← The Final Hours with Sarah Turney and Kourtney Nichole
The Final Hours with Sarah Turney and Kourtney Nichole
Asha Degree: The Stormy Morning Disappearance
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- [00:02]
Sarah Tierney
Hey, guys, real quick. Before today's episode, we want to tell you about another show from Crime House that we know you'll love. America's Most Infamous Crimes.
- [00:11]
Courtney Nicole
Hosted by Katie Ring. Each week, Katie takes on one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history.
- [00:17]
Sarah Tierney
From serial killers who terrorize cities to unsolved mysteries that keep detectives up at night, these are the stories that change the way we think about justice.
- [00:26]
Courtney Nicole
Listen to and follow America's most infamous crimes Tuesday through Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
- [00:44]
Sarah Tierney
This is crime house. You're looking through a child's backpack. On August 2, 2001, it was found wrapped in two trash bags at a construction site along the NC18 highway in Morganton, North Carolina. Written on the inside is a phone number and a name. It belongs to Asha Degree, a nine year old girl who disappeared on that same highway a year and a half earlier. February 14, 2000, Valentine's Day. The contents include some of Asia's clothing, among a few other things. But two items stand out the most.
- [01:25]
Courtney Nicole
One is an oversized T shirt featuring the 1980s boy band New Kids on the Block. It's white with a red neckline, red sleeves, and red trim at the bottom. Underneath the band's photo, it reads, quote, concert Tonight, main arena, 7pm Hangin tough 8990 sold out tour. The second item is a book, McElligott's Pool by Dr. Seuss. The book was checked out from the Falston Elementary School library, but not by Asha. And school records don't go back far enough to say who did. According to Asha's family, that T shirt doesn't belong to her either.
- [02:00]
Sarah Tierney
In 2001, no one knows for sure what these items mean, but almost 25 years later, this backpack may hold clues as to how and why Asha Degree disappeared.
- [02:22]
Courtney Nicole
Every year, over half a million people go missing. And that's just in the United States alone. Most of those stories barely get a headline. Some don't even get a flyer or a tip line. And when cases do get media attention, we usually only get the broad strokes.
- [02:37]
Sarah Tierney
But for those of us who have lived these true crime cases, we know the devil's in the details. This is the final hours. A Crime House original Powered by Pave Studios. I'm Sarah Tierney.
- [02:48]
Courtney Nicole
And I'm Courtney Nicole. Every Monday, Sarah and I will be looking at the final hours of someone's disappearance. The small, seemingly mundane moments to see if there was anything hiding in plain sight.
- [02:59]
Sarah Tierney
Looking back at all those last conversations, connections and choices is critical. And it could be the key to unlocking it all. Each episode I'll offer insight onto what those close to the victim might have been going through, and Courtney will use her expertise to give more context into the crime scene, the red flags, and the investigation itself. And we want to thank you for being a part of the Crime House community. Please rate, review and follow the show and for ad free access to every episode. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple
- [03:28]
Courtney Nicole
Podcasts this time we're discussing the disappearance of 9 year old Asha degree who on Valentine's Day 2000 quietly walked out of her home and into the dark after a violent storm. Two different truck drivers claimed to see her walking along the highway alone that night clutching her backpack. But those were the last known sightings of Asha, whose disappearance was a mystery until an explosive twist in 2024. Asha Degree will always be known as Shelby, North Carolina Sweetheart. Not only did her family love her deeply, so did everyone in her small town. Ever since she disappeared on Valentine's Day in 2000, no has given up on finding her. Over the past quarter century, Asha's case has inched forward slowly but surely. Now investigators are closer than ever to finding an answer about what actually happened. But before we discuss the evidence, let's talk about the Sweetheart herself.
- [04:28]
Sarah Tierney
It's the year 2000. Nine year old Asha lives with her parents, 30 year olds Harold and Equilla Degree and her older brother 10 year old O'. Bryant. They stay in a rented two bedroom duplex on Oak Crest Drive on the northern outskirts of Shelby. The small town 45 miles west of Charlotte is known as the City of Pleasant Living. The Degrees keep a loving household. Asha shares a room with her brother, which is fine because they're best friends. He likes to walk her to class and sometimes even holds her hand on the way there. But at home, Asha's a total daddy's girl. She really bonded with Harold when she was 6 months old. that point he'd gotten laid off from work and took over her late night feedings. Now Harold works as a dock loader at PPG Industries in Shelby. Aquilla builds pianos at Kauai America nearby in Lincolnton. Asha grew up quiet like her dad, but they love to play together. Loudly. They wrestle a lot. Asha also loves jumping on her trampoline and playing tag with her brother and cousins who live nearby. She has over a dozen in the area, but she's also very independent. She's happy to play with her Barbies alone in her room. Asha's also really empathetic she's the kind of kid who never wants her classmates to feel bad or left out. She'll play with anybody. She's warm and polite, though a bit shy at times.
- [05:49]
Courtney Nicole
Yeah, and you can actually see this in her singing. When her dad plays his Kirk Franklin tape of the gospel song Revolution in the Car, Asha always belts out the lyrics. But she's too shy to take a solo in the children's choir at her church.
- [06:01]
Sarah Tierney
And because of that, it surprises Asha's parents when she asks to play basketball in fourth grade. In the fall of 1999, she joins the Fallston Elementary School Bulldogs as a point guard. She loves the team element and feeling like she's not alone out there. She's a great student, too. In class, she's regularly awarded student of the week, and she often wins Treasure Chest, which is when a kid does something helpful in their class and gets to pick a prize. Asha especially loves to read and write. She wants to be an author and illustrator when she grows up. She even includes her brother as a character in some of her stories.
- [06:37]
Courtney Nicole
O' Bryant was actually the one who helped her learn how to read. He started Asha off with the Clifford the Big Red Dog books, but now that she's in fourth grade, she enjoys reading a series called Horrible Harry, about the adventures of an imaginative second grader. Her most recent reading assignment was the Whipping Boy, which told a story about two kids who ran away and hid in sewer pipes. The class just finished reading the book, so it's fresh in their minds.
