Clues with Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore

Episode: MISSING: Asha Degree
Date: September 10, 2025
Host: Crime House / Clues (PAVE Studios)

Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore dive into the baffling case of Asha Degree, a 9-year-old girl from Shelby, North Carolina, who vanished on Valentine's Day 2000. The hosts dissect the timeline, scrutinize overlooked clues, discuss forensic breakthroughs, and spotlight recently uncovered evidence—including explosive new DNA links and prime suspects. As the case teeters on the edge of a potential breakthrough after 25 years, Morgan and Kaelyn unpack each detail, theory, and twist, maintaining an empathetic and urgent tone throughout.

Key Discussion Points & Segment Timestamps

1. Introduction & Case Background (03:10–13:00)

• Setting the Scene: Shelby, NC—a tight-knit, low-income community with a close, supportive Degree family.
• Timeline Pre-Disappearance:
  • Asha attends church and spends time with family; upset after her basketball team loses (11:00).
  • Power outage due to a car crash; Asha and her brother O’Bryant go to bed early.
• Critical Night:
  • Last confirmed sighting: Harold Degree checks on Asha at 2:30am (12:00).
  • O’Bryant hears Asha’s bed creak—potential time of her departure.

Quote:

“This case really feels like the reason why we talk about cases on podcasts...even after 25 years, witnesses can come forward, technology improves, and you really just need more people learning about the cases...” — Kaelyn (03:26)

2. Initial Search & Witness Accounts (13:01–22:31)

• Missing Person Report: Iquilla Degree discovers Asha missing around 6:30am; police notified by 6:39am.
• Immediate Investigation:
  • No evidence of forced entry, struggle, or blood—indicating Asha left voluntarily, yet makes little sense (13:50).
  • Key items missing: backpack, Tweety Bird purse, some clothes, and house keys.
• Eyewitness Sightings:
  • Two truck drivers spot a young girl, presumed to be Asha, walking alone with a book bag at 3:30–4:15am on Highway 18—a mile from home, in a storm (15:57-21:11).
  • The girl flees into the woods when approached.

Quote:

“I seen a little girl walking down the road with her book bag. She had on a little dress and white tennis shoes and her hair was in pigtails. I went back but she never did look up at me…” — Jeff Roope to Charlotte Observer (18:33)

3. Early Clues: The Storage Shed & Mysterious Items (22:31–25:50)

• Finds in Local Shed (Charles & Raleigh Turner’s Property):
  • A Mickey Mouse hair bow, green marker, Olympic pencil, candy wrappers, and, most curiously, a photo of an unfamiliar young black girl.
  • None led directly to Asha, but the items raised questions about their origin and Asha’s last steps.

Discussion: Doubts about the efficacy of the search dogs due to weather and confusion over potential scent contamination (25:50).

4. The Search Grows Cold (26:47–30:28)

• Searches wind down after a week—over 9,000 manhours, no solid leads.
• Family Rallies Awareness: Publicizes Asha’s case via flyers, TV, and America’s Most Wanted.
• Billboard erected on Highway 18; ongoing frustration from law enforcement.

Quote:

“We have no productive sightings since that Monday...The child Asha Degree has basically disappeared.” — Sheriff Dan Crawford (29:01)

5. The Backpack Discovery: A Major Turning Point (30:28–36:57)

• Backpack Found: August 2, 2001—Construction worker uncovers Asha’s backpack, carefully wrapped in two trash bags, buried 26 miles north of where she was last seen—opposite her last direction.
• Implications:
  • Discovery strongly suggests foul play and a kidnapping scenario.
  • Local law enforcement: “Finding the backpack this far away confirms...this is a kidnapping.” (38:00)

Memorable Moment:

“It almost feels like divine intervention...the fact that it was even found at all, buried in the ground 26 miles away…” — Kaelyn (32:34)

6. New Leads: Forensic Breakthroughs & Suspicious Vehicles (2016–2024) (38:40–47:00)

• 2016: FBI announces a witness saw Asha being pulled into or getting into a dark green, vintage 70s car (Lincoln Continental/Ford Thunderbird)—distinctive, with rust around the wheel wells (40:02).
• 2018: Police reveal mysterious items from Asha’s backpack:
  • Dr. Seuss’s McElligot’s Pool (checked out from her school library, but unclear by whom).
  • New Kids on the Block T-shirt—does not belong to Asha or her family.
• 2017 Onward: FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) Team deploys new DNA and forensic genealogy techniques.

7. The 2024 Break: DNA Link to Local Family (47:00–55:28)

• September 2024:
  • Massive law enforcement activity at homes owned by Roy and Connie Dedman.
  • Dark green AMC Rambler matching the suspicious vehicle description is found.
  • Warrants reveal police now believe Asha was killed, with Dedman family members implicated.
  • DNA from Asha’s backpack: Matched to Annalee Dedman Ramirez (13 at time of disappearance), Roy Dedman’s youngest daughter, and to Russell Underhill, a resident in the Dedmans’ rest home.
  • No known personal connection between Asha and the Dedmans; investigation ongoing into family and associated parties.

