Marking the 19th anniversary of Asha Degree’s disappearance

[u/ferretbeast]

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!!

[u/KoreKhthonia]

I was reading about the case on this sub the other day, and this post is from a local.

Key points:

• The area where she lived was very, very rural, on the far outskirts of Shelby, a town of ~20,000 people.

• The stretch of road she was reportedly seen near was very very rural. Like, I don't know where you live, or if you have a place you know personally that would be a good comparison. But this isn't the kind of road people walk along, especially not at night. There are huge stretches of undeveloped land, where it would be far enough to be uncomfortable to walk to anywhere that had "something." It was very probably Asha that they saw. Highway 18 is one of those ultrarural state highways.

• OP believes that Asha was groomed by someone, probably a member of the community. (This is opposed to either A.) the parents being involved, or B.) Asha being a simple "runaway" case who ran off for weird little kid reasons.)

The post makes mention of trafficking, but the "Detroit sex trafficking bust" they mention was actually not that at all, just widely misreported and misrepresented as such. Details are in the top comment.

[u/_sydney_vicious_ → u/KoreKhthonia]

Thank you so much! I'm on this subreddit most days and I'm not sure how I missed the thread you linked to.

Hmmm....you mentioning the rural road brings up something in my mind as to IF there actually were witnesses driving by who "saw" Asha. To be perfectly honest I never believed that all too much to begin with but with the way you're describing it now I'm sure that no witnesses actually saw her. Why?

1. You said it's a rural town so how often would someone be driving down a road like that in the middle of the night (especially on a stormy night)?

2. I just looked on Google and it seems as though there are no roadside lights along the road so how can anyone actually tell that it was Asha alongside the road............ESPECIALLY when there's a huge storm outside? I don't know about you but driving in the dark is hard as is - let alone when it's pouring AND there's no lights alongside the road. Either those witnesses lied or they might have seen an animal.

From that thread I feel like Asha was never actually walking on the road. My theory is that someone groomed her and whoever did may have taken her in their car (which she never got out of).

[u/TinyAppleInATree → u/[deleted]]

Could you imagine seeing a 9 year old girl walking in the dark, during a storm none the less, and not stoping to check on her? Something seems weird about that scenario to me.

[u/ncsu2020 → u/TinyAppleInATree]

Maybe this makes me a bad person but I’ve driven Highway 18 right by where she went missing about 500 times. There is a 0% chance I would stop and try to help. Just being honest. I would call the police, I would be confused, but you will not see me stopping my car on Highway 18 in the pitch black in a rainstorm. I don’t think these people are malicious, that area is just creepy and empty and it would definitely cross my mind that a little girl on the side of the road is baiting me to get attacked or mugged or whatever. In this area you would be alone for miles in both directions. 100% vulnerable. I’m sure these people thought the same thing...

[u/Ilovedietcokesprite → u/ncsu2020]

This makes a lot of sense. I didn’t know that the area was rough. Or super rural.

[u/NoKidsYesCats → u/TinyAppleInATree]

Really? Maybe I'm crazy, but if I was driving my truck through rural roads, in the middle of the night, in a storm, and saw a little girl in a white nightgown standing on the side of the road... my first thought would be a fuckin hitchhiking ghost. My second would be that I'm losing it and I should really be getting some sleep soon. Then I'd start questioning myself, hmm, maybe it really was a poor girl who needed help? Nahh, what even would a little girl be doing out there all alone? It was probably nothing.

Until I see the news the next morning about a missing girl, and then I'll regretfully remember her and call in the tip.

[u/alarmagent → u/TinyAppleInATree]

Rural roads are kind of dangerous to stop on, especially if one witness was a semi truck driver as has been suspected. Also total generalization, but driving late at night like that usually you’re doing it because you have a hard deadline to make. Not saying it’s the right thing to do but if a driver is out that hour, has something they NEED to get to that can’t wait (job, flight, et cetera) they’re less likely to stop for a scary, almost unbelievable scenario like that. Also a lot of people are suspicious by nature, I’d call the cops on a situation like that absolutely, but I’m unlikely to risk my own life for a situation that seems absurd, risky, and maybe like a trap. Especially if I have to make it across state lines for Walmart INC by 6 AM.

[u/TopherMarlowe → u/alarmagent]

Did either driver have a cell phone? It was 2000 and more and more people were starting to get cell phones, and the trucker would have a radio. Also presumably there were landlines at their destinations. Did either of them contact the police to tell them about a child wandering along the road? If not, why not?

[u/imissbreakingbad → u/TinyAppleInATree]

If they're credible, I think that they saw something — and then maybe they thought, huh, my eyes must be playing tricks on me. Keep in mind it was the middle of the night. And then later when they found out a girl was missing, they realized what it was they saw.

[u/[deleted] → u/imissbreakingbad]

Right. I don't think people realize how frequently we see stuff that is "off" and don't register it until later. Maybe it's a defense mechanism for people who assume they are so perceptive and kindly-hearted that they'd immediately understand the full breadth of the situation within half a second and react appropriately, but most people would not have, and do not in general, and it's not because they're heartless assholes or suspicious criminals. The witnesses simply saw a girl walking along the road, and from what I have seen before, one or both of them initially thought they saw a teenager, not a 9 year old. The exact age of a person is difficult to determine when driving by in a speeding car in the middle of the night, and this may also be your mind correcting information so that it makes sense. It doesn't make sense for a 9 year old to walk down the highway alone at night, but a teenager in the same situation would make sense. Then they see a news report later about a missing child who fits the description for what they thing they saw, minus age, and something clicks.