- [07:02]
Sarah Tierney
Asha's also big into movies. She's got a soft heart, so all the sad parts make her cry. But because she has a big imagination, she doesn't like anything scary. They give her nightmares. After they watched Mars Attacks, Asha told o' Bryant she dreamed she was an alien attacking Earth. She told him the graveyard scene in Michael Jackson's music video Thriller gave her nightmares. All to say, Asha is someone who isn't afraid to express her fears, especially for a nine year old. Her family also knows she's terrified of thunderstorms and dogs because she doesn't like things jumping on her. Yet she's still sharp witted and cautious. When her aunt comes to the door, she won't even answer it without her mom's permission.
- [07:44]
Courtney Nicole
Did you have any, like, childhood fear, Sarah?
- [07:46]
Sarah Tierney
Um, yeah, I was really afraid of storms. We don't have a lot of weather in Arizona, but we do have a pretty vicious monsoon season sometimes. So as a kid I was absolutely terrified.
- [07:59]
Courtney Nicole
Yeah, I'm kind of right there with you. I Grew up in Washington and we, I mean, we obviously get like rain, but we don't get any, like major natural disasters. But I grew up with a horrible fear of tornadoes, which I actually am still really deathly afraid of them today. And now I live in Utah, which we don't even get anything like that here. But yeah, definitely storms. I'm kind of right there with Asia.
- [08:21]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah. I mean, I feel like you have to take everything into consideration. Right. But I also think there's a difference between a child saying that they're afraid and being in their house with their parents, and then child actually like being out in a storm and what they might do. I love kids. I love the children in my life. Right. But sometimes they're a little performative when it comes to being afraid. And when they get in the actual situation when it's something harmless, like a little bit of rain. Right. You know, they might act differently.
- [08:44]
Courtney Nicole
Yeah. I. I have three kids myself. You know, they're all six and under. And so I definitely know what you mean about being performative. I don't know, like their media consumption. Like with Asia, she loves to like, read and like, watch movies and stuff. I do feel like that could maybe play a factor into like what they're interest in or what they're scared of or what they may or may not do.
- [09:03]
Sarah Tierney
Right. Like, and sparking her imagination and creativity feels like something completely different than like changing behavior. I loved the Boxcar Children book series when I was a kid. I would have loved to go live in a train. Right. But if you would have put me in a boxcar, I'm sure I would have, you know, said, no, thank you. Well, let's talk about the days leading up to Asha's disappearance. On Saturday, February 12, 2000, Asha has a basketball game with the Fallston Elementary Bulldogs. She's a star player, but that day she fouls out and doesn't get to finish the game. The Bulldogs lose. Asha is definitely disappointed afterward, but she's got something to cheer her up. That night, she goes to a slumber party at her cousin's house. 15 year old Katina. She and a few other cousins have a blast. Staying up late, pretending to be Soul Train contestants and watching Showtime at the Apollo. Asha's dancing and laughing. She seems happy. The next morning, February 13th is a Sunday, so Asha goes to church with her family. She brings a black purse with Tweety Bird on it. It's something she picked out when she won Treasure Chest at school the week before. She's proud of that that morning, Asha sees the Deacon Howard camp. She tugs on his pant leg and asks him the same question she does every Mr. Camp. How'd I play yesterday? He tells her that she played great, even better than her brother. That evening at 6:30pm Asha goes to bed early. She's tired from the sleepover the night before. But high winds and lightning storms rattle the house that evening, which terrifies her. Around 8:30pm Asha crawls out from under the covers and slips into the living room. She sits between her parents on the couch and watches TV with them. Around 9pm the power goes out in the house, so Asha goes back to bed.
- [10:49]
Courtney Nicole
I feel like it's common knowledge that Eisha was like a high achiever, so I definitely could see her beating herself up, fouling out at this basketball game. But I don't know. I feel like that at that slumber party. I mean, it's obviously hard to say since I wasn't there, but I feel like she did have a genuinely good time at this slumber party.
- [11:07]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah. And I feel like, you know, in that moment when your team loses the game, it does feel like the end of the world. But kids are so resilient, and it feels like just a few hours later she was having a fun time. So it's hard to say. You know, I think that both can be true. Right. That she had big feelings about the game, but that she was able to get over it.
- [11:27]
Courtney Nicole
Yeah, I see that all the time in my own kids. You know, they can be really upset one second and then literally five minutes later, it's like they've completely forgotten about it.
- [11:34]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah. It's the end of the world one minute and then everything's fine the next. But it's hard, you know, while I don't think that this is going to be enough to make a child run away from home, we have no idea what was going on in asha's head. It's 2:30am on Monday, February 14, 2000, the first Valentine's Day of the new century. It also happens to be Aquilla and Harold Degree's wedding anniversary. A storm is still raging outside. On Harold's way to bed, he pokes his head into the kids room to check on them. Asha and o' Brien are in their bed sleeping. Harold goes to his room, which is less than 5ft away. About 30 minutes later, Asha wakes up. She gets dressed, grabs her backpack and leaves the house, locking the door behind her. She's quiet as a mouse. No one even notices she left.
- [12:24]
Courtney Nicole
No one knows what causes her to take this unexpected journey. Either if she left spontaneously or if her backpack was already packed and ready to go. But we do know that Asha turns onto the two lane highway around the corner from her family's duplex. And she starts trekking south down the two lane NC18 highway, the same direction as her bus route. Because at 3.30am, a father and son trucking team sees Asha walking by the side of the road. She's wearing a white shirt, white jeans and white tennis shoes. Half an hour later, at 4am, another truck driver named Jeff catches sight of Asha. Jeff is concerned, so he turns his 10 wheeler around on the two lane winding road to check on her. Asha is a mile away from her home in the middle of the night. Jeff never sees her look up while she's walking. Eventually, she veers away from the highway into the darkness. I think this is like what's really, really hard for me because there should be no reason that like a little girl like this would be leaving alone in the middle of the night, in the complete darkness and in the middle of this massive storm, which we already know she is terrified of.
- [13:29]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah, I mean, you read my mind. If there's a child leaving home in a storm, despite their fears, in my opinion, there's probably a pretty strong reason why she did it. It's not some, like, I just all of a sudden gonna pack my bag and leave the house for a random reason. It feels again like something compelled her to leave.
- [13:48]
Courtney Nicole
I mean, I remember personally being 9 years old, if I did not have like a good reason, like I guess like an emergency type reason, like I would not have left the house like that, especially in a storm. Then again, she was walking kind of in the same direction as her school and church, but it was also just like the biggest street nearby. So we don't know like why she left or like where exactly she was planning to go.
- [14:10]
Sarah Tierney
Even with the most predictable kids, sometimes they surprise you. And it's the days before really. I mean, you know, the Internet existed obviously, right? But it doesn't seem like it would be a child predator who groomed her online. Nowhere in covering this case have I seen that right. About her having any type of online presence especially. So if someone was leading her out of that house, you have to think of like, when did they meet, how long have they known each other, when did they have this conversation? Was it planned even? I mean, there's so many questions and I think that's part of why so many people gravitate towards this case at 6:00am on Monday, February 14, 2000, Iquilla wakes up before her alarm and goes to the bathroom. The kid's room is two feet away and she notices the door is cracked when it's usually closed. But she doesn't think anything of it. At 6:30am her alarm rings to wake the kids up for school. Aquilla heads back to the bathroom and starts their bath. The kids hadn't gotten one the night before because of the power outage. Then she goes to the kids room to wake them up. O' Bryant is under the covers. He jumps up as soon as his mom calls his name. Same as usual. But Asha isn't in her bed. Asha usually makes her bed right after she gets up, but the covers are still undone.
- [15:31]
Courtney Nicole
One thing I learned was that Asha sometimes woke up at night and would lie on the floor next to o' Brien's bed. So Aquilla checks there first. No Asha. When she asks o' Bryant where his sister is, he says he doesn't know. She checks the living room, the kitchen and every closet in the house. Still no Asha. Aquilla goes into her room, gets dressed and tells Harold that Asha's not inside. She even checks their cars. That's when Harold suggests that maybe Asha went to his mother's house right across the street. They also call his sister, who lives down the block. Neither of them has seen or heard from Asha that morning. So Aquilla calls her mom and tells her that Asha isn't home. Her mom says to hang up and call the police right away. Aquilla tosses the phone to Harold to call 911 and heads outside. Then she walks up and down the street screaming Asha's name. She's met Aqua with deafening silence. Monday, February 14, 2000. It's 6:40am when the first officer arrives at the Degree's house. Aquilla and Harold start recounting their morning. Just two or three minutes later, the sheriff arrives with more officers. They ask for pictures and call in a K9 unit. By 7am it seems like every cop and reporter in the county is there. Iquilla is all over the local news. That trucker from the night before. Jeff sees asha's photo on TV. He calls and reports seeing her walk up the NC18 at 4am he says eventually she veered away from the highway and into a sparsely wooded field. He thought it looked like she knew where she was going. Around 60 volunteers assemble from the fire departments, the Red Cross and the neighborhood. One block away from Asha's home, at a Baptist church, they set up a base of operations. The search teams set off from there. That afternoon they cover a three mile stretch. At 2pm the State Bureau of Investigation joins everyone at the Degree House. It's decided that Asha's case will be shared between the Cleveland County Sheriff's office, the FBI and the North Carolina sbi. The authorities question Harold and Equilla and their many extended family members in the area who all help with the search. They run background checks on relatives and others close to Asha. While they haven't ruled out abduction, they feel confident Asha left on her own. They have three eyewitnesses who saw her walking alone that morning and find no reason not to believe them.
- [18:02]
Sarah Tierney
That evening, a hailstorm rolls in. Asha's family is concerned because they took inventory of her room and they know she doesn't have her raincoat with her. On Tuesday, February 15, at 5am Harold finally goes to sleep after staying up all night to look for his daughter.
- [18:20]
Courtney Nicole
Later that afternoon, the search turns up a few potential clues. A barn door slightly ajar, a footprint outside in the mud. But nothing the police deem meaningful. That is until they search the Turner property. Charles Turner and his wife Raleigh, both 59, live with their family along the NC 18. Their house shares land with their upholstery company. Searchers ride by on horseback and ask Raleigh to check her barn and the three nearby buildings on their property. Raleigh's daughter Debbie helps. They find nothing until they get to the doorless, rickety old shed filled with furniture and farm equipment. It's about 600ft away from the highway where Jeff the trucker last saw Asha. One mile away from the degree home. There, next to the red tractor, Raleigh finds a wallet sized photo of a young black girl who looks around the same age as Asha. She has a heart shaped face with a soft smile and big eyes. Her hair is pulled back with clips in it. Under polka dot overalls she's wearing a button down short sleeve shirt with a two tone collar. It seems like a promising lead, but when they turn the photo over to the police, they realize it's not of Asha, though it looks like it could be someone related to her, maybe a cousin. So the investigators show the degrees, but they don't recognize the photo or the girl in it. It's another dead end. Even more frustrating, the dogs don't pick up Asha's scent in the area. The infrared equipment can't locate her either.
- [19:45]
Sarah Tierney
On day three, Wednesday, February 16th, Cleveland county deputies buy a pair of the shoes Asha was last seen wearing. They compare them to footprints found in the mud, but none match.
