Crime + investigation

The Mysterious Disappearance of Asha Degree: A Community Still Looks for Answers

A 9-year-old girl vanished in Shelby, NC on February 14, 2000. New leads and DNA now offer hope for answers.

Published: May 15, 2025Last Updated: July 16, 2026

Known as "Shelby's Sweetheart," Asha Jaquilla Degree went missing a quarter-century ago in a case that remains under investigation in her rural North Carolina hometown.

Nine-year-old Degree disappeared on February 14, Valentine's Day, 2000. She was last seen walking along a state highway in Shelby, North Carolina. Her parents reported her missing that same day.

Based in Shelby, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office is the primary agency investigating Degree's disappearance, along with outside assistance from the FBI and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Investigators on the 25-year anniversary of Degree's disappearance in February 2025 revealed they are close to solving the mystery and bringing closure to the girl’s heartbroken parents.

"It will always be our desire to bring Asha home and to bring the individuals to justice, because it's going to happen," North Carolina Sheriff Alan Norman said in a social media post. "We're closer than we've ever been with the modern technology that we have."

How Asha Degree Went Missing

Degree's parents last saw her sleeping in her bed in the early morning hours of February 14, 2000. It is not clear how or why she left the home, but motorists reported seeing a Black girl walking along a state highway about 4 a.m. that day. She was last seen being pulled into a car.

Chief Deputy Durwin Briscoe, a longtime member of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, said he remembers when the Degree family reported their daughter missing.

"Once I arrived on the scene and I saw who the family was, it had a personal touch to me," Briscoe, a childhood friend of the girl's parents, said in a video posted on social media. "This impacts the entire community of Shelby, impacts the entire County of Cleveland, because Asha was someone that everyone knows."

On August 2, 2001, a year and a half after Degree went missing, investigators found her backpack buried in dirt off North Carolina State Highway 18 in Burke County about 20 miles from her home. Other contents recovered with the backpack included an undershirt belonging to Degree.

Later DNA testing on Degree's undershirt found evidence of a hair sample belonging to a close blood relative of two persons of interest, according to September 2024 search warrant documents published by WBTV.

Was Asha Degree Killed?

Degree remains classified as missing, but investigators in their search warrants said she may have been killed.

Authorities are investigating a specific family in southwestern North Carolina after a witness came forward with new information in September 2024.

"I killed Asha Degree," a person of interest told a cooperating witness during a neighborhood house party, WSOC-TV, a local North Carolina news channel, reported.

Who Is Responsible for Asha Degree's Disappearance?

Although investigators have identified persons of interest in connection with Degree's disappearance, no arrests have been made, and no charges have been filed to date. But a Cleveland County Superior Court judge has authorized search warrants allowing authorities to seize property belonging to persons of interest, including cell phones and a car.

Degree's parents still have no answers explaining why their daughter vanished, which incidentally was on their wedding anniversary.

"I believe she's still alive," Degree's mother Iquilla Degree told supporters during a community prayer walk February 8, 2025, The News & Observer reported. "Until somebody can prove me wrong, I'm still going to believe that, because all I have is hope."

New Clues in the Case

"We remain committed to finding Asha," a public affairs officer from the FBI's Charlotte field office, which is about 40 miles west of Shelby, tells A&E True Crime.

The FBI has shared several videos on social media detailing how authorities are close to solving the case.

"The community saw in September 2024 some of our efforts," Tim Adams, a local detective on the case, said in a social media video shared by the FBI's Charlotte field office. "We were able to acquire court-ordered search warrants, multiple search warrants, where we went out and started a phase of investigation to try to find those answers."

The investigating agencies are offering a combined cash reward of up to $45,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Degree's disappearance. Anyone with information can call the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at 704-484-4822 or the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).

Related Features:

Rosie Tapia’s Parents Are Still Searching for Their 6-Year-Old's Killer After More Than 30 Years

Authorities think someone living near the Salt Lake City home from which the 6-year-old was taken in 1995 may have more information.

7m read

Could New DNA Analysis Break Open the Madeleine McCann Case?

The 3-year-old vanished from her family's vacation home in Portugal in 2007.

7m read

The Kidnapping of Kevyn Wynn: When a Casino Mogul's Daughter Was Taken

Captors abducted Steve's Wynn oldest child from her home on July 26, 1993.

6m read

Where Is Josef Fritzl Now After Being Sentenced to Life in Prison?

Fritzl imprisoned his daughter Elisabeth for almost 25 years.

4m read

Denise Huber Vanished After She Got a Flat Tire. Her Body Was Found Stuffed in a Freezer 3 Years Later

The 23-year-old waitress graduated from the University of California at Irvine with a degree in social sciences one year earlier, her parents say.

7m read

What Happened to 7-Year-Old Kyron Horman, Who Never Returned from School in 2010?