Quote:

“During the initial rounds of forensic testing, investigators had isolated genetic material from those items, and they belonged to two different people. But...the tech was so limited...In 2023, they tried...forensic genealogy.” — Morgan (47:56)

8. Theories, Witness Testimony & Damning Texts (55:28–61:03)

• Party Confession: Witness Thaddeus Melentine claims Lizzie Dedman drunkenly confessed: “I killed Asha Degree,” and Sarah quickly tried to silence her (52:26–54:23).
  • Thaddeus passes a polygraph, though his timing after reward money increase raises eyebrows.
• Dedman Sisters’ Texts:
  • On learning about renewed police focus, text exchanges reveal panic and knowledge, indirect admissions of guilt, and legal strategy, not confusion or denial about involvement (57:18).
  • Lizzie, after hearing the police theory, texts: “I caused this. Which I don’t know what I caused.” (58:21)
  • Lizzie admits, “If my dad did it, he did it, but I had nothing to do with it.” (61:38)

Memorable Exchange:

Sarah: “This is all caps. Not your fault.”
Morgan: “My first question is, whose fault is it?” (58:25–58:58)

9. Current Status and Speculation (61:03–73:53)

• Polygraph Tests & Obstruction: Lizzie fails polygraph; police treat Dedman family as obstructing justice (61:13–61:54).
• Potential Theories:
  • Abduction from home seems unlikely due to no forced entry; running away also doesn’t fit her personality.
  • Strong theory: The Dedman sisters, perhaps while driving, accidentally hit Asha and orchestrated a cover-up, supported by vehicle evidence and text panic (66:49–69:50).
  • Possibility Russell Underhill, an unrelated party living at their property, could have been involved (69:06).
• Family, Socioeconomics, and Systemic Issues: Host anger at the apparent power divide and continued absence of resolution (70:58).

Notable Quote:

“It’s just horrible to think that they took her body from the scene and maybe their father helped them dispose of it somewhere.” — Kaelyn (70:01)

• Reward Raised to $100,000 in hopes that key individuals (such as Lizzie’s ex-husband, Kelly Foster) may be swayed to reveal information (63:49–64:00).
• Investigation ongoing; hope remains high for resolution in 2025.

10. Theories, Unanswered Questions & Community Call (73:47–end)

• Unanswered Details: Motivation for Asha leaving, exact sequence of her disappearance, full inventory of backpack contents, the significance of the unknown girl’s photo, and the specifics of the DNA location (various locations).
• Crowdsourcing, Social Awareness:
  • Pleas for tips from the public.
  • Direct appeals for information and sharing on social media.
• Missing Person of the Week: Ruthie Smith—Profile and call for help on another missing young woman from Los Angeles (74:00–77:25).

Quote:

“Only 1% of these victims come back alive. My daughter deserves to be that 1%. So, I beg the public, you see something, say something.” — Ruthie Smith’s mother Catherine Rhonesto (75:59)

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “This case really feels like the reason why we talk about cases on podcasts...even after 25 years, witnesses can come forward, technology improves...” — Kaelyn (03:26)
• “I just keep getting the chills every time I think about it...I'm mind blown by the new evidence that feels like it is just on the tip of coming out.” — Morgan (03:14)
• “I seen a little girl walking down the road with her book bag...I went back but she never did look up at me. She looked like she knew where she was going.” — Truck driver Jeff Roope (18:33)
• “During the initial rounds of forensic testing, investigators had isolated genetic material from those items, and they belonged to two different people...” — Morgan (47:56)
• “I killed Asha degree.” (alleged overheard confession, Lizzie Dedman; retold by Thaddeus Melentine, 52:26)
• “I caused this. Which I don’t know what I caused.” — Lizzie Dedman (58:21)
• “If my dad did it, he did it, but I had nothing to do with it.” — Lizzie Dedman (61:38)
• “Only 1% of [human trafficking] victims come back alive. My daughter deserves to be that 1%...you see something, say something.” — Catherine Rhonesto (75:59)

Summary Takeaways

• Persistence Pays: The case is an example of how persistence, awareness, and advancements in forensic science can revive even the coldest cases.
• Complex Web: The Dedman family, especially through forensic genealogy, has emerged as key suspects; their possible connections ranging from accidental homicide to active cover-up.
• Community Role: Local and national response—billboards, national media, and ongoing reward funds—have been vital in keeping Asha’s case alive.
• Raw Emotion: The episode captures frustration with systemic failures and empathy for the Degree family, ending on a cautiously hopeful note.

Listener Action & Resources

• If you have information on Asha Degree:
  • Contact Charlotte FBI: 704-672-6100
  • National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)
• Share the episode, social posts and missing person info to help keep both Asha and Ruthie Smith’s cases visible.

Stay engaged for developing updates in the case—the hosts believe an answer could be imminent, and as Kaelyn says, sometimes “the smallest clues and witness statements” crack the biggest cases.