- [19:57]
Courtney Nicole
On day four, Thursday, February 17, volunteers search the turner property again. This time they find a candy wrapper. When the police ask the turners about it, they hand over a pile of other items they discovered too. A bow, a pen, and a pencil, which Raleigh and Debbie found near the photo of the unknown girl on Tuesday. They claim to have mentioned them to investigators, but say they never handed them over because the picture was a dead end. Unlike the girl in the wallet size photo, the degrees do recognize these things. The 1 1/2 inch hard plastic bow with a yellow teddy bear definitely belongs to Asia. The candy was given to her at a valentine's day party the weekend before. And the white pencil, which says Atlanta on it, came from the degree family reunion in Georgia the previous year. These are massive clues.
- [20:45]
Sarah Tierney
I mean, I feel like this solidifies that eisha was in that building, you know what I mean? Like, it would be one thing if it was just like the hard plastic bow and just the candy, Because I feel like those are very generic items that a lot of kids had at this time. But it's the pencil that does it for me. The pencil from their family reunion. Like, she had to have been in that building.
- [21:06]
Courtney Nicole
Yeah, to me, that 100% confirms that she was in this area. But, you know, I don't really think that she took these items for, like, sentimental value. I think that she just took them because, well, we know that she likes to read and write. So maybe she took off that night wanting to, like, clear her head, Took the pen, took the pencil, Wanting to, like, write a few of her thoughts down. That's kind of like the first thing that comes to my mind.
- [21:26]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah, I mean, I'm in the same boat as you, and I feel like the contents, you know, of what she took and potentially what's in her bag feels very much just like what kids bring and what, you know, little girls put in their purses when they go to leave somewhere. I don't think that there's enough there to formally, like, form an opinion on
- [21:44]
Courtney Nicole
this or exactly to like, be able to pinpoint how long she was, like, planning to be gone. I feel like there's just not enough evidence there to, like, calculate that. But it does prove to me that she. She must have been in that area for whatever reason.
- [21:57]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing we can glean from this at the
- [22:00]
Courtney Nicole
end of the day. What could have prompted her to leave. We already established the Internet wasn't super big back then. Maybe she had a rough day with the basketball game and wanted to clear her head. But what I always come back to is, it was right in the middle of a storm. Asha was terrified of storms. I don't know why she would have left in the middle of one. It doesn't make sense to me.
- [22:18]
Sarah Tierney
Right. Well, in the dark in general. Right. You know, we don't know if she was afraid of the dark, but I think it's safe to say that most kids are, especially in the middle of a storm, like you said. That's just. I think the biggest question in this case is, why did she leave home in the middle of the night?
- [22:33]
Courtney Nicole
I don't really feel like she was running away. But one thing that I found interesting was, like, around the time of Aisha's disappearance, only 4% of runaways were between 7 and 11 years old. You know, she was 9. So I don't want to speculate, but I really don't know what could have been going through her mind to make her want to leave like that in the middle of the night.
- [22:49]
Sarah Tierney
Statistically. Right. It seems improbable, and I think that that's fair to say without, you know, going into too much speculation. We also know that, unfortunately, most of the time when kids go missing, it's at the hands of someone they know.
- [23:00]
Courtney Nicole
In this case, I feel like that could be highly likely. And then another thing that I kind of always go back to that I can't really wrap my head around is the picture of this little girl. Who was this little girl? And, like, why. Why was it found in the mix of, like, all of Asia's belongings?
- [23:16]
Sarah Tierney
I wish we had more answers about that, too. But I could also see a world in which any child just starts picking up little trinkets along the way. If they're walking somewhere, like, they find something, they throw it in their backpack. Especially at that age, you know, I know for me, it felt like everything was like a treasure. So everything I picked up, I just kind of collected and loved on.
- [23:34]
Courtney Nicole
If the witness saw Asha walking and thought, okay, she looks like she knows where she's going, maybe the shed was a secret hangout for, like, kids in the area. I obviously don't want to say, but it's just, like, weird to me that so many of, like, these random belongings were found in this shed. So I guess maybe that could be, like, another avenue to explore.
- [23:52]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah, no, that's a great point. Right. I think, one, it makes sense that she might be trying to, like, shelter from the storm and go into any building that she can. Right. But with all these children's items in there, I could see a world in which like kids just hang out there.
- [24:07]
Courtney Nicole
By day seven, Sunday, February 20th nobody has found any new information since the Turners handed over the evidence from their shed three days prior. A collective 9,000 hours have been spent scouring the area. 200 tip calls have been returned. Officials suspend the search but keep going with the investigation.
- [24:25]
Sarah Tierney
Meanwhile, Asia's family continues to look. O' Brien wears a yellow wristband with Asia's basketball jersey, number 45, to keep her close. He goes back to school on Tuesday, February 22, after eight days. But he won't ride the bus because he used to do that with Asha. He's slept in his parents bed ever since she left. Harold spends most of his days trying to find Asha on foot. The only way he can sleep at night is if he walks until he exhausts himself. Morning is the hardest for Aquila. She relives the sight of Asha's empty bed over and over. But she doesn't give up hope.
- [25:01]
Courtney Nicole
On February 26, 2000, Asha is featured on America's Most Wanted to solicit tips. That night, from 8:30pm to 1:30am a Cleveland county detective stands by at a toll free tip line waiting for valuable intel. Only one caller dials in, a woman from Kissimmee, Florida. She believes she saw Asha in a supermarket, but the Cleveland county chief deputy thinks the sighting doesn't fit the story. Trying to drum up more attention, the basketball coach's sister goes online and reaches out to national talk shows. The Montel Williams show is the only one that replies. So the degrees fly to New York City at the beginning of March 2000 for a taping. On Wednesday, March 22, a local sign service donates the first billboard. It stands at the spot Aschell was last seen along NC 18. In month three, April 2000, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office increases their reward for information from 9,300 to 18,000.
