Asha Degree Disappearance: What We Know

Asha Degree went to bed around 8 p.m. Sunday, February 13, 2000. She finished a busy weekend playing basketball, attending church, and visiting family. A huge power outage hit the Degrees' home that night. Less than 12 hours after Iquilla Degree sent Asha to bed because of the outage, the family found Asha missing.

Asha was young, so police did not see her as a runaway. Police started an investigation right after the family called 911. This investigation hit many dead ends, creating more questions than answers.

Asha's mother still expects to find an answer someday. She said, "I’m not crazy enough to think that a 9-year-old can disappear into thin air without somebody knowing something."Iquilla statedThis occurred on the 20th anniversary of Asha's disappearance.

Asha's father, Harold Degree, got home from work around midnight on February 14, the Degrees' wedding anniversary. Harold checked on Asha and her brother, O'Bryant, around 12:30 a.m. and foundthe two children asleepAsha was in the bedroom they shared.

Power returned to the neighborhood after the initial outage from 9 to 10 p.m., and everything seemed normal. Harold later confirmed he went to bed at 2:30 a.m. He had no reason to think his daughter woke up or left the house without him knowing. The current idea suggests Asha left after 2:30 a.m. while her family slept.

Asha's family first reported that her white sneakers, white jeans, black book bag, and purse with a Tweety Bird design were theonly items missingfrom her room; she likely wore her nightgown as a shirt. DetectiveTim AdamsTim Adams, with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, reported during his 2015 re-investigation, “Apparently, she packed her bag before leaving, but the contents—from what we know—looked like something a child packs rather than her parents preparing her for an overnight stay.”

Investigators later found these items missing from Asha's room: black overalls with a Tweety Bird design, a black-and-white striped long-sleeved shirt, a white nylon shirt, a red vest with black trim, and her "favorite" jeans. Asha did not take a coat when she vanished, even though the night was cold and rainy.

Investigators quickly ruled out kidnapping after 2:30 a.m. Police found no signs of forced entry.No signs of forced entryon any doors or windows of the Degrees' home. All doors to enter the house were locked, and Iquilla confirmed Asha had her own key.

Asha Degree disappeared. Authorities believe she woke up, got dressed, and left home on her own. No evidence shows Asha had a bad home or school life; she appeared to be a good-natured child. Why Asha left home for the highway remains unsolved.

Iquilla Degree woke after 6:00 am on Valentine's Day and started drawing a bath for her children. When Iquilla went into O'Bryant and Asha's room around 6:30 am to wake them for school, O'Bryant was still sleeping, but Asha's unmade bed was empty. Iquilla immediately woke O'Bryant and Harold to search the house and the family car, but they found no trace of Asha.

O'Bryant later recalled hearing Asha get up after 2:30 am, but he assumed she just used the bathroom and went back to sleep. Harold called911Police immediately went to the scene. Asha's disappearance quickly drew national attentionand she appeared on America's Most Wanted.She also appeared on The Montel Williams ShowAmerica's Most WantedO'BryantThe Montel Williams Showand The Oprah Winfrey Show.O'Bryant.

O'BryantO'Bryant, now a grown man with a family, explained in an interview that Asha's disappearance became harder to process after he had a daughter: "Seeing (my daughter) grow up and seeing Asha’s mannerisms in my daughter is kind of freaky because those are the same mannerisms I saw because we were just 11 months apart."

Asha was never considered a runaway due to her age, so police started an aggressive investigation the day she was reported missing. Friends and family of the Degrees also searched her neighborhood, but they found nothing. About 60 volunteers searched for Asha by the day's end; up to 100volunteersFriends, family, and Degrees' church members joined the search the next day.

Friends and familydescribed Ashaas a quiet, shy girl who was a good student. Her grandmother, Joanne Jackson, stated thatAsha seemed happythe day before she disappeared. Other relatives who saw Asha at the February 13 family gathering confirmed nothing seemed "off" about Asha’s behavior, and she was excited for Valentine's Day candy.

Helicopters circled the area searching for Asha. K-9 units joined the search, but even the highly trained police dogs could not find Asha's scent.

Asha's family last saw her around 12:30 am on February 14; however, this was not the last time she was seen. Two truck drivers both claimed thatthey saw a young girlmatching Asha's description walking down North Carolina Highway 18 between 3:45 am and 4:15 am. These two accounts place Asha about a mile from home.

Asha's route was strange because it offered no safety for walkers, especially at night. Police later figured out Asha wasfollowing that route.Her school bus took her to school. Drivers do not know why she walked on a dangerous highway or where she went next.

Seeing a young girl walk on a dark highway in a storm might cause worry. Sadly, no one acted.No one called the police.Drivers reported seeing Asha until the next day. Both truck drivers called only after they saw Asha's picture on the news sometime during the afternoon of February 14. One man, Roy Blanton, claimed he warned other drivers over his CB radio.

Reports differ. Jeff Ruppe allegedly called the police at noon on the 15th. Blanton did not report his sighting until 5 p.m. that day. These delays meant time was wasted searching Asha's neighborhood instead of the highway or woods where someone last saw her.

Neither driver called about seeing Asha until the next afternoon. One trucker said he tried to help. Jeff Ruppe claimed he found a place to stop after seeing Asha on the highway. He went back to where he saw the girl. Ruppe drove up to Asha and asked for help. She ran off Highway 18 into the woods and disappeared.

The second driver, Roy Blanton, alerted other truckers about Asha on his CB radio.In an interview,over ten years after Asha vanished, Detective Tim Adams of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said, "That was the last time anyone had a confirmed sighting of Asha."

