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

[annpats]

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.

I've often thought this myself, and while her Mom and Dad were never suspects, I do wonder that if she walking down a dark, rural road in the middle of the night by herself, it must've been safer than her home. MOO.

 

[SAMS]

Has anyone ever heard the 911 call(s) from that morning that Asha was realized missing?

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

Has anyone ever heard the 911 call(s) from that morning that Asha was realized missing?

I've never heard it, but there is a transcript of it here.

 

[SAMS]

I've never heard it, but there is a transcript of it here.

Wow! Thank you….so much to decipher here.

 

[bettyboop]

I have been up all night reading through the thread. I just have to say thank you @Nancy Drew RN for the link. It seems rather odd to me, but that could be because we are not hearing the actual voices. It just seems stiff, matter of fact, but that could be from shock. I also as others have, keep going back to the slumber party. Are we sure she was actually seen after that, by anyone other than family? JMO MOO

 

[Sweetluv]

Two separate witnesses seen Asha walking along a road by herself....it was 4am, drizzling, dark, and cold out.
However, they never came forward until it was broadcasted on the news....which I find odd.

 

[annpats]

Two separate witnesses saw Asha walking along a road by herself....it was 4am, drizzling, dark, and cold out.
However, they never came forward until it was broadcasted on the news....which I find odd.

Yes, lots of oddities. That's what make these cases so frustrating.

 

[Quill]

I might be wrong, but IMHO,I kinda feel like the shirt and possibly some of the other unknown contents of the bag, are trophies from other previous victims. I think that's why maybe they're still being tight lipped about all of it, why they're still convening the task force regularly to meet on Asha, and why two decades later, they're still actively pursuing it, rather than letting it fall to the wayside as many other cases have done.

This is a very interesting line of thought. I have wondered why not much more has been made about the photo of the mystery girl and this now has me thinking in new terms. Your theory about this being the reason they are tight-lipped about to this day makes me wonder if they know what they need to know about the girl in the photo and no more information is needed from the public about that piece of this very complicated puzzle.

The whole thing has elements of a bizarre treasure hunt, like a game or puzzle whose purpose is to lead or mislead the investigation.
If that is the case, who might most be inclined towards those activities? imo.

Another excellent line of thought here. We know that some perpetrators of these type crimes can be very diabolical and are almost as entertained by the puzzle they leave behind as they are the crime they are committing.

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...
Normal family routine vs circumstances of this night. It's Valentines day AND her parents anniversary...

Snipped & BMM

Excellent points. This didn't seem like a routine night in the household after a pretty full weekend of activities. I still don't suspect the parents, but this is just another odd bit of this puzzle.

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.

BBM

Firstly, I applaud this kind of thinking outside the box because taking a look through a different lens can often reveal details overlooked previously, much the same as proofreading your own words over and over again only to have another do it and find the errors your eyes have passed over. However, I do think that many of the small details that were listed as facts in the original investigation get lost in the years and current discussions of this case. One of which is the way her belongings (were they even all hers and were they planted there?) that were found in the shed and also the fact that the book bag was found buried in a garbage bag (why?) at a location (were they planning to come back for them?) far enough away and in such a situation that, IMO, takes the parents being under suspicion completely off the table.
I feel like the original descriptions of the items found in the shed painted a picture of a child sitting down and eating some of her candy, leaving the wrappers there with the other things left behind. I cannot picture candy wrappers, hair ties (or were they plastic barrettes?) and other items ALL being blown into the barn and settling in such a fashion as to suggest she sat down in one spot to eat her candy. The big question for me regarding these items is whether or not this child, who was so scared of the dark, thunderstorms and dogs, just suddenly braved all of her fears at once and entered a strange, scary, dark barn where the people had dogs and went inside. Was she alone or was someone with her? Or, were these things cunningly planted there to lead everyone down the path of "runaway". How convenient.

Sorry for the length, but I wanted to respond to some of these really great thoughts and ideas brought forth recently and also say how glad I am this precious child is not forgotten. I have not been able to forget since I first heard about her disappearance.
This case has long baffled me and broken my heart. I hope to someday see some measure of justice done for Asha.

