The Disappearance of Asha Degree #shorts

3:00am February 14, 2000, 9 year old Asha Degree grabs her backpack and slips silently out of her family home. 1 hour later, 2 separate witnesses notice her walking along a roadside completely alone seemingly unaffected by the heavy rain and winds. One witness, concerned for Asha's safety, circled back to check on her. It was at this point that she allegedly ran into a wooded area off of the road. This is the last time she was ever seen. Some of her belongings were later found in a barn just off of the road where she was spotted. Among these items were candy wrappers, a pencil, a green marker, a mickey-mouse hair tie, & a photo of a young girl. No one in the community could recognize the girl in the photo. However, they were certain it was not Asha. On August 3rd, 2001, over a year after her disappearance, her bookbag was dug up during a construction project 26 miles north of where she was last seen. The bag had been wrapped in plastic & buried. Despite multiple tips over the years, this case remains unsolved with no promising leads.

#truecrimestories #missingperson #unsolvedmystery #unsolveddisappearances #truecrimecommunity #unsolvedmysteries

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A 'few things' needs to be noted:

1. Asha shared a room with her brother. He didn’t report hearing her leave, he did hear her ruffle around once or twice but assumed she was just moving around. There’s a few unconfirmed reportings that Asha’s dad had checked in on them and saw Asha in her bed, or one that says he saw her wearing her day clothes, but that was never confirmed.

2. Asha was terrified of thunderstorms. There was a storm the night before, and Asha was reportedly scared. Her parents said she wouldn’t even THINK of going outside during a storm, and there was a thunderstorm when she left.

3. Asha lived a sheltered life. Her only social life was church, family gatherings, and basketball practices. She didn’t have access to a computer or technology.

4. Asha was scared of talking to strangers, which is why when the motorist approached, she ran away. She didn’t like talking to new people.

5. There was nothing going on that would’ve made Asha want to run away. One theory is that she left because she read a book that glorified a person running away and starting a new life and having fun adventures but her parents say she wouldn’t have run away because of that. And the most upsetting thing that’d happened recently was she lost / couldn’t play in (sources vary) a basketball game, but she wouldn’t have run away from that.

6. Asha's last known whereabouts are unknown, past being seen on Highway 18. I said this in another comment, but her church was not on Highway 18 nor near it, so it's unlikely she would have gone down the road for that. I have read a few reports that say her parents also say she didn't know the area well, or that she had any family or friends down Highway 18. I believe this to be true, but Asha's case is one where a lot of the information from sources can be contradicted by other sources.

7. I do want to say that Iquilla Degree, Asha's mother, has said in interviews in the past that she does believe Asha could have run away for no reason. HOWEVER, O'Bee (Asha's brother) and her father have said they don't believe she would have ran away. As well as the rest of the people who knew Asha, they do not think it's likely she would have run away from home with no explanation or reason as to why.

8. I do want to say something else, too. The video got the description of the bags Asha’s bookbag was in kinda wrong. Her bookbag, along with a few other items, were double bagged in two black trash bags. Investigators for this case say they believe this wasn’t just to cover it up but almost to preserve it. If they didn’t want whatever was in there preserved, why double bag it? Why give it an extra layer of protection before it was buried in the concrete?

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UPDATE: The police department reported what items were recovered during their search warrant. They were things like cameras and film, laptops and computers, a human tooth in a ziplock bag, trash bags, and a car. There was a DNA hair stem that was genetically linked to a woman in the local area on Asha’s undershirt. They also believe a man who died in 2004 was involved in her disappearence.

SECOND UPDATE/MORE INFO ON SUSPECTS: Seventeen months after Asha went missing, her bookbag was found buried in two plastic trash bags at the construction site. They also found some of Asha’s clothing in the bags. According to the search warrant affidavit, the two items had given evidentiary results with DNA samples that were narrowed down to two people: Russell Underhill, who died in 2004, and a woman named Anne Lee Dedmon Ramirez. She’s the daughter of Roy Lee and Connie Dedmon, and they had three daughters, all who were teenagers when Asha disappeared. They believe if the girls did something to Asha, Roy and Connie would have had to assist. The police state that they had an eyewitness say they saw Asha be pulled into a 1970s model green colored Lincoln Thunderbird or similar car.

CONTINUED FROM ABOVE: Connie and Roy’s daughter, Sarah, said when she was 16 and driving an AMC Rambler which looks similar to the Thunderbird described. That was the car taken into evidence from the warrant search.

