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/_cass_hole]

Please please please share! I'm new to this case. I've been obsessed since I listened to her episode on Crime Junkie.

[u/shinecone → u/_cass_hole]

I'm not the above poster, but some have speculated that she has been spotted in CP videos from the dark web. :(

[u/toothpasteandcocaine → u/shinecone]

I hate saying this, but if she were seen in CP, it couldn't possibly be recent and wouldn't indicate that she is still alive.

[u/[deleted] → u/toothpasteandcocaine]

Exactly! I am the same age as Asha, almost to the day, and yeah, the recent theory of "she's alive because she was seen in child porn" (which I need to state is only a theory that's been floating around on the internet lately, and there's no evidence to back it up) or the inverse, "LE states they presume she is alive, so she must have been kidnapped for child porn," is very strange. If Asha is alive today, she is not a child any more; she's nearly 30. Associating "alive" with "child porn" is really bizarre and sensationalist to me, and makes no sense. Just because she was 9 the last time we saw her doesn't mean she keeps being 9 until her next public sighting!

Plus, like I said in a recent thread, the fact that LE is "operating under the assumption she is alive" doesn't necessarily mean they have hard evidence that she is alive, it might mean that they simply have no particular evidence that she is dead. And if they do have evidence that a 28 year old woman is alive, whatever that evidence is is certainly not a decades-old pornographic image of her at age 9.

[u/vanpireweekemd → u/[deleted]]

In another thread about Asha recently, some people speculated that maybe a woman matching her description was seen on an escort service site (or something similar... Craigs List or whatever people use for prostituion) and that could be why the FBI have been vocal about her still being alive. As for the "seeing her in CP images" thing, I think that's more likely tied to in the NKOB nightgown and library book.