- [25:57]
Sarah Tierney
At this point, Equilla understandably still hasn't returned to work, though Harold has. O' Bryant is also really struggling to maintain a routine. His therapist says he needs one, though the structure of Equilla going back to work will help him with that. So on May 15, 2000, three months after Asha's disappearance, Equilla returns to her job and tries to get back to some semblance of normalcy. Even though Harold and Iquilla still go to o' Brien's basketball games every weekend, the family struggles to spend time together. They don't Feel complete.
- [26:29]
Courtney Nicole
The next few months are relatively quiet as far as the investigation is concerned. Finally, in late 2000, nine months after Asha's disappearance, A new lead is brought to the degree's attention. Aquilla's former classmate Baron Ramsey, is in jail for robbing a bank back in April. He already had a lengthy criminal record, so he was willing to cooperate with authorities in exchange for a deal, and they were willing to entertain it. He told the police about a drive he took on February 14, 2000, with another man from Cleveland County. They were heading back to Shelby early in the morning after buying drugs 40 miles away in Hickory. The man he was with, who was driving a pickup truck, hit a girl. She was still alive at the time, so the man put her in the back of the truck and drop Barron off at home. A few days later, the man picked Barron back up to go fishing. The girl was still in the truck, but now she was dead. Barron said he helped put her body in Moss Lake, just outside of Shelby. For months, police investigated Barron's claim. They searched along the NC18 for truck parts that might have dislodged during the accident. They dragged Moss Lake not once, but twice. They sent in multiple dive teams and used an infrared underwater camera, but they never found anything. In October 2000, Barron was transferred to the Cleveland county jail to arrange a meeting with his friend, who was driving. While he was there, he planned an escape with his cellmates, but he never got to carry it out because another prisoner tipped off the guards. Any sort of confession be, like, really hard to hear for the family, but in this case, like, Aquila knew Baron personally, so I feel like that's a whole new level of trauma.
- [28:06]
Sarah Tierney
Well, and I feel like it's another level also of a deeper layer of maybe asking questions, like, if this confession comes from somebody, you know, I can only imagine what was running through her head trying to reconcile what she knew about this man, what he's saying. It just. It adds so much complication to it. Right.
- [28:22]
Courtney Nicole
And at this point, they still haven't really found any solid evidence kind of backing up his confessions. I've seen so many. So many cases where people kind of chime in and give false confessions just for the sake of it. And I hope that's not what he's doing. But, I mean, he already has a lengthy criminal history, so I. I don't.
- [28:39]
Sarah Tierney
Well, and that's my thing with this, too. I feel like most of the time that we see these confessions, you know, they come from people who are serving a life sentence. People who don't think that they'll ever get out. I mean, this man was in for robbing a bank, so surely he would have gotten out at some point, I would assume. I think sometimes these confessions happen because inmates just want to get out of their cell. You know, I've certainly heard that before, that they'll, you know, say just about anything to even just get like a fast food meal talking to detectives. And this could have been like a part of a grander scheme to escape, right? He gets. He gets to go to this other prison, he gets to talk to somebody else. And maybe that was the whole reason he did this.
- [29:18]
Courtney Nicole
That's a really good point. I mean, he was planning to escape. So I guess this would be like the perfect opportunity to set up a plan to do that. It's just really sad because I feel like these false confessions, they can really hinder the investigation, and police can, like, waste resources looking completely in the wrong direction.
- [29:34]
Sarah Tierney
I think that's what makes me so frustrated, right beyond just like tormenting the family is it's a waste of resources and it's a waste of their time. And we know, especially families in true crime, there are so many of us trying to get those resources and attention. These resources are finite. There's just not enough to go around. So when they go to something like this, it's hard to see. The next big lead comes in August 2001, 18 months after Asha disappeared. Construction worker Terry Fleming is operating heavy machinery, clearing land for a driveway. He's preparing for a new house to be built on the rural edge of Morganton. It's a small town three counties away from Shelby, 27 miles up the NC18 from where Asha was last seen. Terry spots a black plastic garbage bag. Early in the week, he leaves it alone, but something about it sparks his curiosity. On Thursday, August 2, 2001, Terry finally opens the garbage bag and finds a backpack. He opens it up and sees a name inside. Asha degree. He doesn't recognize it, so he writes down the name as well as the phone number written inside. He leaves the backpack behind, but takes the paper home, planning to call the number the following day. The next morning, Friday, Aug. 3, 2001, before Terry can call call, his wife recognizes Asia's name, so the couple calls the Burke County Sheriff's office instead.
- [30:59]
Courtney Nicole
Asha couldn't have walked to Morganton on foot. So now the authorities suspect she was abducted, maybe even killed. Officers from the Burke county and Cleveland County Sheriff's offices assemble along with the FBI and SBI for a weekend long investigation. That Sunday, August 5, 2001, is Asha's 11th birthday. The next day, August 6, the Cleveland County Sheriff's office sends Asha's backpack and other items to the FBI crime lab in Virginia. Investigators keep the contents of the bag and additional findings under wraps to protect the investigation. On Wednesday, August 16, 2001, a 100 person search party assembles at Smarts Grove Baptist Church, two and a half miles from the construction site. Along with members of law enforcement, they bring out the search dogs and scour a three mile area along NC18 around where Terry found Asha's backpack. But there's nothing new.
- [31:54]
Sarah Tierney
A week and a half later, on Monday, August 27, 2001, Asha's father, Harold, takes a vacation day to help build a playground for children in Kingstown. He drives his 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass less than 10 miles to the location, but drifts over the center line and hits a pickup truck head on. The accident leaves Harold in critical condition at the Carolinas Medical Center. His family goes with their pastor to visit him in the hospital. This takes a huge toll on the family and their ability to keep searching for Asha. After more than two weeks, on Friday, September 14, Harold is upgraded to good condition. Thankfully, he survives.
