a637fa4e4f729081b8158a69244900cbl-m0xd-w640_h480_q80.jpg

 

[Proud Country Gal]

@SAMS Asha bag was 26 miles away from where she was last reported seen. In the opposite direction of the way she was reportedly walking.

 

[SAMS]

@SAMS Asha bag was 26 miles away from where she was last reported seen. In the opposite direction of the way she was reportedly walking.

Thank you....so much misinformation. Probably due to the multiple podcasts on the case. Maybe we need to post links to clarify.
ETA: Appreciate the clarification...trying to take notes!

 

[SAMS]

Investigation ongoing for Cleveland County girl who vanished 18 years ago


"Asha was an outstanding first-year basketball player on a strong team of fourth-grade girls. The team suffered a disappointing loss during the last game Asha played with them.

Investigators believe that's why Asha, athletic and very competitive, packed a bag and walked away from her home.

She was last seen by truckers a mile from her Fallston home heading toward Shelby on Highway 18.

Detectives think someone saw her and took her away."

Sorry if posted already, I don't recall seeing it. MOO

 

[Proud Country Gal]

Investigation ongoing for Cleveland County girl who vanished 18 years ago


"Asha was an outstanding first-year basketball player on a strong team of fourth-grade girls. The team suffered a disappointing loss during the last game Asha played with them.

Thought you might want to watch this... one of the local stations did this in 2015....
http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/loca...ily-keeps-searching-for-asha-degree/23001181/


Also the bookbag was found in a rural area and only because someone was prepping it for a home.

 

[SAMS]

Thought you might want to watch this... one of the local stations did this in 2015....
http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/loca...ily-keeps-searching-for-asha-degree/23001181/


Also the bookbag was found in a rural area and only because someone was prepping it for a home.

Thanks for sharing. Someone really tried to hide that bag. It certainly wasn’t Asha. MOO

 

[SAMS]

This case really gets to me. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that Asha reminds me of myself at that age? Close with brother/POC/Scared of dogs at her age/Point guard on b-ball team/daddy’s girl/latchkey kid/piggy tails, Etc; or if it’s simply the sheer sadness that (if)she ran away bc she lost the game only to be snatched up by a perp...whatever happened I can’t imagine her fear during. MOO

 

[Proud Country Gal]

OK I just thought about this.... Asha went to school 4.8 miles north of her house, she was seen walking south toward Shelby. So are the eye witness wrong and it was someone else or why was Asha walking south!
The backpack was found 26 miles north of her house... I kept hearing about her bus route and such and never thought about school is north and she was going south. WTH and who had ties to the land where the backpack was found??
There was a search about 4 miles east of the school, it was a tip that came from the jailhouse. An ex inlaw family member that was in jail mentioned something to us that hit home when I heard about this search. I just thought he was just being, well him, but I'm now thinking he did hear something.
The items found in the shed, did they belong to Asha or someone else? When and how did they get there?
Who buried the bag with her name and phone number in it?
Where is Asha???
Somebody, PLEASE help us find Asha!!!!

@SAMS this case gets to me! I guess because it was so close to my home town and I lived and work in the area in 1988.

 

[007mom]

As various others have asked, why does law enforcement and the family continue to perpetuate that Asha is alive? Especially when they also contend that she probably met with foul play in the early morning hours of Feb 14th. They obviously know something very solid to still believe this going on 20 years later. Also, I saw on another site thread about Asha where someone using the “anonymous” moniker wrote, “I think I’m Asha.” I can’t remember how she spelled Asha, but it was misspelled by one letter and appeared to have been written by someone not very proficient with typing. I say that because it was typed in all lowercase letters with no punctuation, etc. Typing on a cell phone would also explain that though. Several people responded rather quickly that the comment wasn’t funny. I couldn’t find that the person ever posted again. That one post has stayed with me. What if it was her? Nonetheless, I would love to know why those closest to the case believe Asha is alive. And I truly hope they’re right! But almost 20 years later, I tend to be a bit of a skeptic, I guess. I’ve seen too many of these cases, I suppose, have less than positive outcomes.

 

[Nadal]

*Harold-Asha's dad- saw Asha in bed around 2:30 a.m. on his way to bed with Iquilla-Asha's mom. (I get Harold being up at odd hours, my spouse works 2nd shift too and it throws off normal sleeping habits for sure.) Iquilla went in to wake Asha up after 5:45 a.m., which means she went missing between those hours, approx. 3 hour time frame.

Harold's timeline has changed a lot so it's difficult to determine anything concrete from it. I don't think it's malicious i think it's simply memory issues and also the fact that there was a blackout that night meaning it was more difficult to keep track of time nevermind recall it the next day.

*The front and back doors were found locked that morning. If Asha left voluntarily that night, would she have locked the door behind her? I understand her and Obryant were latchkey kids, but did they come home together? Unlocking the door to go into the home is a much different habit than locking the door behind you when leaving..

I snuck out when i was a kid (much older than Asha though i was around 14) and i always locked the door. My thinking was that if my dad got up really early to go to the store or whatever while i was out he wouldn't have bothered checking on me but if he saw that the door was unlocked when expecting it to be locked he likely would have. Asha's thinking could have been similar, Harold went to the store very late the night before so it may have been common for him to go out very late/early on a whim and she'd think her chances of not being caught would be better if the door was locked. Just a thought who knows.

*Grandmas house was across the street. Did anyone else live with her? Did she hear/see anything that night? Maybe Asha was running away to her grandmas but noone answered the door so she kept walking?

For what it's worth someone on Reddit claimed he was from the same neighbourhood and he said Asha would often run away to her grandma's after fighting with her parents. This was a complete randomer who gave no proof of his claims so take it with a huge grain of salt just worth mentioning in relation to this.

*A photo of an unknown girl was found along with other items that her parents claimed as Asha's. Who was this girl? Was she someone she met from the other basketball team? A secret penpal? Or like others here have suggested, a pic given to her by a perp to lure her?

No one knows obviously. My theory is it was a random picture cut out of a book or a newspaper that was used to groom Asha. Hope it was something more innocent of course. As far as we know the girl in the picture hasn't been identified as it hasn't been mentioned since 2001, but it's possible she has and LE are keeping it secret to protect a potential future trial or something.

 

[Nadal]

As various others have asked, why does law enforcement and the family continue to perpetuate that Asha is alive? Especially when they also contend that she probably met with foul play in the early morning hours of Feb 14th.

What do you mean they contend both? I believe LE initially thought she was alive then changed their mind as time went on and new information was unearthed although i don't believe they've ever officially clarified what they believe. In 2015 they announced a reward of up to $25,000 for "information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for her disappearance." That to me sounds like they are treating this as potential foul play. I think the family just wants to believe she has alive, all they've done is tried to keep her name out there with their annual walk and scholarship, i don't think they've went into detail on what they believe exactly.

 

[Nadal]

Also curious about why the unknown picture was dropped very early in the investigation.

Where did you get this? Did i miss something or are you just assuming this? As far as i'm aware the only time the picture was mentioned was in an article in 2001, just because they've not publically mentioned it since doesn't mean they've dropped it. They may have discovered who it is or they realized releasing that publically was a mistake and now aren't acknowledging it.

I never understood that if she was with someone then why was she seen alone and running into the woods off the highway?

She wasn't with anyone when that happened. Where are you getting that she was?

 

[Nadal]

I also wonder about the "few dollars" she had that she showed to some of her friends that were interviewed by LE. Where did the money come from? No money was found that I have read.

This is a major part of my theory. I think someone groomed her with money and a promise of a better life (by that i mean a more wealthy upbringing as the Degree's weren't wealthy), they claimed the girl in the picture was their daughter to make her trust them and convinced her to meet him and his fake daughter somewhere and sadly he harmed her. Hope i'm wrong but it's the only thing that makes some sort of sense for me.

 

[Proud Country Gal]

Harold's timeline has changed a lot so it's difficult to determine anything concrete from it. I don't think it's malicious i think it's simply memory issues and also the fact that there was a blackout that night meaning it was more difficult to keep track of time nevermind recall it the next day.......



For what it's worth someone on Reddit claimed he was from the same neighbourhood and he said Asha would often run away to her grandma's after fighting with her parents. This was a complete randomer who gave no proof of his claims so take it with a huge grain of salt just worth mentioning in relation to this.......

I believe the power outage is one thing messing up the timeline. Not that I believe him 100%

And I also thought about her going to her grandma's house that night!!!!! My grandmother lived next door and I would slip away (albeit during the day) whenever I could, which was very very often to escape my mom!

 

[Nadal]

I believe the power outage is one thing messing up the timeline. Not that I believe him 100%

And I also thought about her going to her grandma's house that night!!!!! My grandmother lived next door and I would slip away (albeit during the day) whenever I could, which was very very often to escape my mom!

