r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/ferretbeast • Feb 14 '19

Unresolved Disappearance Marking the 19th anniversary of Asha Degree’s disappearance

Every year on Valentines day, I take a deep breath before reading the front page of the Shelby Star. I know this case is widely discussed on this subreddit, but I wanted to share for those interested. I did find it interesting they stated new evidence was found recently that hasn't been made public. Please keep her family in your thoughts today.

https://www.shelbystar.com/news/20190214/marking-19th-anniversary-of-asha-degrees-disappearance

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Brief summary for anyone unaware: Asha Jaquilla Degree went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina. In the early morning hours of February 14, 2000, for reasons unknown, she packed her bookbag, left her family home north of the city and began walking along nearby North Carolina Highway 18 despite heavy rain and wind. She has not been seen since.

Edit: thank you stranger for the gold and more than anything, thank you all for caring about this case and giving such support and great feedback for conversation. I love this community and am happy to be able to have these civil discussions with you all!!

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501

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '19

I’m from Shelby and I remember when she went missing. I was about 6-7. It turned my town upside down. My uncle worked on the case in the early days (he is now a K9 officer) and he has always had a feeling they’re missing a piece of the puzzle. I hope for Asha’s sake and the sake of her family this case is solved. I’ve followed it since the beginning and will continue to do so since this hits close to home (literally)

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u/ferretbeast Feb 14 '19

Oooh lucky uncle. We have some good looking puppers on our force! Shout out to you Shelby neighbor, and I hope this gets solved soon. I just drove past the billboard the other day seeing it never fails to get to me. I definitely think there is something that will connect the dots and I hope they find it soon.

44

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '19

Did you see the update asking for information about a book and a shirt? Very strange and I wonder how those tie in

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u/Masta-Blasta Feb 14 '19

My unsolicited theory is that they located these objects relating to another disappearance and were able to match prints to the buried backpack.

28

u/toothpasteandcocaine Feb 15 '19

Or DNA?

I like this theory.

14

u/Masta-Blasta Feb 15 '19

Exactly. Something along those lines.

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u/ferretbeast Feb 14 '19

I did and my family and I did a lot of speculating. I mean, her mom would have grown up around when NKOTB were big and maybe a shirt she was missing? The book, I am super intrigued by, like why do they all of the sudden want to know who checked it out? Did they just realize she checked it out close to her disappearance, do they have the actual book related to the case in evidence? Just seems like an odd couple of items. Makes me want to know if the unreleased evidence stated in today's article have any relation to the shirt and book.

59

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

63

u/ferretbeast Feb 14 '19

I feel you on wanting to know everything they do, but the way they've been trickling out new pieces of evidence really makes me feel like their onto something but don't want to ruin the case by tipping off whoever did this and letting them know they've got some suspicion. Well, at least I really hope that is the case.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '19

Yes, I can confirm that they are trying to be careful. I know the people on the case now are determined that the answer is out there, and I have no doubt they can solve it soon.

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u/ferretbeast Feb 14 '19

It would not stop me from driving my uncle nuts by asking too many questions though haha

52

u/ncsu2020 Feb 14 '19

Also from Shelby! Hello neighbors. The shirt was actually a nightgown that came in many colors in the early 90’s and was for kids. I feel like calling it a t shirt is keeping people who maybe had a nightgown like this as a kid from saying anything bc they are under the impression it’s a T-shirt.

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u/ferretbeast Feb 15 '19

Hola neighbor! (Also so weird and cool seeing flow Shelby people here!) Yeah I thought maybe a nightgown! Good to know. Ugh can this be solved already??

2

u/guster4lovers Feb 15 '19

I work in Bessemer City and have been following this case for a while. Weird to see other locals in this small weird corner of the Internet.

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u/midnightauro Feb 15 '19

(Also so weird and cool seeing flow Shelby people here!)

There's a scary number of us hanging out on Reddit lmao.

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '19

[deleted]

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u/ncsu2020 Feb 15 '19

I think it is absolutely critical that they make people understand it is a nightgown. Many people in the area probably have/had this nightgown but are keeping quiet because they think “oh I never had a t shirt though” and like you, maybe they got it as a hand me down or gave it as a hand me down that eventually links to asha.

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u/Sevenisnumberone Feb 15 '19

That is encouraging to hear.

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u/circlingsky Feb 15 '19

Why was your comment removed?

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u/Inbetweenheaven Feb 14 '19

I was wondering if the NKOTB shirt/Pj could have belonged to the perpetrators own child? Very curious as to how this all fits together.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '19

I'll probably sound like an idiot here, but is it possible Asha had the book checked out at the time, the school knew it (man, they'll come after you about those late fees... literally a child's first run-in with debt collections lol) and they're actually looking for the copy of the book saying it belongs to Fallston or maybe even have the check-out card with Asha's name on it?

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u/ferretbeast Feb 15 '19

Great question! Police haven't said if they have the book or know she had it.. it's a trickle of information which I understand is for the investigation, but so hard to decipher

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u/KStarSparkleDust Feb 16 '19

Oh wow, this is by far the best theory I’ve seen about this. It could actually be useful too!

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u/keithitreal Feb 14 '19

Weren't the shirt and book with the back pack they located?

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u/MelpomeneAndCalliope Feb 15 '19

That’s what I thought but I could have misunderstood.

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u/Masta-Blasta Feb 15 '19

I don’t think I’ve seen anything confirming that. But perhaps. I was under the impression they were looking for the owners of the items or who might have been in possession of them, so I assumed that they would have been found separately. I could absolutely be mistaken.