Key facts
- Name: Asha Jaquilla Degree
- Born: August 5, 1990, Shelby, North Carolina
- Age at disappearance: 9
- Last seen: February 14, 2000 (early morning)
- Location: North Carolina Highway 18, Shelby, Cleveland County, NC
- Height / weight: 4’6″, 60 lbs, black hair, brown eyes
- Status: Still missing — open homicide investigation (reclassified February 2025); no arrests
- Reward: $100,000 reported
- Investigating agency: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, with FBI assistance
A note before you read
This case changed significantly in 2024–2025. Search warrants named suspects and alleged a homicide — but no one has been arrested or charged, and everyone named has denied involvement through attorneys. All are presumed innocent. In this article, warrant allegations are reported strictly as allegations, never as findings of fact.
The girl who walked into the storm
Asha Degree was afraid of the dark. Afraid of dogs. Afraid of storms.
She was nine years old, a fourth-grader from a close, church-going family in Shelby, North Carolina. And in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2000 — her parents’ wedding anniversary — she left her family’s house and walked out into a cold, black, raining night. Alone.
She has not been seen since.
That is the contradiction at the heart of this case, and it has held for more than 26 years: a storm-frightened nine-year-old, walking into a storm.
Valentine’s Day, 2000
Sunday, February 13, had been ordinary. A hard storm moved through that evening as temperatures fell, and a car wreck nearby knocked out the power. Asha went to bed early, woke when the storm hit, watched TV in the living room with the adults for a while, and went back to bed around 9 p.m. Her father Harold turned in about 12:30 a.m. Both kids were asleep.
Around 2:30 a.m., Harold checked on them. Both asleep in the bedroom they shared. That was the last time anyone in the family saw Asha.
Sometime between then and 5:45 a.m., she left. Gone from her room: the clothes she’d slept in, her white tennis shoes, her bookbag, a Tweety Bird purse. None of her warm winter clothes were touched.
Between roughly 3:45 and 4:15 a.m., two drivers reported the same impossible sight: a small girl matching Asha’s description walking along NC Highway 18 in driving rain and wind, about 1.3 miles from home. A truck driver circled three times. When he tried to approach her, she left the roadside and ran into the woods.
At about 5:45 a.m., her mother Iquilla went to wake the kids for school. Asha’s bed was empty. Her brother O’Bryant would later say he’d heard some sound from his sister in the night. Iquilla checked the house, checked the cars, and called the police.
There is a billboard now at the spot where Asha entered the woods. Every year, her family walks from their home to that spot.
The early investigation
Searchers worked the woods and the highway. Near where Asha was last seen, inside a shed at a business along the highway, they found candy wrappers, a pencil, a marker, and a Mickey Mouse–shaped hair bow — identified as Asha’s. A lone mitten turned up in the search; Iquilla said it wasn’t hers.
At first it looked like a runaway. But nothing that evening pointed to a runaway plan, and investigators eventually concluded she’d been abducted after leaving the house. The case went national — America’s Most Wanted, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Then August 2001 brought the discovery that redefined everything: Asha’s bookbag, found buried at a construction site along Highway 18 in Morganton, Burke County — some 25 miles from where she’d last been seen. It had been sealed inside black trash bags, deliberately protected from the weather, with Asha’s name and phone number on it.
Inside: a Dr. Seuss book (McElligot’s Pool) with Asha’s name written in it; Michael Jordan and Rasheed Wallace trading cards; a Bankhead Courts t-shirt; underwear; hair accessories; a strawberry shortcake–print pencil case; a McDonald’s “Millennium” leaflet with handwritten notes listing the Degrees’ address and phone number. Forensics found microscopic bloodstains and three hairs with root follicles — one Asha’s, two from unidentified people. No semen. No fingerprints. The location told its own story: the bag got there by car. A 2,000-acre farm near the site was searched. Nothing.
In 2015, the FBI joined state and county investigators in a renewed push, and a reward was offered.
The 2024–2026 investigation
In September 2024, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI served search warrants on properties tied to the Dedmon family of Cleveland County. A green 1964 AMC Rambler was seized. No remains were found. The warrants laid out investigators’ belief that Asha had been killed and her body hidden — a position taken in the filings, not a court finding.
The Dedmon family members named in the warrants — Roy Lee Dedmon and Connie Dedmon, and their three daughters — have publicly denied any involvement through attorneys, and are presumed innocent. We name no one here as guilty of anything, because no court has found anyone guilty of anything.
What the warrants alleged, as reported by the Charlotte Observer, Queen City News, and WBTV:
- Genealogical DNA analysis of a hair stem found on Asha’s undershirt indicated a genetic match to the youngest Dedmon daughter — who was 13 when Asha disappeared.
- DNA from items in Asha’s backpack matched Russell Bradley Underhill, a man who lived in at least two care facilities run by Roy and Connie Dedmon. Underhill died in 2004.
- Newly released warrants in February 2025 included cellphone records and text messages between family members. One text from September 2024 read: “The theory is I did it. Accident. Covered it up.” A witness told investigators he’d overheard a claim of responsibility at a party years earlier. Allegations in warrant filings — not proven facts.
In February 2025, the case was formally reclassified as a homicide investigation. In September 2025, WBTV reported new billboards advertising a $100,000 reward.
As of the latest reporting — the case’s 26th year, February 2026 — no one has been arrested or charged. The investigation is open and active.
What we still don’t know
Why did a storm-frightened nine-year-old walk out into a storm? The packed bookbag suggests planning. The family’s account offers no trigger. Investigators concluded abduction rather than a runaway — but what drew her out of the house that night is still unknown.
What happened between the highway and the buried bookbag? The sightings put her on foot on Highway 18. The bookbag — sealed in trash bags, buried 25 miles away in Burke County — says a vehicle and a second person. The warrant allegations offer one version. No court has tested it.
Will the forensic threads ever resolve? For twenty years, the unidentified hairs from the bookbag were the case’s great open forensic question. The 2024 DNA developments may close it — or may not. The family still walks every year, and a scholarship in Asha’s name keeps her present in the community she never got to grow up in.
Have information?
Contact the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office: (704) 484-4822, the FBI Charlotte Field Office: (704) 672-6100, or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: 1-800-843-5678. In an emergency, dial 911. A $100,000 reward has been reported for information.
Timeline
- August 5, 1990 — Asha Jaquilla Degree is born in Shelby, North Carolina.
- February 13, 2000 (evening) — Storm knocks out power; Asha goes to bed around 9 p.m.
- February 14, 2000, ~2:30 a.m. — Last confirmed sighting by family; both children asleep.
- February 14, 2000, ~3:45–4:15 a.m. — Motorists see a girl matching Asha’s description on Highway 18; she runs into the woods.
- February 14, 2000, ~5:45 a.m. — Iquilla discovers Asha missing; police called.
- August 2001 — Asha’s bookbag found buried in Morganton, ~25 miles away, sealed in trash bags.
- 2015 — FBI joins the investigation; reward offered.
- September 2024 — Search warrants executed on Dedmon family properties; Rambler seized.
- February 2025 — Case reclassified as a homicide investigation.
- September 2025 — $100,000 reward billboards erected (WBTV).
- February 2026 — 26th year; no arrests, investigation active.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Asha Degree still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Asha Degree has been missing for more than 26 years. No remains have ever been found.
How old would Asha Degree be today?
Asha was born August 5, 1990 — she turned 36 in August 2026.
Has anyone been arrested in the Asha Degree case?
No. Despite the 2024 search warrants and the 2025 homicide reclassification, no one had been arrested or charged as of the latest reporting in February 2026. Everyone named in the warrants has denied involvement and is presumed innocent.
What happened to Asha Degree?
Nobody knows with certainty. Investigators concluded she was abducted after leaving her home on foot. Search-warrant filings from 2024–2025 allege she was killed and her body concealed — but those are unproven allegations, not court findings.
What was found in Asha Degree’s bookbag?
The bookbag — found buried and sealed in trash bags 25 miles from where she was last seen — contained a Dr. Seuss book with her name in it, trading cards, a t-shirt, underwear, hair accessories, a pencil case, and a McDonald’s leaflet with her family’s contact details handwritten on it. Forensic testing found microscopic bloodstains and three hairs with root follicles.
How can I help?
Share this case file, and if you have any information, contact the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office at (704) 484-4822 or the FBI Charlotte Field Office at (704) 672-6100. Please do not repeat warrant allegations as fact.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office; FBI Charlotte Field Office.
- News: WBTV (Charlotte) — Sept 2025 reward billboards; Feb 2026 anniversary coverage; Queen City News / The Charlotte Observer — warrant texts (Feb 2025); WCNC — homicide reclassification.
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Asha Degree” (retrieved Oct 2026); Black and Missing Foundation (BAMFI) poster; NCMEC case 879788.
- Media: America’s Most Wanted (original coverage).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.