 

[Cupofcare]

I'd like to go back to the weather issues... information is also not clear on this..some say it was stormy with rain pouring and others talk about "drizzling" rain. A weather report from that day ( and those hours 3,4,5 AM ) would be helpful. The other thing is the issue of how dark the sky was that night...due to the rain/clouds I would imagine the moon was blocked which would have made the sky totally dark. Would it have been possible for Asha to see in the dark that night? The moon after all can provide some light, but I'm skeptical of if there was any light that night at all. I did see the video of a lady walking that route at night...and there was no light at all...and that was even without rain conditions. I'm also curious to know if there were any street lamps in Asha's neighborhood. I know this was rural but since it was a group of homes I wonder if a street lamp was around there...or porch lights that were on that night. I've read things from the drivers: "Asha walked with purpose" and "She never did look up at me." I thought that was strange, if she heard/saw a truck approaching and "didn't even look up". I imagine a running away or abducted Asha would have been skittish and quick to check what vehicles were approaching. After all, that's why she ran to the woods, because she was suspicious of that circling driver. Then there's also the issue of the clothing, with some saying she walked in a dress and others saying it was pants and a shirt. Another odd thing was the Turners apparently not giving the shed items right away "because not sure who it belonged to". I thought this was odd, I mean, who did they think it belonged to...unless they had some staff who used to use the shed and those might have had the photo falling out of their pocket or something. Some people keep photos of their relatives in their wallet, a book, things like that.

 

[Sweetluv]

And this green car....little details given. Why is it believed Asha could have been in the vehicle, who reported it, when and where?
Was testing conducted on the items found?

 

[Truth Prevails]

And this green car....little details given. Why is it believed Asha could have been in the vehicle, who reported it, when and where?
Was testing conducted on the items found?

Here is an article from MSM. It doesn't really answer your questions, or mine.

They say the discovery of the vehicle was due to "leg work" by investigators.

But why would they hold the information back for so many years?

One last thing, someone explained to me that "occupied two times" simply means there were two people in the vehicle.

Snipped quote: "This vehicle is right now considered a vehicle of interest, and it was occupied two times on the day of her disappearance," Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said. "It had been discovered by leg work with by the sheriff office investigators along with the federal government."
FBI: Asha Degree may have gotten into a dark green car on night of disappearance

 

[Sweetluv]

Truth Prevails..never seen that article, thanks for posting.

 

[Dr. Willy R. Salamander]

Has anyone ever heard the 911 call(s) from that morning that Asha was realized missing?

I've got the transcript of the 911 call, if anyone is interested in seeing it?

 

[Cupofcare]

I myself once plotted to escape home at 4AM. But I knew our front door at the time made a very loud click sound when unlocked, and that it would be much louder in the quiet of night. I knew the risk was too big. So while people were talking in the kitchen I slipped out the backdoor which was wide open...they realized I was gone about 1 hour later when they phoned me, thinking I was just in my room. By then I was already in a taxi well on my way to the capital city. Of course Asha's situation was probably very different from my situation, as I essentially escaped from a depraved visitor at the house. Asha I think she had a special friend who influenced her a lot and promised her a home away from home. But I wonder as well about if Asha's front door was noisy to open in the stillness of night

 

[justinkjones1993]

I think a big problem with this case is that we don't really know what kind of kid Asha was. We have quotes, we have conjecture, we have assumptions, but we didn't really know her and therefore we don't really know what she was or wasn't afraid of.

It could be that she was afraid of the dark and dogs, then again this could be what her parents believed and in reality she had very little fear of either and always fantasized about going on an adventure. Maybe the adventure would be even more exciting to her if it was in the early morning hours when no one else was awake. We are trying to insert the logic of a 9 year-old that we didn't know into our own minds and it just doesn't really work.

Personally, I don't think I could have done such a thing when I was her age, because I really was afraid of the dark. But that's just me. Some kids had no problem at all packing up and leaving the house anytime they pleased.

I'm not sure what happened in this case, it seems like she may have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time, but I think there's a few things that the FBI probably knows that we don't. They didn't just pull that green car information out of their hind ends oh, there's something going on there. What I can say with almost 99% certainty is that I believe she is deceased. I really hope that's not the case, but everything about this case screams Foul Play.

 

[Sweetluv]

Does anyone know how long it was speculated the wrapped belongings were buried for?
Interesting these items were unearthed right where a crew happened to be digging.

 

[Sweetluv]

Maybe 2022 will be your year Asha!!!

 

[T rex]

Does anyone know how long it was speculated the wrapped belongings were buried for?
Interesting these items were unearthed right where a crew happened to be digging.

The bag was found along Hwy 18 north of Asha's home so I wonder if someone was trying to lead the investigation in that direction. If so then apparently it didn't work because subsequent searches were Hwy 18 south of Shelby. Something about Hwy 18.

 

[T rex]

I don't know when the last time this timeline was posted so I thought I would post it here now.

https://www.actus-reus.com/asha-degree-timeline

 

[Sweetluv]

T rex..thanks for posting the timeline! I have not come across that before.
From the eyewitness reports, to the belongings in the shed, and the unearthed preserved bookbag and other contents it contained, this case is baffling....and fishy, something doesnt add up.