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Shelby, North Carolina, February 14, 2000. Sometime around 4 a.m., a 9-year-old girl climbs out of bed, packs her bookbag, and walks out into the dark. Her name is Asha Degree. She never comes home.
In this Crime Junkie episode, Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat walk through the hours around Asha's disappearance. It was a stormy night. Motorists reported seeing a child alone along Highway 18. One driver turned around to check, and she ducked into the woods. Then she was gone.
Months later, her bookbag turned up buried near a construction site miles from home. Items from inside it were not what you'd expect a child to pack. Why was she leaving? Was she meeting someone? Or was she taken along the way? Those questions have hung over the case for more than two decades.
The case has stayed open. The FBI and local investigators have continued to seek tips over the years, and a reward has long been on offer. If you know anything, investigators want to hear it. Check the latest from the FBI and the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office for current details.
Asha would be an adult now, and her family has never stopped asking for answers. Hit play tonight and listen on Apple Podcasts, or find it wherever you get your podcasts.