What do you think he's being untruthful about? Negligence or involvement? Personally, i don't think the family are involved since two people corroborated Asha leaving and that the family are very involved in keeping Asha's case alive something i don't see the perpretrators doing in a case that has got so little attention like Asha's. Here's an earlier post of mine to clarify my thoughts on the inconsistencies:

"1. For the record there's a lot of inconsistencies regarding the timeline the night Asha disappeared. Her parents have made conflicting statements over the years, it's difficult for us going off the media to determine an accurate timeline, i think LE have likely sorted it out and don't feel the need to give the public a confirmed version of events. Some suspect the parents due to this but i actually think it makes perfect sense and makes them LESS suspicious that they have inconsistencies. Some of these inconsistencies could come from the family members giving different times in initial interviews, them all having their stories match 100% could suggest rehearsed stories. Others will be due to misremembering years later, again a coached story rarely changes but if something major happened to you yesterday and i was to ask you what you did yesterday then ask you in two years what you did on 17th October 2019 no doubt those two accounts would differ if you're telling the truth, in minor hard to recall ways like times since her parents obviously didn't think February 13th 2000 was a notable day until the day after when they realized Asha was missing. Concistency is arguably just as good of a reason to suspect coaching. Also there was a blackout that night, would make sense that they didn't keep track of time properly during a blackout. Add all that to the sightings and LE unequivocally (posted their statement ruling out the family on the last page) ruling them out i'm safe believing it's just good old memories are terrible. Anyway, just pointing out that 2.30 may not be the correct time, i've heard it as early as 12.30 from statements attributed to the family."

The grandma thing is from a random redditor like i said could be just someone looking for attention. He also claimed Asha had been in a lot of trouble criminally and was close to going to Juvie which i found very tough to believe and personally killed his credibility for me as i think that definitely would have came out publically by now.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Where did you get this? Did i miss something or are you just assuming this? As far as i'm aware the only time the picture was mentioned was in an article in 2001, just because they've not publically mentioned it since doesn't mean they've dropped it. They may have discovered who it is or they realized releasing that publically was a mistake and now aren't acknowledging it.



She wasn't with anyone when that happened. Where are you getting that she was?

I was just curious about why the picture that was found near her items was only mentioned a few times in the early investigation.

As for the second thing, I was saying I don't understand how it is speculated she was meeting someone if she was witnessed alone on the highway.

 

[Nadal]

I was just curious about why the picture that was found near her items was only mentioned a few times in the early investigation.

As for the second thing, I was saying I don't understand how it is speculated she was meeting someone if she was witnessed alone on the highway.

Yeah sorry, i read that as a statement when i now see it as a question. No one knows why the picture hasn't been mentioned since 2001 is the only answer.

It's not speculated that she was with anyone. The abduction and/or collusion theories are always talking about after she ran away from the driver. Seriously, re-read whatever you've read in the past, it's always about after the driver: after the last confirmed sighting.

 

[Nadal]

Sorry, i was responding to your initial comment where you said "with" in that last paragraph. I realize you changed your language and what you said now.

 

[Proud Country Gal]

.........
"1. For the record there's a lot of inconsistencies regarding the timeline the night Asha disappeared. Her parents have made conflicting statements over the years, it's difficult for us going off the media to determine an accurate timeline, i think LE have likely sorted it out and don't feel the need to give the public a confirmed version of events. Some suspect the parents due to this but i actually think it makes perfect sense and makes them LESS ............
The grandma thing is from a random redditor like i said could be just someone looking for attention. He also claimed Asha had been in a lot of trouble criminally and was close to going to Juvie which i found very tough to believe and personally killed his credibility for me as i think that definitely would have came out publically by now.

I don't necessarily think he did something but think he is trying to add things into his statement.... to maybe sound like a better parent. I don't believe her mom was in any way involved!!!
Her Grandma lived 371 feet away.
I am not saying Asha had been in trouble or ran away a lot but I know that if I was missing my Maw Maw's house would be about the 2nd place they would look for me. (As a matter of fact, I now own my Maw Maw's house)
Asha not having a coat bothers me to no end, IF she went so far as to pack a bag why not her coat. It was rainy. (I can't remember if it was cold but I know it was wet and foggy)
I am familiar with the area because I used to live and work just up the road from her house. (about a mile) I have driven that stretch of road many times day and night. When it was foggy or rainy it was not fun to drive. Even just dark, no moon nights were not fun!
The Shelby area has had its share of cases... Brenda Sue Brown, Sherry Washburn, Towel Town, and a few others. (I don't have a lot of confidence in the Shelby and Cleveland County PDs)
I think the bag is going to be the key to solving the case. Where it was buried and if they can lift any prints off of it. (I Pray that there is DNA and prints are on it)