The boy disappeared after attending his school science fair on June 4, 2010.

7m read

The Nancy Guthrie Case: A Timeline

The mom of 'Today' show's Savannah Guthrie vanished February 1, 2026.

10m read

The Kidnapping and Torture of Mary Stauffer

She and her young daughter were kidnapped by a former student.

6m read

26 Schoolchildren and a Bus Driver Were Kidnapped, Buried Alive—and Somehow Escaped

The Chowchill bus abduction remains one of America's largest mass kidnappings.

6m read

Missing College Student Mollie Tibbetts Went for a Jog. She Never Made It Home

The 20-year-old's decomposed body was found in an Iowa cornfield five weeks later.

7m read

How a Jailbreak Led to Martha Carelli’s Capture

A 1978 kidnapping nearly turned fatal after a prison escapee abducted her.

7m read

A Delivery Driver Blamed His Alter Ego for Killing 7-Year-Old Athena Strand

Tanner Horner abducted and murdered the Texas girl in November 2022.

7m read

Why Sherri Papini Faked Her Disappearance

The then-34-year-old mom of two told police she was kidnapped at gunpoint by two Hispanic women during a jog on November 2, 2016.

7m read

A 10-Year-Old Left for School on a Snow Day in 2005 and Never Returned

A group of kids came across Adre’anna Jackson's remains in April 2006.

7m read

Could the Oakland County Child Killings Be Solved After 50 Years?

Four children were murdered in Michigan between 1976 and 1977.

6m read

Why It Took 42 Years to Convict the Lyon Sisters’ Killer

Their murderer came forward after their 1975 abduction and slaying.

5m read

Why a Man Who Left a 5-Year-Old to Be Eaten by Gators Got Off Death Row

Harrel Braddy was initially sentenced to death for Quatisha Maycock's murder.

5m read

How Ransom Demands Shape Modern Kidnapping Investigations

Ransom demands have often played a crucial role in abduction cases.

6m read

A Single Mom Was Captured from a Hospital Parking Lot After Receiving Calls from a Stalker

An unidentified caller tormented Dorothy Jane Scott for months.

6m read

10 Years After the Skelton Brothers Went Missing, Their Dad, John Skelton, Was Charged with Murder

Andrew, Alexander and Tanner Skelton were declared legally dead.

7m read

How the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Became a ‘Media Circus’

The press gave the abduction of Charles Lindbergh's son nonstop coverage.

7m read

How Ma Barker and Her Sons Became the First Family of Kidnapping in the 1930s

The family’s Great Depression kidnapping spree made headlines.

6m read

Fort Worth Missing Trio: 3 Texas Girls Never Returned from a 1974 Christmas Shopping Trip

Julie Moseley, Rachel Trlica and Renee Wilson disappeared.

7m read

Heather Robinson Was Abducted by Her Uncle Who Killed Her Mom

John Edward Robinson sold her as an infant to his brother.

7m read

How Maureen Dabbagh Reunited with Her Daughter Nearly 20 Years After Abduction

Nadia Alexandra Dabbagh was taken at 2 years old in 1992.

7m read

How a Teen Model Evaded Being Kidnapped and Murdered By Model Killer William Bradford

Based on a true story, Lifetime’s *The Girl Who Survived: The Alina Thompson Story* recounts an attempt made on Thompson’s life at 15.

8m read

How 9-Year-Old Jessica Lunsford’s Murder Led to Stricter Laws for Sexual Offenders

John Evander Couey abducted and killed her in February 2005.

6m read

A 1977 Kidnapping in Indianapolis Forced Journalists to Reevaluate the Ethics of Live Coverage

Reporters worried Tony Kiritsis would kill Dick Hall on live TV.

7m read

How Was Elizabeth Smart Kidnapped?

The Utah teenager endured nine months of abuse before her rescue.

7m read

Albert Fish Abducted Children, Ate Their Remains and Then Confessed in Letters to His Victims' Parents

He was caught after the 1928 murder of 10-year-old Grace Budd.

6m read

Why Do Some Abduction Victims Face Doubt About Their Stories?

Inconsistencies in a victim's story often lead to skepticism.

7m read

Elusive 'Beauty Queen Killer' Led Double Life as a Florida Playboy

Christopher Bernard Wilder became known as 'The Beauty Queen Killer' during a frenzied 1984 spree, where he criss-crossed the U.S., luring young women into his fancy cars and dangling the promise of work as a model, if they would just allow him to take their photographs. Some took the bait. Others, he took by force.

9m read

What Happened to Missing Connecticut Mother Jennifer Dulos?

The chief suspect—her estranged husband—took his own life.

8m read

What Happened to Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight After They Escaped from Captor Ariel Castro?

They escaped a house of horrors. Now the three women help others.

