Asha Degree

Asha Degree, 9, disappeared from her family's home in Shelby, North Carolina in the early morning hours of February 14, 2000. Several motorists reported seeing her walking alone south along Highway 18 around 3:30–4:00 a.m. in heavy rain, carrying a backpack she had packed herself; when one driver slowed to approach her, she ran into the woods. Her parents discovered her missing later that morning. Eighteen months later, her backpack was found buried along the same highway, about 26 miles from her home. In 2024, investigators searched multiple properties belonging to a local family, seizing a vehicle matching a description linked to the night she disappeared, and increased the reward to $100,000; a person reportedly told police in 2024 that a member of that family had once said “I killed Asha Degree.” No arrest has ever been made, and Asha has never been found.

Shelby, NC · Cleveland County

• 2000: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Asha's identity, age, and the February 14, 2000 disappearance, per the FBI's official case record and the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.
• Multiple motorists independently reported seeing a girl matching her description walking alone along Highway 18 in the predawn hours; one driver who slowed to approach her said she ran into a wooded area.
• Asha's backpack, containing items including a children's book and a concert T-shirt, was found buried in a plastic bag along the same highway roughly 18 months later.
• In September 2024 and again in 2026, investigators executed search warrants on properties belonging to the Dedmon family of Shelby, seizing a vehicle matching witness descriptions, VHS tapes, journals, and other items; the FBI and North Carolina SBI have named a member of that family as a person of interest.
• The combined reward for information has grown to $100,000, and no arrest warrants have been issued as of the most recent public reporting.

• Why Asha left her home in the middle of the night carrying a packed backpack has never been established.
• The specific vehicle she may have entered, described as a dark green early-1970s Lincoln Mark IV or Ford Thunderbird, has not been conclusively confirmed as connected to a named suspect despite a similar vehicle being seized in the 2024 searches.
• The full content of items seized in the 2024 and 2026 property searches, and what specifically they are alleged to show, has not been made public.

• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte Field Office — official case appeal
• ABC11 Raleigh-Durham — “Search continues 25 years after girl vanished”
• CrimeOnline — “Where Is Asha Degree? Questions Loom Decades After Girl's Suspicious 2000 Disappearance”
• NamUs — Missing Person Case #MP2316
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs