Asha Degree has been missing from her home in Shelby, North Carolina since February 14, 2000. She was 9 years old at the time of her disappearance. Asha's father last saw her at approximately 2:30 a.m. while she was asleep in her bedroom. By dawn, her parents were unable to locate her anywhere in the house. Along with Asha, her black bookbag and purse were missing from her room.
((---- Asha Degree- Aged Progessed photo to 13 years.
Few leads have developed except that morning motorists reported spotting her walking along North Carolina Highway 18 in Shelby, NC at 4am. It's believed she left on her own, but then met trouble. A massive search began, hundreds of volunteers, law officers, rescue workers, combing dense woods around State Road 18 where Asha was last seen.
In August 2001, Asha's book bag and purse (along with a pair of men's pants and some animal bones) were discovered by a construction worker in a wooded area along N.C. 18, forty miles down the highway on which Asha was last seen, but it yielded no clues to her current whereabouts.
In November 2004, acting on a tip an inmate at the Cleveland County jail, authorities searched an area about six miles from Asha's home and dug up some bones at the corner of Shelby and Rube Spangler roads in Lawndale, but those remains proved to be animal, not human.
This case remains unsolved. If you have information about Asha Degree, call the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at (704) 484-4888.
An age progressed photo can be found at the Missing Kids website. Asha Degree would be 14 years old today.