One theory, not supported by evidence, involves a basketball game two days before Asha disappeared. On Saturday, February 12, 2000, Asha and O'Bryant played basketball games, attended by their parents. Asha was taken out of the game, and her team lost by one point.

After this loss,Asha became upset.Asha felt she let her team down. Her coach, Chad Wilson, saidto reporters,, "All the girls were crying, not just Asha, and they had a good cry because it was the first loss." He added Asha quickly recovered from the disappointment.

Her family said she attended a sleepover with cousins that night and showed no signs of distress. If she felt guilty about the game's result, those close to her did not see it, making this theory weak.

Early after Asha vanished, police questioned her friends, classmates, and teachers. They sought any information that might explain why Asha left home on February 14, seeming like she left by choice.

Someone suggested Asha ran away because she was inspired by something.The theory involved a book.This book came from Asha's fourth-grade class. The children's book is.The book is 'The Whipping Boy'.Sid Fleischman wrote 'The Whipping Boy'. The story follows two boys who run away after punishment. They then have adventures before going home.

This clue seems interesting. However, no evidence shows the book caused Asha to leave home. Most case reports mention the book only briefly.

On February 17, 2000, three days after her parents reported Asha missing, some of her personal items were found.Investigators found these items in a tool shed.The shed sat in the woods off Highway 18. The shed belonged to Turner's Upholstery, a shop near Asha's home, close to where truck drivers saw her walking in the early hours of February 14.

Police took a Mickey Mouse hair bow, a pencil, and a marker from the shed. These items belonged to Asha. Investigators do not know why only a hair bow and school supplies were left; no other Asha items appeared near the site despite a wide search.

Asha could not have reached the shed easily. It sat 600 feet uphill from Highway 18, and she had to cross a 3-foot ditch.

Strange new evidence appeared.On August 3, 2001, investigators found new evidence about Asha's disappearance, over a year after her parents reported her missing. While digging 30 miles north of where Asha was last seen on Highway 18, two construction workers found a plastic bag with a book bag inside. This bag held Asha's personal items and other evidence kept secret for 17 years.

FBI sent the book bag to Quantico, VA. Investigators confirmed it belonged to Asha.The FBI conducted an in-depth analysis of the bag and its contents.Both drivers who saw Asha on Valentine's Day, 2000, said she walked south down the highway, not north. This raised suspicions of foul play.

During a second look at Asha's disappearance, investigators uncovered new evidence.New evidence emerged.An anonymous source reported seeing a girl matching Asha's description enter a dark green Lincoln Continental or Ford Thunderbird somewhere along Highway 18 in the early hours of February 14, 2000. The car stood out because it was a 1970s model with rust on the wheel wells.

In 2016, the FBI found the evidence substantial enough to release it publicly. Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman stated, "This case is actively worked and will be worked until there is closure for the family and the community." This evidence first appeared during a task force meeting analyzing Asha's case.

Police did not release details about the contents of Asha's book bag for reasons never made public.The contents of Asha's book bag were made public in 2018.The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office sought public help in identifying two items in Asha's bag that did not belong to her. They recovered these items in 2001 and until late 2018. The items were a New Kids on the Block T-shirt and a copy of "by Dr. Seuss."McElligot's Pool by Dr. Seuss.by Dr. Seuss.

The library book came from Asha's elementary school. However, we cannot confirm if she checked out the book herself.

Detective Jordan Bowen requested that anyone with this Dr. Seuss library book during Asha’s disappearance call them.Bowen made this request during a 2018 press conference.The T-shirt and book appearing in Asha's bag is another strange turn in the case.

In November 2020, two events happened in Asha's case, twenty years after the Degrees last saw their daughter. The FBI teamed up with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. They put up billboards around Asha's hometown showing age-progressed photos of Asha, who would have been 29 on the 20th anniversary of her disappearance. A $45,000 reward offered anyone with solid proof about the confusing case.

The second event came from.The Shelby Star. On November 16, 2020, a prison inmate wrote a letter claiming he knew what happened to Asha and where to find her. The letter came from 53-year-old Marcus Mellon, who was convicted of juvenile sex crimes in 2014 by Cleveland County, the county where Asha lived.

In his letter to the editors ofThe Shelby Star.Mellon stated, "She was killed and then took and buried. I do know how and what town she is in." Mellon received this information in the summer of 2020 but did not reveal how. Authorities first waited to interview Mellon because of a COVID-19 outbreak at the prison. In February 2021, authorities announced that Mellon and another inmateannouncedMellon and another inmate announced thatallegedly offered testimonythe inmate had no "reliable, first-hand information about what happened to Asha."

On the20th anniversaryAsha's mother, Iquilla Degree, said, "I do not believe she is dead. And I know someone knows something. I’m not crazy enough to think that a 9-year-old can disappear into thin air without somebody knowing something."

Finding out what happened to Asha Degree looks bleak, but her family still hopes. "My daughter is the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing when I lay down at night. Until I get closure, that’s the way it’ll be," said someone.Iquilla stated.This happened in 2016.

Iquilla and Harold think they will get the answer about their daughter's disappearance someday. They keep their phone number the same, in case their missing daughter calls. Every Valentine's Day, Asha's family marches from the Degree home to the spot on Highway 18 where Asha was last seen. A billboard now sits there, showing photos of a young and older Asha.

The FBI asks anyone with case information to call their local office orSubmit an anonymous tip online..