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

[Gibbo214]

No actually, it was all zoobooks and Goosebumps that year. Our class was also reading the same 'The Whipping Boy' book as Asha's was (there was a theory that the book was the catalyst for Asha's disappearance). I agree it is too young for her but what if it was checked out for a younger reading buddy (I mention above that my school assigned us younger children to read to).

I'm beginning to think now that the book was checked out after her disappearance.

Why wouldn't that younger buddy have the book?

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Why wouldn't that younger buddy have the book?

They had us pick out the books we would read to them. This was 99' in NC as well so Asha could have had a similar program at her school. Then again the reading buddy could have had it in their possession if their parent was responsible.

They seem pretty certain it wasn't Asha to check it out, but I was just wondering because they say they have no way to check who did, so how do they definitely know? Only thing that makes the most sense is if the book was checked out after her disappearance.

 

[Eireboy]

I just thought of something! At my school, library day was weekly and was different times and days of the week for different classes/grades. Maybe that's how they knew Asha's didn't check it out. Even if the card wasn't filled out by the student, the Librarian still stamped the card and maybe it wasn't a day Asha's class would have been at the library.

I just thought of something else, what if the reason they know Asha didn't check it out is if the book was checked out after her disappearance.

It could have been checked out after she vanished. But if it was then the person behind Asha’s disappearance would be taking a risk possibly implicating themselves in the crime. Cause if it the book was taken after the 14th well then people would remember who took the book out most likely. Its possible that Asha’s brother took out the book from the Library?

 

[Eireboy]

I just thought of something! At my school, library day was weekly and was different times and days of the week for different classes/grades. Maybe that's how they knew Asha's didn't check it out. Even if the card wasn't filled out by the student, the Librarian still stamped the card and maybe it wasn't a day Asha's class would have been at the library.

I just thought of something else, what if the reason they know Asha didn't check it out is if the book was checked out after her disappearance.

It could have been checked out after she vanished. But if it was then the person behind Asha’s disappearance would be taking a risk possibly implicating themselves in the crime. Cause if it the book was taken after the 14th well then people would remember who took the book out most likely. Its possible that Asha’s brother took out the book from the Library?

The biggest question with if it was someone connected to her school is why would they be near her house in the middle of the night (or on the highway as well especially if they had to go to work/drop their kids off at school in a couple of hours). I wonder about who rode her bus or the neighborhood children's parents. They would be in the same school district and also know where she lived.

With the unknown picture of the girl, that is the strangest thing to me. I mean very early in the investigation the picture was put in the newspapers regarding Asha's case and was asking if anyone knew who she was. Then seemingly overnight no one talked about the photo anymore. I wonder if she ever was ID'd and found to be unrelated. The positively confirming the Mickey mouse bow and pencil are also interesting to me. It seems like stuff any kid could have. I know the pencil said Atlanta and her family had a reunion there but could that just be a coincidence? And the candy wrappers, weren't they widely distributed at her school and Turners upholstery is likely still in that school district. The dogs next door didnt bark that night either. Could have been a neighbor child playing there during the day? I'm skeptical about the shed to be honest.

I am also skeptical about her being in that shed. I think somebody planted the items there to make it look like she had been there

 

[Eireboy]

I am sure that the contents of the bag would have been quickly discovered that they were not Asha’s belongings. Usually when a kid takes a book from a School Library the only person who takes note of it is the teacher and most of the time they don’t. I doubt that one of the construction workers buried the bag, I would say that someone gained entry to the site at night, most construction sites are easy enough to gain access to

I think its not a coincidence that her bag was found during construction works. Someone from Shelby is why Asha is missing and I think the perpetrator wanted her bag to be found there cause its 26 miles away and they wanted the police to take the investigation outside of Shelby

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

It could have been checked out after she vanished. But if it was then the person behind Asha’s disappearance would be taking a risk possibly implicating themselves in the crime. Cause if it the book was taken after the 14th well then people would remember who took the book out most likely. Its possible that Asha’s brother took out the book from the Library?

I am also skeptical about her being in that shed. I think somebody planted the items there to make it look like she had been there

The burying her bag to be found is really weird. Almost serial killer type behavior. It's almost like they wanted their crime in the news again. I've heard criminals getting a rise out of their crime getting media attention. Still really strange.

With the book I almost don't think they would have seen the book as incriminating then. I think he(assuming they are male) thought ahead enough to bury it but who knows if he actually took the time to think out all the items inside. At first glance he'd see a children's book and could have assumed it was hers. I really don't think this person is a criminal mastermind or anything. He's just been 'smart' enough to not get caught. The thing too is the trash bags could have left fingerprints as well or other DNA evidence. Speaking of the bag, did they ever get a definite timeframe from when it was buried?

A big thing that makes me wonder is where they kept her stuff for that long without detection. Maybe a trunk of a car?

I think its not a coincidence that her bag was found during construction works. Someone from Shelby is why Asha is missing and I think the perpetrator wanted her bag to be found there cause its 26 miles away and they wanted the police to take the investigation outside of Shelby

I have heard this theory too! Makes since they would want to deter the investigation. Maybe they were getting close by that point?

 

[Eireboy]

The burying her bag to be found is really weird. Almost serial killer type behavior. It's almost like they wanted their crime in the news again. I've heard criminals getting a rise out of their crime getting media attention. Still really strange.

With the book I almost don't think they would have seen the book as incriminating then. I think he(assuming they are male) thought ahead enough to bury it but who knows if he actually took the time to think out all the items inside. At first glance he'd see a children's book and could have assumed it was hers. I really don't think this person is a criminal mastermind or anything. He's just been 'smart' enough to not get caught. The thing too is the trash bags could have left fingerprints as well or other DNA evidence. Speaking of the bag, did they ever get a definite timeframes from when it was buried?

A big thing that makes me wonder is where they kept her stuff for that long without detection. Maybe a trunk of a car?


I have heard this theory too! Makes since they would want to deter the investigation. Maybe they were getting close by that point?

They have never released much information regarding the bag, its possible that the Authorities don’t know themselves when it was buried there. Your right surely there has to be some Dna evidence on the bag. The book surely would have prints and the NKOTB shirt more than likely would have had some hairs on it. All of these things could have been buried really quick, I think it was cause the perpetrator would not want to hold onto something that ties them to the case

 

[Eireboy]

The burying her bag to be found is really weird. Almost serial killer type behavior. It's almost like they wanted their crime in the news again. I've heard criminals getting a rise out of their crime getting media attention. Still really strange.

With the book I almost don't think they would have seen the book as incriminating then. I think he(assuming they are male) thought ahead enough to bury it but who knows if he actually took the time to think out all the items inside. At first glance he'd see a children's book and could have assumed it was hers. I really don't think this person is a criminal mastermind or anything. He's just been 'smart' enough to not get caught. The thing too is the trash bags could have left fingerprints as well or other DNA evidence. Speaking of the bag, did they ever get a definite timeframe from when it was buried?

A big thing that makes me wonder is where they kept her stuff for that long without detection. Maybe a trunk of a car?


I have heard this theory too! Makes since they would want to deter the investigation. Maybe they were getting close by that point?

The book and the shirt I believe were placed in Asha’s bag by someone else. The key questions to this case are. Was it outside involvement or the Family? Why did the Neighbour not alert the Degree’s when they saw her? Why did the eye witnesses on the highway wait a couple of days to tell Police even though they knew a young child was missing? Why was the Turner shed not searched the morning Asha went missing?

 

[Eireboy]

They had us pick out the books we would read to them. This was 99' in NC as well so Asha could have had a similar program at her school. Then again the reading buddy could have had it in their possession if their parent was responsible.

They seem pretty certain it wasn't Asha to check it out, but I was just wondering because they say they have no way to check who did, so how do they definitely know? Only thing that makes the most sense is if the book was checked out after her disappearance.

Good point. I wonder why someone would put that book into her bag after she went missing?

 

[andersgravlax]

@aThousandYearsWide what was the name of that other forum? Interested in checking that out (the one mentioned on page 39). Thanks!

 

[T rex]

She was probably just taking a while to get ready, doing her make up and the like. Not entirely uncommon for a housewife

I had a thought, assuming the groomer theory is true, what if Asha had made the trip down the highway before? A lot of people (even me) find the fact that she went out into the night when it was storming to be very difficult to believe, but if she in fact snuck out before, it would be more believable. It would just be another trip to that person's house, just more wet and cold.

Parents only know their kids so much, and she's at that age where she could hide stuff from adults. I wonder if her parents have looked back and realized something was off and just haven't told the public. LE seems insistent on keeping this case very close to their chest.

Asha's father usually worked 2nd shift but had just recently went to 1st, I think that very week. I always wondered if she was accustomed to sneaking out during a certain time frame, say after her mother went to bed and immediately after her father went to work but when he changed up hours she had to change hers too.

 

[T rex]

I'm not much on the grooming theories but if it was with someone closer to Asha' s age what would that be? Grooming? Peer pressure? Or just hanging out? Is it possible something like this happened and then the parents of another child or teenager covered it up?

 

[ffaely]

I'm not much on the grooming theories but if it was with someone closer to Asha' s age what would that be? Grooming? Peer pressure? Or just hanging out? Is it possible something like this happened and then the parents of another child or teenager covered it up?

Are you saying you believe Asha snuck out regularly to meet up with someone?

 

[T rex]

Are you saying you believe Asha snuck out regularly to meet up with someone?

I don't know what I believe about all this. I believe it's crazy. I just always wondered about the possibility of it.

 

[T rex]

Asha's father usually worked 2nd shift but had just recently went to 1st, I think that very week. I always wondered if she was accustomed to sneaking out during a certain time frame, say after her mother went to bed and immediately after her father went to work but when he changed up hours she had to change hers too.

Well it's 2nd shift. What I should have said is before her father got home.

 

[BethAnn777]

Asha's father usually worked 2nd shift but had just recently went to 1st, I think that very week. I always wondered if she was accustomed to sneaking out during a certain time frame, say after her mother went to bed and immediately after her father went to work but when he changed up hours she had to change hers too.

This is the first I’ve heard about Harold’s work schedule changing right around the time of Asha’s disappearance. Do you happen to know where you heard that or is it in MSM somewhere? If this is accurate, I think you may be onto something here.

I know Asha was young and it’s hard to think she may have voluntarily been in a relationship with someone, but it’s not impossible. I say voluntarily only if it was with a kid her own age. Obviously if there was someone older involved then it wasn’t voluntarily, even if she thought it was.

Puberty is accompanied by strong hormones. I know 9 is young, but speaking from personal experience, 10 years old (5th grade) is when hormones kicked in for me. I had a secret friend and we met up at certain times and places prearranged by us the day before. Never at night or in bad weather conditions but if that would have been our only option or if my friend would have asked me to do it, I think I would have. That Turner’s Upolstery shed may have been the perfect place to meet up and she may have been there many times before that night, if in fact she was ever there in the first place.

 

[ffaely]

I don't know what I believe about all this. I believe it's crazy. I just always wondered about the possibility of it.

I think it’s possible. I have snuck out before when I was around Asha’s age (9-10) to meet up with friends. From what I can remember we all made a pact to meet up a X location and X time for some reason only kids can understand lol. I also lived in a rural area and had to walk to get to the meeting point.

Didn’t Asha have a sleepover at her cousins house a few days before? Is it possible that she was dared to do it by some older kids? Where there other kids at the sleepover apart from Asha’s cousins?

 

[T rex]

This is the first I’ve heard about Harold’s work schedule changing right around the time of Asha’s disappearance. Do you happen to know where you heard that or is it in MSM somewhere? If this is accurate, I think you may be onto something here.

I know Asha was young and it’s hard to think she may have voluntarily been in a relationship with someone, but it’s not impossible. I say voluntarily only if it was with a kid her own age. Obviously if there was someone older involved then it wasn’t voluntarily, even if she thought it was.

Puberty is accompanied by strong hormones. I know 9 is young, but speaking from personal experience, 10 years old (5th grade) is when hormones kicked in for me. I had a secret friend and we met up at certain times and places prearranged by us the day before. Never at night or in bad weather conditions but if that would have been our only option or if my friend would have asked me to do it, I think I would have. That Turner’s Upolstery shed may have been the perfect place to meet up and she may have been there many times before that night, if in fact she was ever there in the first place.

I think there are several sources, here's one.

https://web.archive.org/web/2008072...ws/asha_28858___article.html/county_name.html

 

[BethAnn777]

I think there are several sources, here's one.

https://web.archive.org/web/2008072...ws/asha_28858___article.html/county_name.html

Thank you for the link. I don’t read it as his work schedule permanently changed just that he worked a different shift two days that week than he normally did. I don’t know if it makes a difference if the shift change was permanent or not. Now if he normally worked third shift rather than second, that would make a difference because then like mentioned in an earlier post, she could have been sneaking out at night while mom slept and dad was at work. But since dad didn’t work at night, I guess that’s not the case. Now, could she have snuck out other nights while both parents were home? I guess so, but seems unlikely.

 

[T rex]

Thank you for the link. I don’t read it as his work schedule permanently changed just that he worked a different shift two days that week than he normally did. I don’t know if it makes a difference if the shift change was permanent or not. Now if he normally worked third shift rather than second, that would make a difference because then like mentioned in an earlier post, she could have been sneaking out at night while mom slept and dad was at work. But since dad didn’t work at night, I guess that’s not the case. Now, could she have snuck out other nights while both parents were home? I guess so, but seems unlikely.

I think Iquilla Degree was probably the type that goes to bed fairly early and expected Asha and her brother to do the same, so I can see a window of opportunity if it was two to three hours later when the father got home.