CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — Investigators in Cleveland County say they're making "significant progress" to find out what happened to Asha Degree, the 9-year-old girl who disappeared in the middle of the night on Valentine's Day 24 years ago.
The fourth-grader's disappearance shook Shelby and all of Cleveland County. It remains a mystery today.
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office and FBI posted a new video on social media to mark National Missing Children's Day and their effort to find Asha. Detectives have vowed to never stop looking for her.
"There's an individual within the bounds of Cleveland County that knows where Asha's at," Sheriff Alan Norman said. "We're asking you to come forward because eventually we're going to find you and we're going to bring you to justice if you don't come forward first."
Investigators said Asha disappeared from her bedroom sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2000. There was no sign of forced entry and no promising scent trail for dogs to follow. At least two people reported seeing a young female walking along Highway 18 around 4 a.m. One person said when they went back to check on her, the girl disappeared into the woods.
Iquilla Degree, Asha's mother, said in 2020 she believes her daughter is still alive.
"I do not believe she is dead," Degree said. "And I know someone knows something. I'm not crazy enough to think that a 9-year-old can disappear into thin air without somebody knowing something."
The FBI and Cleveland County Sheriff's Office are offering a combined reward of $45,000 for anyone who has information that leads investigators to Asha Degree. Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at 704-484-4822.
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