7m read

Lisa McVey Talks About Outsmarting a Serial Killer When She Was 17

Lisa McVey was 17 years old when she was abducted, beaten and raped by a serial killer—and managed to survive. We spoke with McVey, now a master deputy in the Hillsborough County (Florida) Sheriff's Office, about how she outsmarted her kidnapper, Bobby Joe Long.

13m read

Taken at Birth: The Hicks Clinic Stolen Babies

Jane Blasio was one of about 200 newborn babies illegally sold.

7m read

Tiffany Rubin and Kobe Lee: Where Are They Now?

A New York mother found her abducted young son across the world.

6m read

The Paperboy Abduction Cases: The Legacy of Two Des Moines Boys Who Are Still Missing

The two cases helped usher in the age of milk-carton notices.

7m read

Girl in the Garage: How Laura Cowan Survived Her Imprisonment by Mansa Musa Muhummed

Rescue came after she secretly passed letters to a postal worker.

6m read

Colleen Stan Was Kidnapped and Kept in a Box for 7 Years

For seven years, she was locked in a small, coffin-like box.

7m read

How Natascha Kampusch Survived Eight Years of Torment After Being Abducted as a Child

She said a difficult childhood helped her survive.

7m read

Linda Ann Weston Kidnapped Adults With Disabilities, Holding Them Captive in a Basement

She abducted and abused them to get their Social Security checks.

6m read

Women Who Were Abducted and Held Captive, But Later Escaped

Many endured rape and torture for years before breaking free.

3m read

How to Escape if You're Being Held Hostage

To find out how one might escape a captor, A&E spoke with Lt. Chris Zimmerman.

6m read

How Do Sex Traffickers Entrap American Youth?

Sex trafficking is big business, and here in the United States, it ensnares hundreds of thousands of victims.

6m read

Why Parents Don't Always Tell Police When Their Child Goes Missing

Parents might not report their missing child for a myriad of reasons: because they are the perpetrator, immigration concerns and more.

7m read

Cleveland Kidnapping Survivor Michelle Knight: Healing After 11 Years in Hell

Read an excerpt from the book 'Life After Darkness: Finding Healing and Happiness After the Cleveland Kidnappings,' by Michelle Knight, now known as Lily Rose Lee.

9m read

Kamiyah Mobley's Abductor Raised Her as a Daughter for 18 Years

Authorities didn't locate Kamiyah Mobley, who'd been abducted at birth by a woman named Gloria Williams, for 18 years. We explore this unusual kidnapping case.

4m read

What's Jaycee Dugard's Life Like Today?

Over a decade after she was found alive after being kidnapped as a child, Dugard has learned to drive, written two books and started a foundation to help other survivors.

5m read

Kamiyah Mobley and Other Kids Who Grew Up Not Knowing They'd Been Abducted

Kamiyah Mobley was 16 years old when she discovered that Gloria Williams, the woman she knew as her mother, was actually her kidnapper.

6m read

Elizabeth Shoaf Was Kidnapped and Assaulted Inside a Bunker for 10 Days: How the Teen Escaped

The amazing 2006 escape of a 14-year-old girl from Kershaw County, South Carolina, who had been kidnapped, raped and held in an underground bunker in the woods for 10 days.

6m read

Fetal Abduction: Women Who Kill Pregnant Women for Their Babies

Although it's rare for women to kill other women for their unborn babies, when it happens, the motive is usually beyond wanting a child.

9m read

Gary Heidnik's Unspeakable Crimes: An Interview with the Serial Killer's Attorney

Gary Heidnick's crimes helped inspire Buffalo Bill's character in 'Silence of the Lambs.' We spoke with the killer and self-described pastor's defense lawyer, Charles Peruto, Jr., about what it was like representing one of Philadelphia's most infamous criminals.

6m read

How Faye Yager Operated Her 'Children of the Underground' Network

For many years, a Georgia woman ran an underground network out of her Atlanta home in order to hide children who'd allegedly been abused. Some feel she was a hero, while others believe she was a kidnapper and vigilante.

8m read

How Lisa Montgomery Spent Years on Death Row Rebuilding Her Life

Lisa Montgomery spent years on death row after committing a horrific crime. While there, she began to recover from a lifetime of nightmarish abuse. In January 2021 she was the first woman executed by the U.S. government in 67 years.

7m read

Why Sex Trafficking Is Such a Big Problem In Las Vegas

Journalist Brian Joseph tells us why sex trafficking is a complicated problem and how victims are further harmed by public perception and widespread corruption.

6m read

What Drives Some People to Kidnap Children?

What causes adults to kidnap children? The perpetrators range from serial rapists to parents trying to protect their sons and daughters.

7m read

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! A&E reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

Citation Information

Article Title
The Mysterious Disappearance of Asha Degree: A Community Still Looks for Answers
Website Name
A&E
Date Accessed
August 12, 2026
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
July 16, 2026
Original Published Date
May 15, 2025
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement