It was the year 2000 when Valentine’s Day, celebrated mainly in the United States, was not romantic but rather bleak for an American family; this as a result of the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl, who left her house in the early hours of the morning and never returned.
Asha Degree lived with her parents and older brother on the outskirts of the city of Shelby, North Carolina, United States. Degree was in the fourth grade at Fallston Elementary School.
Both relatives and acquaintances of the little girl described her to the American authorities as a happy, calm, judicious, responsible girl who never left the house without her parents’ permission. Also, she never behaved strangely or suspiciously.
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However, she belonged to the basketball team at her school and, in one of the games she had two days before the disappearance, she was sanctioned for committing a foul against one of her opponents, becoming very upset, since, according to her classmates class, it was very competitive.
In fact, her friends told the authorities that they had to calm her down because her anger was quite noticeable when she saw that they had lost and, furthermore, that she would not be part of the team during the next match. However, a day before she disappeared, Asha was already calmer.
“His feelings about the game seemed to have passed. Still, we don’t know if that basketball game was what got Asha out of the house that night, or if it was something more.”, assured the girl’s mother on the American program ‘Inside the FBI’.
February 14, an early morning in which Asha left
According to an episode of ‘Inside the FBI’, around 2:30 in the morning, Asha Degree’s father went to check on her and her older brother in the room they shared. Everything seemed normal to him, because they were sleeping.
But, being 6:30 in the morning, Asha’s mother went back to the room to wake up her children and get them ready for school; however, the little girl was no longer there.
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Asha’s mother called her husband to see if he had seen the girl, but he told her no, in fact he thought she was sleeping. Immediately, her parents asked her relatives who lived near her if she had seen her.
Nobody knew about her. After calling acquaintances, friends and getting no response, the married couple decided to contact the 911 emergency line.
Moments after the call, the authorities arrived at the scene and an investigation was launched along with the intensive search to find her.
The officers were able to notice that the little girl’s suitcase and some of her belongings were missing.“indicating that he had packed before his disappearance”, explained Detective Tim Adams, who initiated the investigation.
Having no answers, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, along with the FBI and the community from the neighborhood where Asha lived, joined the search.
“Literally hundreds of community volunteers helped search for the girl” reported Detective Adams.
A long day without Asha Degree
The day passed and Asha still did not appear, the clues seemed to be very hidden and the traces of the girl very far away. Reports of Asha’s disappearance reached all the media, which helped to get witnesses who saw her in the early morning.
Multiple drivers told detectives that they had seen a girl on the road at about 4 in the morning.
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“There were some pretty credible witnesses who said they saw a little girl walking down Highway 18 heading into the town of Shelby and, along with her description, it is believed that it was her walking into the town,” Adams explained.
He also stated that: “At least one of these people said that they had tried to check on her because they were worried about seeing a girl who was alone on the road. But when the driver turned around, she Asha had gone into the woods and the driver could no longer see her.”.
Despite efforts to find her, not just a day passed but more than a decade passed without the parents knowing about their daughter.
Asha’s suitcase appeared 17 months after she left home
“17 months later, her suitcase, which she was believed to be carrying when she left, was found 20 miles north on Highway 18 in another county; however, some of the items inside it did not belong to herAdams said.
Someone had to have met or a planned meeting might have taken place or maybe some stranger passed by as she was walking and picked her up
Therefore, Asha’s disappearance remained a mystery, and the few clues that the officers had were not enough to reach her.
Given her possible escape, the detectives had a theory that argued that the girl could not have left alone and that there must have been an accomplice who supported her departure from home.
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“Someone had to have met or there could have been a planned meeting or maybe some stranger passed by while she was walking and picked her up,” the detective said on ‘Inside the FBI.’
However, this hypothesis could not be confirmed and Nor could a possible whereabouts be detected where they could find her.
22 years later and Asha never came back
The authorities have reported in ‘Inside the FBI’ that they are still searching for who would already be 31 years old today and have made a portrait of the young woman with the supposed appearance today.
Likewise, They have reported that at that time there were many obstacles in the investigation, since the technology was not very modern and the girl did not have a cell phonehe left no messages on the computer and there were no security cameras that could help with leads.
“We haven’t given up hope of finding her. She remains a missing child case and we don’t give up on that. Currently, there is the FBI Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team, or CARD, and they are helping us find her.”, informed the detective, who from the beginning was in charge of the case, Tim Adams.
Her parents are the ones who most eagerly await the appearance of Asha and still hope that the help of the authorities will be effective, as they assure that their daughter is still alive and they want to find her.
“After 22 years, I still believe that my daughter is alive”, I do not believe that she is dead. And I know someone knows something. A 9-year-old boy can’t disappear into thin air without anyone knowing.”, he expressed in ‘Inside the FBI’
Currently, There is a reward for information on Asha’s whereabouts that reaches 45 thousand dollars (198,000,000 Colombian pesos).
In addition, her family takes a walk every February 14 of each year on the last path that, according to witnesses, Asha traveled, in order to find her or find clues that help solve this intrigue.
In fact, In that place a billboard was placed that shows the photo of Asha when she was 9 years old and how she can look today at 31 years old.
Likewise, there are all the contact numbers that they can call if they find out anything about Asha and the sum of money that is being offered as a reward is also notified.
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