THIRD UPDATE: The man I mentioned earlier, Russell Underhill, was under the care of Roy Lee Dedmon in February of 2000 (for reference: Asha went missing on February 14th, 2000.) A quote from the affidavity reads: "Roy Dedmon and Connie Dedmon are the two common links between the [DNA] profiles of Russell Underhill and [the Dedmons’ daughter] collected and identified from Asha’s undershirt and the trash bag which contained Asha Degree’s bookbag.” At this time, investigators believe Asha was murdered and her body concealed, and they also believe they'll find personal belongings of Asha's or forensice evidence at the home.

CLARIFICATION: Someone had replied to my comment, then deleted it, but they were asking why Iquilla would say she believes Asha ran away, so I wanted to clarify just in case anyone was confused about what I meant. According to some sources I've read and interviews, Iquilla has said before that she believes Asha ran away. She hasn't said why, not that I've seen anyway. However, O'Brian Degree and Harold Degree, Asha's brother and dad respectively, have both said they don't think she would have run away for no reason. That wasn't who Asha was. They also have said though that she clearly wasn't abducted from the home, and with the eyewitness statement regarding the green colored 1970s Thunderbird, it's likely she was taken off of Highway 18 after leaving her home.

UPDATE FOUR: Some sources have stated that boy Roy and Connie Dedmon have been named as suspects per the affidavit. However, I haven't seen the Cleveland County police confirm that in their media statement, so I can't be sure of that, so it could just be news sources believing people are suspects. As of right now, I'm not sure if police are investigating the Dedmon family, or any of Underhill's living relatives.

CLARIFICATION NUMBER TWO: I’ve seen a lot of people asking what motive anyone could have for kidnapping / potentially murdering Asha. That we don’t know. I love reading your guys theories on this case, as for me, my theories don’t matter. I just posted this comment to share more info / updates. Also, for everyone saying I should be a detective and being just so uplifting in the replies, you guys are amazing human beings and I adore you all.

CONTINUED FROM ABOVE: Like I said, as of now, no one has officially been named as a suspect, nor as being responsible for Asha’s disappearance or death. Someone did reply earlier (their reply was likely deleted since I can’t find it) asking why Anne or Russell weren’t named as suspects, since their DNA had been linked to Asha’s undershirt / I believe they said Russell’s DNA had been on Asha’s backpack but no one quote me on that. I don’t know that. Naming someone as a suspect in an investigation means you have theories as to why they would have murdered / kidnapped someone. A motive, at least. They may not have that as of now, at least with Russell since he’s deceased.
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I want to provide a transcript from the FBI’s website on Asha’s case since someone had asked what was found in her backpack:

”Grover: One item was a book, McElligot’s Pool, by Dr. Seuss, that had actually been checked out from Asha’s elementary school. The other item was…

Adams: ...the New Kids on the Block T-shirt that we released the information and some pictures of a couple of years ago to see if someone knows where that came from or if they had children that may have had that shirt trying to identify who that belonged to or where it may have came from.

(Asha’s mother has said the t-shirt did not belong to her.)

Grover: No matter how Asha left home, the fact remains: She was just a 9-year-old girl. Someone else has likely played a role in what happened to her.

Adams: Obviously a 9-year-old, even if they do choose to leave home for whatever reason, for her to have been not found for the last 22 years, someone had to help her. Someone had to have met or a planned meeting may have taken place or maybe some stranger came along as she was walking and picked her up.”

[Rosieisconfused]

Could be possible whoever "turned around to check on her" kidnapped her and just lied about her going into the woods.

[Bandit]

If you see a little girl run into the woods and you claim you have a good intentions but don’t call the police… you’re a suspect…

[cathypeterson]

The person turning around is who seems real suspect.

[Iamdreamyjeannie]

Me suspicious of the last ppl that saw her ... Run into the weird

[shirleyvaughn]

Someone knows what happen. God will take care it. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽, GOD TAKE CARE OF HER FAMILY.🥲🥲🥲

[babidiva]

I'm not sure if i read somewhere or dreamt this. She was going to meet her coach.

[hni._]

Maybe she was kidnapped by the man who “checked on her” or she tried looking for the girl in the picture?

[dekpropertyworld]

Natasha was found, but Asha was not found.😊

[ilfatube]

the fact that it happend on valentines day

[EricMuhammed-it]

Wow ThAnk You for the Airial View, Wow I never realized how far She had walked Man She really had walked far, but She is still Physically A-Live She have kids of Her Own and She still have that Chicken Pox Scar on Her forehead and I know for A fact that She still has A fear of dogs i know this for sure

[ImogenEdits-yw]

Why didn’t the driver follow the driver bc it’s like a 6 year old girl running into the woods like..

[EricMuhammed-it]

Why is their A White Car right 👍🏿▶️ about at the point where the person spotted Asha and turned around and went to see if AshA was O.K. but She ran, is the reason that their is Car their at that point is because their really was A White Car their ( at that point ) and was She about to get in that Car but ran ?