Asha Jaquilla Degree

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Cleveland County Sheriffs Office (NC)

Missing From:

Shelby, North Carolina

Reward:

up to $50,000

via Federal Bureau of Investigation

Not from STC, Conditions and restrictions apply

Summary:

Asha Degree has been missing from her home in Shelby, North Carolina since early 2000. She was last seen sleeping in her bed early in the morning. A few hours later, her family discovered her missing from her bed and also noticed she took her backpack with her. She hasn’t been seen in nearly three decades but her family continues to search for her and hope she will be found someday. Sadly, her disappearance remains a mystery.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Asha disappeared from her home in Shelby, North Carolina during the early morning of February 14, 2000. Family members last saw her asleep in her bedroom at approximately 2:30 am. At some point afterward, she got up from her bed and left her residence with her backpack which contained several pairs of clothing and other personal items. Between 3:30 am and 4:15 am, Asha was seen by several motorists walking along North Carolina Highway 18 near her home. One of the motorists circled back to her three times and attempted to approach her as he was concerned that a young girl her age was walking along the highway alone at that hour. When he did a third time, Asha ran into a wooded area just off the roadside. She was reported missing by her parents at 6:30 am after her mother went to wake her up for school and found her bed empty. They searched the house, their car and phoned relatives who all said they hadn’t seen the girl at all. No one has seen Asha since she ran into the woods.

Additional Details:

On February 17th 2000, personal items belonging to Asha, including a pencil, pen, yellow plastic hairbow with a teddy bear on it, and candy, were found near a shed off Highway 18, near the area she was last seen by the motorist who circled back around to check on her. On August 3rd 2001, while bulldozing property in the Laurel Fork area of Burke County, a contractor unearthed Asha's bookbag and purse approximately 50 yards from Highway 18. Inside the bookbag were clothing and hairbows. The items had been double wrapped in plastic bags. The items were found 26 miles from Asha's home and in the opposite direction she'd last been seen walking. Also inside the bag were two items that did not belong to Asha and investigators would like to know how they came to be inside of her backpack. One item was the Dr. Seuss book "McElligot's Pool"which had been borrowed from Asha's school library in early 2000 and a "New Kids on the Block" concert t-shirt. A witness came forward sometime after Asha disappeared and said they saw someone matching Asha's description getting into an early 1970s Lincoln Mark IV or Ford Thunderbird with rust around the wheel wells, on the day she was last seen. Investigators believe foul play was involved in Asha’s disappearance. While her family has long hoped for her to be alive, investigators believe she was the victim of a homicide and that her body was concealed to cover up her death.

Case Last Updated:

Dec 20, 2025