- [32:34]
Courtney Nicole
One of the main things talked about when it comes to a missing person is the emotional toll it takes on the families. But I mean, it can also take a physical toll like in this case right here. I think the prime example is Harold is probably just physically drained and like so tired and that could have contributed him to getting into a car accident. So I feel like that should be talked about more, that it's not just emotional, it's. It's also physical.
- [32:54]
Sarah Tierney
Not only trauma, right. But the way that stress can break down your body is unreal. Harold is like using his day off, right? He's taking a day off to go help other kids. And it seems like that's obviously like his stress reliever, right. Is helping people, which I can relate. Um, but yeah, to your point, I mean, stress does insane things to the body.
- [33:16]
Courtney Nicole
I know, that's such a sad fact of this case. You know, he's taken his own day off, putting his own trauma and stress aside to go and help other little kids by building a playground. Like, that is so, so sweet. And it's just sad that he got into a car accident on the way.
- [33:30]
Sarah Tierney
I know, I love him for that. And I feel like we do see that with families in true crime when you are so hurt and people in general. Right, let's just open it up. When you are so hurt, sometimes the best feeling is help somebody else. And I know that a lot of people might think that that sounds cheesy, but like, I, that's like what I do when I feel really, really sad about the world and, and things happening. I go try to do something that makes the world just like a little bit better.
- [33:57]
Courtney Nicole
It does really, really help. Also, I kind of wanted to mention, I wanted to bring up the first set of clues that were found, like the candy, the hair bow, the pen and pencil. Those were found two days after Aisha disappeared. But then fast forward to like a year and a half later and then you find this backpack that you know, did belong to her. I feel like it's very rare that I see clues like this being spread out over such a long period of time. And I can't tell whether that helps the case or hurts it because obviously it's good to find everything like at the very beginning because that initial time frame, it really, really does matter and it's critical. I just can't tell if that helps it or hurts it a year and a half later like this.
- [34:32]
Sarah Tierney
I mean, it's tough to say, right? I think that, you know, most cases of missing children get the most resources right off the bat versus a year later. But I'll also say, you know, with the backpack being wrapped in the trash bags, that essentially preserves evidence to a certain degree. So, I mean, do I love that it's been sitting there for a year and a half? No. But I do think just the way that it was found and with those bags, it gives me a little more hope for DNA testing.
- [34:58]
Courtney Nicole
The next search is scheduled for Wednesday, September 12, 2001, but it gets postponed. All local emergency workers are placed on alert after the 911 attacks. Finally, on Wednesday, October 24, 2001, almost three months after the backpack was found, authorities pick up the search along the NC18. This time they cover an eight mile stretch. But once again they find nothing. And Asha falls back out of the headlines. Over the next 14 years, there are very few developments. But in 2015, the FBI makes a big announcement that takes the case in a whole new direction.
- [35:43]
Vanessa
A mother is on trial for allegedly luring her own son in law to his death. And her search history may have given away everything. This is Vanessa, the host of Crime House 24 7. Right now in a Utah courtroom, 60 year old Tracy Grist is standing trial for murder, accused of masterminding a family plot to kill her son in law, Matthew Rastelli. Prosecutors say Matthew was lured from California under the pretense of picking up his wife and kids. What he didn't know, he was walking into a trap. Within seconds, he was shot seven times, three of them in the back. And months before the killing, investigators say Tracey sent a text to one of her daughters that read, quote, matt made it so I want to kill him. He straight up lied. I'm gonna kill him. End quote. Hear the rest of that story and never miss another on crime house 24 7, where we cover breaking true crime news daily. Follow crime house24.7 wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a story as it breaks.
- [36:50]
Courtney Nicole
It's Monday, February 9, 2015. Fifteen years after Asha Degree went missing. Suddenly, the FBI Charlotte Division makes an announcement. It's, quote, reexamining the case, re interviewing witnesses and following new leads to determine what happened to Asha. They increased the reward for information to $25,000, and community contributions bring the total up to 45,000. Fifteen months later, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, the FBI and the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office share a new piece of information, an eyewitness statement that's recently come onto their radar. Sometime after 4am on February 14, 2000, someone matching Asha's description was seen being hoisted into a, quote, distinctive vehicle. It was a dark green car from the early 1970s with rust around the wheels. It looked like it could have been a Lincoln Mark 4 or a Ford Thunderbird. Sixteen months after that information becomes public in September, December 2017, the FBI makes another announcement. It's adding, quote, additional resources to Asha's case. They don't specify what resources or why. Another year passes. In October 2018, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office shares two additional clues with the public. The items found in Asia's backpack that did not belong to her. First is that New kids on the block shirt. They encourage anyone who had one like it or knew someone who did to call the police immediately. Second is that copy of Dr. Seuss's McElligott's Pool. The book is from Asha's school library at Fallston Elementary. But Asha didn't check it out, and the records don't go far enough back to say who did. The police ask anyone who did check this book out or knows who did to call them. They don't give any additional details about how these clues are related to the search. In fact, for seven years, law enforcement keeps any other details of the investigation out of the press. But while technology improves, detectives continue to work behind the scenes. I don't know really what these Two items could really tell us about the investigation. But I'm hoping that now that it's been several years and the FBI is kind of like honing in on it, I'm hoping it could tell us something important.
- [39:00]
Sarah Tierney
I mean, I think that there's a valuable clue there to be had if they can track down who checked out that library book. Right. I mean, obviously I don't think they were going to be eyeing a child, but, you know, looking at their parents, possibly. But then my mind goes in a million different directions. Like, I loved to read as a kid, and our school library would have, like, sales, you know, where they would sometimes sell the books that they didn't need anymore. They would do these, like, big warehouse sales. So it's hard to say, was that book really checked out from the library? Was it sold somewhere else? Did she pick it up along the way? I don't know. And after all this time, as much as I hope that they can track that down, it seems like they've been unsuccessful so far.
- [39:39]
Courtney Nicole
And I guess it's really confusing to me, like, why Asia had these items. Was she meeting up with someone who owned them? Was she returning them? I don't know. Maybe she just found them and was just trying to bring them back to her school. Since that was like the responsible thing to do. Someone has to know, like, where these items came from. It's a shirt, it's a book. Someone knows why they were there, or I guess at the very least, someone would have recognized if they lost these items. So to me, it's really telling why this person never came forward.
- [40:06]
Sarah Tierney
No, you definitely have to wonder, and I even wonder if, like, the two items came from separate instances. Unfortunately, I think there are unspeakable horrors to consider in Aisha's case. And did somebody give her the new Kids on the Block shirt to sleep in? Did another child give her a book? Did an adult give her the book because she liked to read? I don't know. It feels like every clue in this case just leads to more questions.
- [40:34]
Courtney Nicole
Items from Asia's backpack were sent for analysis. Two came back with DNA evidence. One sample belonged to a man named Russell Bradley Underhill. Another belonged to a descendant of a couple from Shelby. 80 year old Roy Lee Dedman and 74 year old Connie Elliot Dedman. The two were separated but had three daughters together. The eldest, Lizzie Grace Dedman Foster, lives in Texas by then. On February 14, 2000, the day Asha disappeared, she was 16. The middle, Sarah Gwen Deadman Capel, still lives in shelby. On February 14, 2000. She was 15. And the youngest, Annalee Victoria Dedman Ramirez, lives In Charlotte, North Carolina. On February 14, 2000, she was 13. DNA analysis of a hair follicle sample from Asha's undershirt that was also found in the background backpack indicates it most likely came from Annalee. Because the deadman daughters were so Young in 2000, investigators believe that if they committed or concealed a crime, they would have needed help from an adult, probably a parent, Roy or Connie. But what about the other DNA belonging clearly to Russell Bradley Underhill?
- [41:44]
Sarah Tierney
Well, he is also connected to Roy and Connie. See, Russell lived in at least two elder care facilities, Cleveland Health center and Northbrook Rest Home, owned and operated by Roy and Connie at the time of Asha's disappearance. Russell even used Roy as an emergency contact in his medical records, but he died in Lincoln county in 2004. So on Monday, September 9, 2024, three warrants are issued to obtain DNA cheek swabs from Roy, Connie and Annalee to get a better comparison to the samples found in Asha's back backpack. Five more warrants are issued the same day to search properties and collect evidence. One for Roy, Connie and Annalee's respective homes, since they all live separately now. One for the property where the Dedman family lived together when Asia disappeared, which Roy and Connie still own but ran out to a tenant, and one for Northbrook Rest Home.
- [42:39]
Courtney Nicole
Investigators from the Sheriff's, FBI and SB FBI spend the week combing all five properties and packing up evidence. On Thursday, September 12th, the Sheriff's Office hitches a green 1960s style car from a driveway at the property the Dedmans lived at in 2000, the one they're renting out to a tenant. It's not an exact match for the car the FBI announced they were looking for in 2016, but it's close. Roy gave this car to his eldest daughter Lizzie in 1999, the year before Asha disappeared. And if it's not the one, Roy may have another match. The warrant cites 29 vehicles registered to him, and at least three of them are green.
- [43:18]
Sarah Tierney
On Friday, September 13, 2024, Roy addresses chatter in the community. He has his attorney hold a press conference denying their family's involvement in Asha's disappearance. On Monday, September 16, 2024, all eight search warrants are made public. They state in clear terms that investigators believe Asha was killed and her body was concealed. But they don't accuse any one individual. They just provide context. According to the warrants, Roy used to send his eldest daughter Lizzie to drive patients at their facilities to and from Broughton Hospital in Morganton. If someone were to drive from either the Deadman's former house or the Northbrook Rest Home to Broughton hospital, the the NC18 north would be the fastest and easiest route. On that drive, they would pass Asha's house, the place she was last seen walking, and the location her backpack was
- [44:10]
Courtney Nicole
discovered, in that order in the week after the searches. On Wednesday, September 18, 2024, the Sheriff's Office interviews a man who partied with the Dedman sisters in the mid 2000s. He tells detectives about one night when he saw Lizzie and Sarah at a house party. Lizzie was drunk and upset. At one point he claimed she said I killed Asha Degree. End quote. Sarah got tense and told her sister to shut the bleep up. It surprised him because Sarah was normally nice and calm. He claimed to be 100% sure of the memory and even passed a polygraph test.
- [44:46]
Sarah Tierney
A month after that interview, in October 2024, law enforcement got a search warrant for Lizzie's icloud account. They found several interesting imessage conversations, most of which took place during the September 2024 searches. On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, Sarah and Lizzie texted about the New Kids on the Block shirt. Sarah said the police thought it belonged to the Dedmans. She didn't remember the shirt, but she was scared and thought their dad was going to be a primary suspect. A day later, on Wednesday, September 11, Annaleigh told Lizzie that their lawyer said not to talk to anyone without representation. Lizzie told her ex husband that the situation could only get worse and there was no way it would be okay. On Thursday, September 12, Lizzie shared with Sarah that per their family lawyer, the theory was that Lizzie killed Asha accidentally and the family covered it up. She told her husband she felt so horrible that she caused this, but she doesn't say what this is. She could mean the investigation into their family, the disappearance of Asha Degree or something else entirely. Lizzie asked Sarah if everybody was mad at her. Sarah said no, they weren't and it wasn't her fault. On Monday, September 29, 2024, two weeks after the searches, Lizzie had a longer conversation with Sarah. She had been approached by law enforcement the day before and refused to talk to them. The women agreed that things would only get worse and Lizzie should comply next time. They discussed in vague terms whether they should do what their dad wanted or if they should do what Lizzie originally wanted. What those things were was not made clear in the messages.
- [46:29]
Courtney Nicole
Four months after these messages are reviewed on Monday, February 10, 2025, Lizzie takes a Lie detector test. She's asked if she concealed information. The polygraph finds her to be deceptive. Three days later, on Thursday, February 13, 2025, just one day shy of the 25th anniversary of Asha's disappearance, three more search warrants are executed. The Cleveland county sheriff's office seized cell phones from Lizzie, her sister Sarah, and their father Roy. In April, the authorities searched one more property, a big lot with multiple buildings that used to be a school. The Dedmans bought it in 1991, but they sold it in 2004, four years after Asha disappeared. Since then, the property has changed hands several times. It's now vacant, boarded up, and owned by a bank. If investigators find anything of note, they keep it close to the chest.
- [47:24]
Sarah Tierney
I feel like I could argue those text messages either way.
- [47:27]
Courtney Nicole
It could go one way or the other, but I feel like if they truly had nothing to do with this, I almost feel like they wouldn't be sending these texts in the first place.
- [47:35]
Sarah Tierney
See, I don't know. I feel like if they're, you know, at the very end of this cleared from everything, I could argue that those text messages are just a family panicking about an investigation that could potentially point to Lizzie or their father or, you know, whatever the theory is right now. But if they are found to be involved, I could argue it the other way.
- [47:54]
Courtney Nicole
It's really hard to say. I feel like it could be split down the middle.
- [47:56]
Sarah Tierney
Yeah. And I think maybe it's just because, like, I'm not one that speculates a lot in cases like, that's just not where my brain goes. I'm very much a person where I think anything could happen. And I think, you know, what I have on my side when I say that is that we've seen that in true crime cases where we finally get a conclusion, and it's something nobody ever thought of, a person nobody ever looked at. Like, it happens all the time in true crime.
- [48:23]
Courtney Nicole
You know, I don't want to say too much, because accusing somebody of, you know, hitting somebody with their car, which is one of the theories in this case, I feel like it's not something I want to do. But, yeah, you're right. Like, these text messages, they could really go either way. It's so hard to say.
- [48:37]
Sarah Tierney
It's so hard to try to take something like a text with your sister in fear and make it, you know, into a definite conclusion. I just can't do it.
- [48:47]
Courtney Nicole
Yeah, I could definitely see them panicking. I mean, this is like a massive investigation.
- [48:51]
Sarah Tierney
Well, especially the media coverage, you know, What? I mean, I remember when this broke in the news and everybody was talking about it. That's an immense amount of pressure for
- [49:00]
Courtney Nicole
anybody, especially after, you know, decades of literally no movement, no clue as to what happened, and then have this kind of, like, blow up in your faces and, like, disrupt your whole family. I could totally see them panicking.
- [49:11]
Sarah Tierney
I know. It's one of those things, too. It's like you don't want to have egg on your face later when it comes out to be them or not be them. And like I always say, it's like, who am I to say? We can speculate all day, but that doesn't make it fact.
- [49:23]
Courtney Nicole
Exactly. What we're just trying to do is just lay out the facts of this case because it is still unsolved and Asha still deserves justice. She deserves to be brought home to her.
- [49:35]
Sarah Tierney
As of this recording, nobody's been charged in connection to Asia's disappearance. Despite an abundance of new evidence, we still don't know exactly what happened to her. There are only a few facts we know for sure. Sometime shortly after 2:30am on Valentine's Day 2000, Asha got out of bed, changed out of her nightgown and into her clothes. She grabbed her backpack and walked out of the house.
- [49:58]
Courtney Nicole
House.
- [49:58]
Sarah Tierney
We don't know if she left through the front or the back, but she locked the door behind her. Either way, she made it to the end of her block where she turned north onto the highway. Asia continued for over a mile before two truckers spotted her. One at 3:30am and the next at 4am and then she disappears into the darkness. Asha's face still stands tall on the billboard beside the highway where she was last seen. And on Friday, September 26, 2025, the FBI announced a new reward for information. The total is now $100,000. Every year around the time she disappeared, Asha's family meets at that billboard and walks the NC18. So people will never forget. They won't stop looking for Asha until they find her.
- [50:43]
Courtney Nicole
Asha Degree would be about 35 years old as of this recording. She's a black female with blood black hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was tall and skinny for her age. She was also athletic. If you have any information about Asia Degree, you can contact the Cleveland county Sheriff's office at 704-484-4822 or the FBI at 800. Call FBI.
- [51:17]
Sarah Tierney
Thank you for listening to the final hours. If you have any other details about Asha Degree's case, please share it with us on social media. We want to hear from you. Your thoughts, condolences and feedback are what make this community so special at Crime House.
- [51:31]
Courtney Nicole
We value your support. Share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review and follow the Final Hours to help others discover the
- [51:39]
Sarah Tierney
show and to enhance your your listening experience. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode of the Final Hours ad free along with early access and exciting bonus content.
- [51:51]
Courtney Nicole
The Final Hours is hosted by Sarah Tierney and me, Courtney Nicole and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Final Hours team Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Lori Marinelli, Natalie Przofsky, Sarah Camp, Dana Brazil Sullivy, Andrew Rosenblum and Russell Nash. Thank you for listening.
- [52:20]
Vanessa
A mother is on trial for allegedly luring her own son in law to his death and her search history may have given away everything. This is Vanessa, the host of Crime House 24 7. Right now in a Utah courtroom, 60 year old Tracy Grist is standing trial for murder, accused of masterminding a family plot to kill her son in law, Matthew Rastelli. Prosecutors say Matthew was lured from California under the pretense of picking up his wife and kids. What he didn't know he was walking into a trap. Within seconds he was shot seven times, three of them in the back. And months before the killing, investigators say Tracy sent a text to one of her daughters that read, quote, Matt made it so I want to kill him. He straight up lied, I'm gonna kill him. End quote. Hear the rest of that story and never miss another on crime house 24 7, where we cover breaking true crime news daily. Follow Crime House 247 wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a story as it.