‘Significant progress’ made in finding Asha Degree, NC sheriff says
Investigators have made “significant progress” in finding Asha Degree, the Cleveland County girl missing for 25 years, the Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Sheriff’s officials credited recent retesting of evidence “using new advancements in technology,” but were no more specific in a statement on social media.
The FBI and sheriff’s office said they have increased their combined reward to $75,000. They urged anyone with information who hasn’t hasn’t spoken with authorities to contact the sheriff’s office at 704-484-4822 or the FBI at 800-225-5324 or tips.fbi.gov.
“It’s everybody’s goal in the community to find out what happened to Asha, to bring her home,” sheriff’s Lt. Jordan Bowen said in a video with Friday’s post. “With the tight-knit community, we all want the same resolution, we want answers, to bring her home.”
Thanks to the new technology and “tons and tons of work, tons of resources, money … hopefully it brings us closure here soon,” Bowen said.
Asha was 9 when she vanished from Cleveland County after leaving her home in the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2000.
Truckers said they saw a girl fitting Asha’s description walking early that morning on the side of N.C. 18. More than a year later, her backpack was found buried three counties away. Police didn’t share until 2016 that they believe Asha was last seen being hoisted into a long, retro green car sometime after 4 a.m. that rainy night.
In September, Cleveland County deputies towed a green car matching that description from a Shelby property. The car had front-end damage.
Officials found the car while searching properties belonging to Roy and Connie Dedmon. DNA testing on Asha’s undershirt, which was found with her backpack, matched one of the Dedmons’ daughters and a man, now dead, who was once in their care, according to September search warrants.
Investigators hope for “closure soon”
Finding Asha has “never been a cold case,” sheriff’s Detective Tim Adams said in Friday’s video.
“We’ve always worked it as if it happened yesterday,” Adams said. “The technology that was available in 2000 was not what it is today.”
“It is the desire of every employee here in the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, along with our federal and state partners, to bring Asha home, to bring closure,” Sheriff Alan Norman said in the video.
Said Bowen: “Still even today, especially 25 years later, with the momentum, tons and tons of work, tons of resources, money, just thoughts, new technology going into play, hopefully it brings us closure here soon.”
This story was originally published May 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.