Ash Deg

SEARCH FOR GIRLTO
PICK BACK UP
Newspaper
February 15, 2000 | Charlotte Observer (NC)
Author: AILEEN SOPER, Staff Writer | Page: 1B | Section: LOCAL
1095 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1040, grade level(s): 6 7 8
A 9-year-old girl was reported missing about 6:30 a.m.
Monday, when her mother went to wake her up for school
and found she had disappeared from the bedroom she
shared with her 10-year-old brother, sheriff's deputies and
family members said.
By dark, a 12-hour hunt by ground and air for Asha Degree

had turned up nothing, leaving searchers and relatives
desperate for answers.
"We are canvassing every possible lead," said Bob

Roadcap, chief deputy with the Cleveland County Sheriff's
Office. "Right now, we don't have anything."
The search focused on the area near the family's house on

Oakcrest Street, just north of Shelby. The site is off N.C.
18, in a quiet, modest neighborhood of ranch-style brick
houses. Two motorists told authorities they may have seen
Asha walking on N.C. 18 between 3:30 a.m. and 4:15 a.m.,
officials said.
Authorities called off the search at nightfall and said it's
likely to resume today at dawn. They put out a statewide
bulletin for Asha.
Roadcap said there were no signs of forced entry at the

Degree residence and that family members heard nothing
unusual during the night. Authorities said the family called
police shortly after they realized the child was missing.
Asha's parents were cooperating fully with investigators,

he said. They were being interviewed late Monday night at
the Sheriff's Office by deputies and agents with the State
Bureau of Investigation, authorities said.
"Everybody is a suspect right now," Roadcap said.
Roadcap, who has worked with the Sheriff's Office for five
years, said he had never seen a child so young missing for
so long when a parents' custody battle was not a factor in
the disappearance. There are no custody disputes relating
to Asha, Roadcap said.
In a telephone interview Monday morning, Asha's father

described the girl as shy and quiet and said she had never
run away. Harold Degree said there were no family
problems that would have made his daughter want to
leave.
"She doesn't even open the front door for me without
getting her mother's permission, and I'm her aunt," said
Patricia Banks, Harold Degree's sister.
Asha's father said the girl went to bed about 6:30 p.m.
Sunday. About 8:30 p.m. she awakened when lightning
storms and high winds swept through the area. She
watched TV in the den with the rest of family until
returning to bed at 9 p.m. Harold Degree said he checked
on Asha and her brother, O'Bryan, and found them
sleeping before he went to bed at 12:30 a.m.
Asha's mother, Aquila, went to wake up the children

before school but found Asha gone, Harold Degree said.
Her bed looked like it had been slept in. Asha usually
makes her bed right after she wakes up, her father said.
Asha went to bed in a nightshirt. Missing from her room

were the clothes she wore the day before - a white T-shirt
with purple lettering that was made for a Degree family
reunion held in Atlanta, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.
Also missing were Asha's black book bag and a black purse
with a "Tweety Bird," on it, her father said. Asha is 4 feet 6
inches tall and weighs 65 pounds. She is African American
and wears her hair in pigtails.
Her parents found all the doors in the house locked,

Harold Degree said. Asha had a key, but kept it in the book
bag, he said.
Sheriff's deputies launched a full-scale search early in the
morning and by noon had asked for the assistance of an
N.C. Highway Patrol helicopter with infrared heat-
detection equipment. Search dogs did not pick up Asha's
scent. By 2 p.m. SBI agents arrived at the house. They
taped off the front porch as a crime scene and allowed only
immediate family members inside.
Authorities interviewed staff and students at Asha's

school, Fallston Elementary, and searched her
neighborhood again several times.
Up to 60 volunteers from area fire departments, the Red

Cross and concerned residents gathered nearby at Mull's
Memorial Baptist Church, where a command post was set
up. They searched a three-mile-wide swath of the area,
said Beau Lovelace, the Cleveland County fire marshal.
"Dark is going to kill us," Lovelace said as the sun was

setting. As it happens, it was Asha's parents' 12th wedding
anniversary Monday. They were described as hard-
working - he is a dock loader at PPG Industries Inc. in
Shelby, and she works at Kawai America Manufacturing in
Lincolnton, said Carroll Degree, Asha's paternal uncle,
who lives across the street. Aquila Degree rarely misses
weekly Bible study at the Baptist church the family
attends, he said.
Asha, who is in fourth grade, missed only one other day of
school this year, said Donna Carpenter, a spokeswoman
for the Cleveland County School District.
"She's an outstanding student with an excellent attendance

record," Carpenter said.
Neighbors and family members, exhausted from hours of

searching, gathered in front of Asha's house late in the
afternoon. Only a passing hailstorm chased them away.
"Somebody could have snatched her out of the house," said

12-year-old Chanel Degree, Asha's first cousin. "I just hope
they find her."
Asha plays basketball and likes riding her bike and

jumping on a trampoline, her cousins said.
Chanel said she, Asha and a dozen of their cousins had a

sleepover Saturday night at a family member's house just
up the street.
"She was real happy," Chanel said. "She was dancing and
laughing."
Catina Degree, 15, the cousin who hosted the weekend

slumber party, slumped next to Chanel on a lawn chair.
She and other family members spent the entire day
looking for Asha.
"I'd say I walked 10 miles today," said Carroll Degree,
Asha's uncle, who began searching with her parents at
6:30 a.m. "We all prayed this morning. That's really all we
can do. Her parents are trying to stay positive and hope for
the best."
"We're in shock," said Banks, Asha's aunt, who formerly

worked as a prison guard for the Lincoln County Sheriff's
Office. "We tried checking everywhere we could think of,
calling everyone we could call, checking the neighbors. We
walked through fields and woods."
"Now it's getting dark, getting cold and that child doesn't
have a coat on," Banks said.
CONCERN GROWS AS
GIRL STAYS MISSING
Newspaper
Author: AILEEN SOPER, Staff Writer | Page: 1A | Section: MAIN
1020 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1100, grade level(s): 8 9 10 11-12
A Cleveland County truck driver on his regular delivery
route spotted a young girl walking south on N.C. 18 around
4 a.m. Monday. Thinking it was strange, Jeff Ruppe turned
around the 10-wheeler he drives for the Sun Drop Bottling
Co. - no easy task on the winding two-lane road.
"I seen a little girl walking down the road with her book
bag," Ruppe said Wednesday. He now believes she was 9-
year-old Asha Degree, who vanished from her Shelby
home that morning. "She had on a little dress and white
tennis shoes, and her hair was in pigtails."
Ruppe grew concerned.
"I went back, but she never did look up at me," Ruppe said.
"She looked like she knew where she was going. She was
walking at a pretty good pace."
Three days after Asha disappeared, attracting more than

100 searchers and an outpouring of community support,
authorities say they believe she left home by herself, then
met with trouble. As of Wednesday night, she still had not
been found.
"My gut tells me at this point that foul play is involved,"

said Cleveland County Sheriff Dan Crawford, who is
leading the investigation with assistance from the State
Bureau of Investigation and the FBI. "I think that she left
on her own."
Crawford said investigators were exploring several

scenarios including abduction, that she was hit by a car, or
that she was somehow injured and unable to seek help.
Authorities say the best leads they have so far in the case
are several reports of sightings similar to Ruppe's.
"I can pretty much say that (Asha's parents) have been
ruled out as suspects," Crawford said. He said the couple
have been interviewed daily by authorities and have
cooperated fully with investigators. They have spent hours
searching for their daughter. Crawford declined to
comment on whether they had been asked to take lie-
detector tests.
Bob Roadcap, chief deputy of the Cleveland County

Sheriff's Department, said investigators passed out fliers
with Asha's picture in surrounding counties Wednesday
and put out a nationwide missing person's bulletin.
The air search was called off Wednesday morning, but

ground searchers continued to focus on an area along N.C.
18, about 11/2 miles south of Asha's house at 3404
Oakcrest St., and several miles north of Shelby. That is the
spot where Ruppe and several other motorists reported
seeing someone fitting her description walking south along
the road near the intersection of N.C. 180.
In all, Ruppe drove past a girl he now believes was Asha

three times before heading on his way. Hours later, as he
ate lunch Monday, he saw a TV report about the missing
girl. He called police.
"I wish I could have done more," said the 25-year-old

Fallston, man who has two young children of his own.
Asha's parents reported her missing about 6:30 a.m.

Monday, after her mother went to wake her up for school
and found her missing from the bedroom she shares with
her 10-year-old brother.
Another person who reported seeing someone on the road

about 4:30 that morning was Roy Blanton Sr. of Shelby
and his son Roy Jr., who were on a trucking run from
Shelby to Fallston. They were headed north on N.C. 18
when they saw someone walking south along the road,
Blanton said. They worried she might get hit by a truck, so
they used their CB radio to warn nearby truckers to be on
the alert, Blanton said.
"It was a small figure wearing light-colored clothing," said

Blanton, a former deputy at the Cleveland County Sheriff's
Department who now drives for Porter's Transport Inc. "I
thought it was a woman. I couldn't tell it was a child. I
thought that maybe it was a domestic-violence thing where
a woman left the house and was out walking."
From Fallston, the Blantons drove to High Point, then to

Chicago. The elder Blanton didn't think anything else of it
until 10 p.m. Tuesday, when he talked to his wife on the
phone from Chicago and she told him about the missing
girl. Blanton returned from Chicago late Wednesday
afternoon and reported his sighting to sheriff's deputies at
their command post, Mulls Memorial Baptist Church, near
Asha's home.
Dogs have not been able to pick up Asha's scent and

searchers have found no signs of the girl. Dog handlers
said the animals can detect a live human's scent for
anywhere from three to four days, depending on weather.
Rain helps because scent is drawn to moisture, handlers
said. It was raining Monday morning, when Asha was
reported missing.
Family members say Asha is shy and quiet and had no

problems at home or school that would make her want to
leave home. Gone from Asha's room were her black book
bag and purse and clothes she wore Sunday: a white T-
shirt, jeans and white tennis shoes. Her parents say they
found the doors locked and there were no signs of forced
entry.
Crawford said Wednesday the investigators bought a pair

of tennis shoes the same brand and size as the pair Asha
was believed to have been wearing when she left home.
The idea is to compare the shoes with any footprints that
searchers may find. They have found none that match,
Crawford said.
Beau Lovelace, Cleveland County fire marshal and head of

the search, said about 45 people - down from a high of 100
on Tuesday - hunted areas in a three-mile radius from the
reported sightings. They were covering ground they had
already looked in several times, he said.
The air search, performed with helicopters and small

aircraft, was called off early Wednesday morning and is
not expected to resume, Crawford said. He and Lovelace
said they would decide at 9 a.m. today whether the ground
search would continue.
"The determining factor will be if we have any new leads,"

Lovelace said. Late in the day on Wednesday, Lovelace
slumped in an arm chair inside the command post. He was
fighting to stay awake after a sleepless night.
"I went to bed, but I didn't sleep," he said. "I was just going
over everything in my mind over and over and over."
GIRL'S FAMILY FINDS

HOPE AS SEARCH IS
NARROWED
Newspaper
Author: AILEEN SOPER, Staff Writer * Contributor: Staff writer Karen
Cimino contributed to this article. | Page: 1A | Section: MAIN
998 Words
A trail that was growing cold offered new clues in the case
of a missing 9-year-old Cleveland County girl when
relatives identified her hair bow and other items Thursday.
Investigators called the discovery of the bow, candy

wrappers, and a pen and pencil in an outbuilding just a
mile from Asha Degree's house the first tangible evidence
in her Monday disappearance. It lifted the flagging spirits
of family members, investigators and searchers.
"The family is very hopeful," said Maurice Jackson, Asha's
maternal uncle who is acting as the family spokesman.
"It's the first evidence they've seen that they think might
be Asha's."
Volunteers and investigators have combed an area along

N.C. 18, about 1 1/2 miles south of Asha's home north of
Shelby every day since her disappearance. Motorists told
police they'd seen the girl walking south on N.C. 18, near
the intersection of N.C. 180, about 4 a.m. Monday.
The break came late Wednesday, when investigators

brought one motorist back to where he reported seeing
Asha. Jeff Ruppe, of Fallston, a truck driver for Sun Drop
Bottling Co., pointed out a spot near a field owned by
Charles Turner. As part of its investigation, the FBI gave
Ruppe a polygraph test, which he passed.
Investigators believe Asha likely left home on her own,

then met trouble. Her parents reported her missing at
6:30 a.m. Monday, after her mother went to wake her for
school.
"My biggest fear is that she is somewhere, hurt, not able to

get help," said Cleveland County Sheriff Dan Crawford.
"What if she is only a tenth of a mile further from where
we looked?"
Turner, who runs Turner's Upholstery, said he and his
family found several items in a rickety outbuilding on their
land near where Asha was last seen. Among them was a
wallet-sized photograph of a young girl. On Tuesday, they
gave it to police, who showed it to Asha's family. But the
girl's relatives could not identify the photo.
The Turners did not give investigators several other items

they found next to the picture. They held onto them,
thinking they didn't matter because Asha's family hadn't
recognized the picture, said Turner's son, Charles Turner
Jr.
On Thursday morning, a member of a search party looking

for Asha found a candy wrapper near the Turners'
outbuilding, Crawford said. Asked about it, Turner's wife
and daughter gave searchers the other items, which they
had kept in a pile on their porch, Crawford said. Asha's
relatives recognized the items.
"The parents were just tore all to pieces because they said
`Yes! Yes! It's hers," said Cleveland County sheriff's
Detective Wayne Thomas.
Crawford said he believed the most significant find was the

pencil that had "Atlanta" on it. The Degree family held its
reunion there last year.
Thomas, who interviewed many of Asha's classmates and
friends, said she attended a Valentine's party last weekend
and was given a bag of candy.
FBI crime-scene technicians will test all of the articles,

Crawford said.
"My gut feeling is that they are hers," Crawford said.
No one knows why Asha might have left home. Crawford

said he believes she might have walked along N.C. 18, then
grew frightened and sought shelter in the outbuilding.
Authorities are exploring abduction as one possible
scenario, but have not ruled out any others.
Crawford said investigators interviewed possible witnesses

Thursday, including the Turners and a man who lived in a
mobile home near the outbuilding.
Searchers refocused their efforts late Thursday afternoon

in the area near where the items were discovered. They
performed an "inch-by-inch" search near the Hoyle
Memorial United Methodist Church.
Cleveland County sheriff's Lt. Joel Newton instructed

them to concentrate on something that might have
dropped from the book bag authorities believe she had
with her; something they might have overlooked on their
previous searches in that area.
Five searchers squatted in a circle around a faded root
beer-flavored dumdums' wrapper, wondering if it could
have belonged to Asha. But deputies took one look and
told the group to keep looking. It looked too old to have
been dropped by Asha.
Ten yards away searchers stopped again to examine a

plastic candy wrapper tied with red yarn. Keep going,
deputies said.
"We're looking for anything we can find - candy wrappers,

hair bows, anything," said Cathy Christopher, a Boiling
Springs Rescue worker who was searching for the first
time Thursday.
Sally Thompson, 24, a Shelby mother of two came out to

search Thursday for the first time. She crawled into a
narrow drainage pipe with a flashlight. But all the beam of
light revealed was water and wet leaves.
Searchers moved on again. They formed a straight line,

each searcher 10 feet from the next, and pored over the
ground looking for red cellophane cinnamon disk
wrappers - one of the candies Asha favored.
B.E. Price, 14, pushed into a wooded area filled with

prickly briars that snagged searchers clothes and tore tiny
holes in their skin.
"This is my first day searching," said B.E., an eighth-grader
at Burns Middle School. "She's been out here an awful long
time."
"I don't know about y'all, but I'm not giving up until I find
this child," Thomas told the searchers, after warning them
that some law enforcement officers might seem a little
cranky after going without much sleep for four days.
The searchers disbanded at nightfall with no new

discoveries. The search will resume this morning with the
addition of 15 investigators from Cherokee County, S.C.,
Crawford said.
Crawford said he would keep looking until he believed the

effort was futile.
"Everybody is asking, `How long do you keep searching?' "

he said. "Ultimately, it's going to fall to me."
The new command post will be at the Hoyle Methodist

Church, where the sign outside reads:
"Negative thinking harms the body and burdens the soul."
MOOD GLOOMIER IN
SEARCH FOR GIRL, 9
Newspaper
Author: KAREN CIMINO, Staff Writer | Page: 1B | Section: METRO
508 Words
The search for a missing 9-year-old Cleveland County girl
will continue today with more than 500 searchers but no
new clues.
Searchers looked for Asha Degree with renewed fervor

Friday after learning Thursday that items found in an old
barn behind Turner's Upholstery on N.C. 18 belonged to
the little girl. Motorists had reported seeing Asha walking
near that area about the time she disappeared
Monday."Thursday was a good day," said Rick Dancy,
executive director of Cleveland County Red Cross. "We felt
maybe she was just out there getting help from people.
Everybody had that extra bit of incentive to go out Friday
and find the kid before a really bad night hit us."
Searchers will begin regrouping at 8:30 a.m. for the day's

search. But morale was waning once again.
"Every day that goes by, I become a little less optimistic

just because she's a little girl," Dancy said Friday as the
search ended for the fifth night. "If she's exposed to the
elements, tonight is going to be a real tough one for her."
Cold rain fell off and on all day Friday, and temperatures
were expected to dip to the mid-40s Friday night.
Dancy said the Red Cross, Cleveland County Sheriff's

Department and Cleveland County Emergency
Management will set up headquarters at three churches
along N.C. 18 today: Ross Grove Baptist Church, Pleasant
Grove Baptist Church and Hoyle Memorial Methodist
Church.
About 100 searchers combed the land surrounding an old

barn on N.C. 18 Friday.
Rallie Turner, 59, found a yellow hair bow, candy, a green

marker and a white pencil with writing on it in the old
building, which now houses discarded furniture and a red
Cub Farmall tractor.
"There was a little picture next to the tractor," said Turner,

who found the items Tuesday. "The hair bow was an inch
and a half long. It's plastic and it had a little teddy bear on
it. It was solid yellow."
Investigators thought they had something when the

Degree family identified the items as belonging to Asha.
But nothing new turned up Friday.
Volunteers and trained search-and-rescue teams have

been searching for Asha since she was reported missing
Monday.
Searchers have covered about a 3-mile radius around the

Degrees' home and searched in dozens of private yards
along N.C. 18.
Asha's parents reported her missing at 6:30 a.m. Monday
after her mother went to wake her for school.
Investigators say Asha likely left her home on her own.

They don't know what happened to her after that.
Jeff Ruppe, a Sun Drop Bottling Co. truck driver from

Fallston, told authorities he saw a little girl walking along
the road about 4 a.m. Monday.
Connie Turner, Rallie Turner's sister-in-law, said

searchers and sheriff's deputies have been swarming her
family's land since the little girl's belongings were found
there.
"Yesterday I was cooking and this drove of people came

through here," Turner said. "It's got us all upset."
HOPES CRY IN SEARCH

FOR CHILD
Newspaper
Author: Peter St. Onge, Cristina C. Breen, and Karen Cimino, Staff Wrtiers |
Page: 1B | Section: METRO
900 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1000, grade level(s): 6 7 8
For eight hours, they searched again Saturday. They
searched through dense brush and tangles of tree limbs,
through back yards and fields of fledgling weeds. They
searched in the neighborhoods near Asha Degree's house,
and in the woods, and in an area miles away where a little
girl might have been spotted the night before.
They walked side by side in long, quiet lines. They

unfolded sheets of copy paper bearing a small shoe print.
They shook their heads sadly. They called Asha's name.
But for the sixth day, there were no answers in the search
for the 9-year-old Cleveland County girl, missing since
sometime early Monday. Sheriff's officials will continue to
look today, and they hope to be accompanied by a group as
large as on Saturday, when about 500 volunteers and
professionals showed up to help.
For most, it was a day of optimism and frustration, a day

of small clues - two muddy footprints and a bag of
Valentine's Day candy - but ultimately, little else but hope.
"You lay in bed at night and you think about the next day
and what's going to turn up," said volunteer Jerry
Patterson. "But everybody's still got their hopes up that
something will turn up good. Nobody's given up."
Patterson, 27, has been searching since Monday, the same

day police believe Asha left her family's home, likely on her
own. Like many here, he had never met the girl or her
family.
But, he said, he has a 4-year-old daughter.

He has taken unpaid leave from his job at a mobile home
company. On Saturday, he walked more than five miles
through trailer park neighborhoods, along roads and steep
precipices. He has done missing person searches before as
a volunteer member of the Cleveland County Fire
Department; he knew to keep a small scanner tucked in a
pocket so he could hear if any other searchers turned up
anything.
The scanner buzzed and hummed all day, but there were
no major finds, only an occasional candy wrapper or small
piece of clothing.
Nothing could be traced to the missing girl.
The searchers, quiet and serious in the morning, lightened

in the afternoon as they helped each other climb down
steep hills and over ravines.
They talked about Asha, and they shared their theories on

what might have happened to her. Some pointed out that a
week before her disappearance, Asha's fourth-grade class
had read "The Whipping Boy," a book about two
youngsters who run away and hide in sewer pipes. Perhaps
the book influenced the little girl, they thought.
Others wondered how the family was doing.

"We're holding up; that's all we can do," said Josie Degree,
Asha's grandmother. "I just hope they bring her back
alive."
Fifteen-year-old cousin Catina Degree said Asha's mother,

Iquilla, had to rush to the hospital Friday night after the
Cleveland County Sheriff's Department received a tip that
the girl had been seen walking near railroad tracks along
N.C. 180.
"She was short of breath," Catina said.
The tip produced nothing, but it was a reason for hope.
On Saturday, there were few others.
In the morning, two women found two small footprints 15

feet apart in a field near the intersection of N.C. 150 and
N.C. 180, where someone had spotted a little girl walking
Friday night.
Search leaders marked the prints for police with a

Styrofoam cup and can of chewing tobacco.
They found no more prints to mark.
The searchers moved on.
Later, Patterson noticed two swatches of white fabric

peeking out from under a layer of dead leaves.
He gently eased them up with a small twig to reveal two
little white socks.
"I've got some socks here," Patterson called out to Fallston

Fire Chief Gene Stinchcomb.
Stinchcomb inspected the socks and shook his head.
By the looks of them, he could tell they'd been lying in the

Cleveland County woods for weeks.
"It's getting to the point now where there are more

questions than answers," said Capt. Kelly Saine of the
Cleveland County Sheriff's Department.
"This is probably one of the most frustrating cases I've ever

been involved with."
Searchers will meet at 8:30 a.m. today at Shelby Livestock

Yard on N.C. 18, near where Asha's hair bow was found
Tuesday.
"We're going to do a grid search of where she was last seen

and evaluate again after that," said Beau Lovelace,
Cleveland County Emergency Management director.
Patterson said he will be there.
"I haven't had no gut feelings yet," he said. "Just hope."

SEARCHERS HOLDING
OUT HOPE FOR GIRL
Newspaper
Author: JOE DEPRIEST, Staff Writer | Page: 1L | Section: GASTON
471 Words
After suspending a massive ground search for 9-year-old
Asha Degree - missing from her home for over a week -
Cleveland County authorities are still looking hard for new
clues in her disappearance.
Beginning at 3 a.m. Monday, officers stopped traffic for

three hours on N.C. 18 near where motorists reported
seeing Asha walking toward Shelby early on the morning
of Feb. 14.
Authorities hoped to find other motorists who might have

spotted Asha along the stretch of highway north of Shelby
last week. The roadblock didn't turn up anything new, but
Chief Deputy Rob Roadcap of the Cleveland County
Sheriff's Office hopes the probe will eventually lead to
clues in a case that continues to baffle investigators. On
Sunday, authorities suspended indefinitely a weeklong
ground search that had involved up to 500 searchers.
"What we need now is for someone to call us with

information," Roadcap said Monday. "It's like she (Asha)
just vanished. But nothing in this investigation has been
halted - I can promise you that. It's still a full-blown case."
Since last week, he said the department has received more

than 200 phone calls about the case. He said a special
sheriff's department team is conducting follow-up
interviews and looking into every tip. Also working on the
case are the FBI and State Bureau of Investigation.
The search began after Asha's parents reported her

missing from her home off N.C. 18 north of Shelby about
6:30 a.m. on Feb. 14. Her mother went to wake her up for
school, but found her gone from the bedroom she shares
with her 10-year-old brother.
Motorists had spotted her walking toward Shelby before

dawn that morning. On Tuesday, her hair bow and other
items were discovered in a shed near the highway, just a
mile from her house. Her family identified her belongings.
Among the items was a wallet-size photograph of a young

girl that Asha's parents could not identify.
Roadcap said Monday that the girl in the photo remains

unidentified and may not be related to the case.
Police said they believe Asha probably left home on her

own, then met trouble.
Hundreds of volunteers and professionals mobilized in a
massive search in a five-mile radius from the intersection
of N.C. 18 and 180.
Some were on foot while others were on horseback and

four-wheelers. Also involved in the search were an
airplane and an N.C. Highway Patrol helicopter with
infrared heat-detection equipment. Much of the area was
searched three, four or more times.
Roadcap said another big ground search can be quickly

mounted.
"If some leads come along, we'll muster 50 to 500

searchers as soon as we can," he said. "We're not giving up
on this."
GIRL'S VANISHING
HAUNTS SHELBY
Newspaper
Author: JOE DEPRIEST, Staff Writer | Page: 1L | Section: GASTON
1016 Words | Readability: Lexile: 970, grade level(s): 6 7
The mystery began about 3 a.m. on Feb. 14 when 9-year-
old Asha Degree slipped away from home and walked
down a dark country highway.
A mile from home, two truckers spotted her on N.C. 18,

and one driver turned around for a second look. As he
passed by a third time, he noticed Asha veering off the
highway into the fog and darkness. The next day, candy
wrappers, her hair bow, a pen and pencil would be found
about 600 feet away in an old chicken house.
Eleven days after her disappearance and a massive ground

search by hundreds of law enforcement professionals and
community volunteers, Asha's trail ends at the old shed.
"It's like she stepped off the face of the earth," said Chief
Cleveland County Sheriff's Deputy Bob Roadcap. "Nobody
has been able to place her beyond that spot."
On Sunday, authorities suspended their search, but local,

state and federal authorities continue to work on the case.
Sheriff Dan Crawford suspected foul play early. He said

the parents have cooperated and there was no evidence "to
indicate great problems at home."
Family members described Asha - a fourth-grader at

Fallston Elementary School - as quiet and shy. School
officials called her an outstanding student.
Authorities said Asha's father, Harold, told them she went

to bed about 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 after staying up late at a
slumber party the night before. She woke up about two
hours later when a storm hit.
Degree, a dockworker at PPG Industries Inc., said Asha
watched TV with the family before returning to bed.
Degree checked on her and her 10-year-old brother about
2:30 a.m. Monday and found them sleeping in a bedroom,
authorities said.
About four hours later, Asha's mother went to wake her

and reported her missing.
N.C. 18 is a block from Asha's home on Oakcrest Street.

Her walk began on a straight two-lane stretch about 3
miles north of Shelby. A mile into the walk, truckers
spotted Asha near the bottom of a hill.
Authorities believe she got scared and left the road,

seeking shelter in the shed. To get there, she would have
walked the length of two football fields uphill and crossed
a 3-foot-deep gully. A light outside the shed may have
guided her.
The shed, filled with furniture and farm equipment the

owners of nearby Turner's Upholstery stored there, was
doorless so Asha could have easily stepped in.
Neighbors don't remember anything unusual. The Rev.

Mackie Turner, pastor of Buffalo Baptist Church, keeps six
beagles in a dog lot behind the shed.
"They bark if they see anybody," he said. "But I didn't hear

a thing."
The search began about 8:30 a.m., focusing on a three-
quarter-mile radius of the home - just short of the shed.
Turner's Upholstery co-owner Rallie Turner said searchers

on horseback asked her the Tuesday after Asha
disappeared to check a barn and three outbuildings.
She and her daughter Debbie searched, but found nothing

until they got to the shed. Inside they found the bow, a
candy wrapper, a pen and pencil. They also found a photo
of a young girl.
On Wednesday, Feb. 16, the Turners gave the photo to

authorities, who showed it to Asha's family and school
officials. Nobody could identify it.
Turner said her family told investigators about the other

items, but the Turners didn't think they mattered because
Asha's family hadn't recognized the photo. But the next
day, a searcher found a candy wrapper near the Turners'
shed.
Asked about the wrapper, the Turners gave searchers the

other items. Asha's family identified the bow, pen and
pencil.
"You think about it day and night," Turner said. "It's just
unreal. She was such a beautiful little girl. We just hated it
for the family. We want the little girl to be back home."
Searchers combed and recombed the area.
But Roadcap said that doesn't mean they won't look there
again. Since the disappearance, he parks on N.C. 18 at
night, trying to get a feel for the road Asha walked.
"I've tried to think and think and put myself in her place,"
Turner said. "And it's still a mystery."
DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS GIRL IS?
Cleveland County authorities are trying to determine

whether this photo is connected with the case of 9-year-old
Asha Degree, missing from her home near Shelby since
Feb. 14.
The picture turned up in the same shed off N.C. 18 where

items identified as Asha's were found. Asha's family didn't
recognize the girl in the photo and neither did officials at
Asha's school.
Anyone with information about the photo should call the

Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at (704) 476-3030.
`A SOFT-HEARTED
CHILD'
Newspaper
Author: AILEEN SOPER, Staff Writer | Page: 1B | Section: METRO
1167 Words
Asha Degree is the kind of girl who makes friends with the
classmates no one else plays with.
"She wouldn't want nobody to feel bad," said 10-year-old

O'Bryant, who shared a bedroom with his 9-year-old sister
until she disappeared two weeks ago.
"She's just a soft-hearted child," said her mother, Iquilla

Degree, 30. "She cries in all the sad parts in the movies."
Asha is polite, compassionate and a daddy's girl. She's

terrified of dogs and thunderstorms and is so shy that even
though she loves to sing, she's scared to try a solo in the
church choir. If the world were fair, she'd be at home
making up her own stories and playing tag with her
brother. Instead, she vanished on Valentine's Day, leaving
almost no trace.
Who is this girl whose disappearance drew hundreds of

volunteer searchers and thousands of prayers? Just an
average 9-year-old, say aching friends and family.
In the car with her family, Asha sang along so many times
to her father Harold's Kirk Franklin tape of the gospel
song "Revolution" that she wore it out. But she had always
been too bashful to try a solo in the children's choir at
Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church.
That's why her family was so surprised when she asked to

play basketball this year.
"We thought she'd be too scared to get up in front of all of

those people," her mother said.
But Asha loves playing point guard for the Fallston

Bulldogs. The skinny girl in pigtails averages four to six
points a game. After she vanished, Asha's brother put on a
yellow wristband with her number, 45, to keep her close.
The fourth-grader at Fallston Elementary School excels in

math and science and loves to read and write - especially if
she can make up the topic herself, family and school
officials said. Her mother says Asha wants to be an
illustrator and author when she grows up.
A recurring character in her stories is her brother, who

helped teach her to read. "She would read some of the
book, and I would read her the words she didn't know,"
said O'Bryant, who started her off on "Clifford," about a
big, red dog. Now, he said, she likes to read the "Horrible
Harry" series, about the adventures of an imaginative
second-grader.
Asha is regularly awarded "Student of the Week." It is not
unusual for her to win "Treasure Chest" either. If a student
in Asha's class does something helpful - "without sassing" -
they can pick a prize from teacher Susan Beam's treasure
chest, O'Bryant said.
The week before her disappearance, Asha selected a black

purse with Tweety Bird on it from the treasure chest. Asha
brought it to church on Sunday. The next day - the day her
mother went to wake her up for school and found her gone
- the purse was missing. Asha took it with her, police say.
Police believe Asha dressed, packed her book bag with her
two favorite outfits and disappeared into the rainy night
without a coat. No one knows why. Truckers spotted her
walking south on N.C. 18 about 4 a.m. that night. Her hair
bow, candy wrappers and other belongings were found a
day later in a shed near the highway, a mile from her
house. A massive, weeklong search turned up little.
Her parents say she never ventured off on her own. She is
not allowed to ride her bike alone to the convenience store
on N.C. 18 near her home on Oakcrest Street.
"I never let them out of my eyesight," Iquilla Degree said.

"That's why it's so hard. I always know where my children
are. Except for now."
Asha bonded with her father when she was 6 months old.
He was laid off for two months and took over all the late-
night feedings. Like her father, she is quiet. Except when
they play. Both love to wrestle, and Asha sometimes taunts
her father, calling him "Big Head" and "Greedy," he said.
"I'll grab her and tickle her," said Harold Degree, 30.
"Then they'll start hollering for me," Iquilla Degree said.

"It's amazing these walls are still standing, the way we
wrestle in this house."
Asha is independent - just as happy playing alone in her

room with her Barbie dolls as jumping on the trampoline
with her brother and cousins, her mother said. When she
feels sad, she'll just lie down and go to sleep.
"I could always tell something was wrong with her because
she'd get quieter than usual," her mother said. Her family
says she didn't seem to be upset the weekend before she
left. She was a little sad about losing her basketball game
Saturday night but then had a ball at a sleepover at her
cousin's house. There, Asha and her cousins stayed up late
pretending they were dancers on "Soul Train" and
watching "Showtime at the Apollo."
She also loves movies, although sometimes they give her

bad dreams. O'Bryant said his sister dreamed she was an
alien attacking Earth after they watched the movie "Mars
Attacks." She had a nightmare when they watched Michael
Jackson's "Thriller" video.
"The graveyard scene bothered her," her brother said.
Dogs also scare her.
"She don't like nothing jumping on her," her mother said.
O'Bryant said he likes walking his sister to class.

Sometimes, they hold hands. He went back to school last
Tuesday but won't ride the bus because that's something
he and Asha do together. O'Bryant has slept in his parent's
bed since his sister left.
Asha's parents have not returned to work. Her father is a

dock loader at PPG Industries Inc. in Shelby, and her
mother builds pianos at Kawai America in Lincolnton.
The family will go to New York City this week for a taping
of "The Montel Williams Show." "America's Most Wanted"
ran a short segment on Saturday.
Harold Degree spends most of his days wandering, looking

for his daughter. He walks until he's exhausted. It's the
only way he can sleep.
For Iquilla Degree, morning is the hardest time of day.

That's when she relives the sight of her daughter's empty
bed.
"As long as I have breath, we will keep looking until we
find her or the body," Iquilla Degree said. "Even if a child
dies, you will still have memories. They can't take them
from you."
MISSING GIRL DOESN'T

FIT PROFILE, EXPERTS
SAY
Newspaper
March 14, 2000 | Charlotte Observer (NC)
Author: AILEEN SOPER, Staff Writer | Page: 1L | Section: GASTON
863 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1140, grade level(s): 9 10 11-12
The recent disappearance of a 9-year-old Cleveland
County girl is so unusual that missing children experts say
they know of no case quite like it.
A month to the day Asha Degree vanished, there are no

new leads, the number of detectives working the case full-
time has shrunk from 25 to five, and police hope continued
publicity will yield tips to focus the investigation.
It is strange because, as police tell it, a well-adjusted

fourth-grader slipped away from her house on a rainy
night without explanation. Although motorists saw her
walking south on N.C. 18 near her house about 4 a.m. that
same day -Valentine's Day - she has not been seen since.
Two authorities on missing children say 9-year-olds
simply don't walk out of the house in the middle of the
night and seemingly evaporate.
"She doesn't fit any standard profile of a missing child,"

said John Goad, director of the N.C. Center for Missing
Persons, citing Asha's age and apparently stable home. "I
don't think a case like hers has ever happened anywhere,
anytime."
Last year, 877,000 children were reported missing,

according to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children. Since 1990, the center has resolved 93
percent of its cases.
In North Carolina, 6,361 children were reported missing in

1999. Most were runaways; none were abducted by
strangers, according to the N.C. Center for Missing
Persons. The state agency collects information on missing
persons in North Carolina and provides technical
assistance across the state to police.
Asha's parents reported her missing at 6:30 a.m., after her

mother went to wake her up and found she was gone. Her
hair bow and other belongings were found in a shed beside
the highway a day later. A massive, weeklong search by air
and on foot revealed nothing else. Cleveland County
Sheriff Dan Crawford said he thinks Asha met trouble, but
he doesn't know in what form.
From the beginning, observers called Asha's case bizarre.
"Kids usually don't start running away until age 12," said
Ben Ermini, director of the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children's missing children division. "It's an
unusual case where a 9-year-old would take off in the
middle of the night."
Goad said N.C. officials rarely classify children younger

than 10 as runaways.
While the way Asha disappeared may be out of the

ordinary, the way police looked for her is textbook -
expending enormous manpower at the beginning, then
scaling back as resources and leads dry up.
Police pursued every possible angle, said Crawford. They

explored whether someone lured Asha through the
Internet, interviewed known sex offenders and checked
those who had contact with her, including relatives.
"You eliminate everything that you have access to,"

Crawford said. "We have not had a substantial lead since
the day she left. It's very frustrating to spend a lot of time
and resources in an investigation and not have that good,
substantial lead come to you."
Before he was elected in 1994, Crawford spent 22 years

with the State Bureau of Investigation, handling a number
of child abductions. But most involved kidnappers who
stalked victims, much like serial rapists. Asha's case is
probably different, Crawford said, because if she was
abducted, she likely stumbled upon the offender.
Such crimes of opportunity are difficult to crack because

the offender may not have a criminal history to flag police.
Two investigators working on Asha's case went to

Quantico, Va., to meet with agents in the FBI's Child
Abduction and Serial Killer Unit, who drew up a
psychological profile of a possible abductor. Crawford
would not discuss the profile.
The five detectives assigned to the case - two from

Cleveland County, two SBI agents and one FBI agent - staff
a hot line. Several tipsters reported having visions about
the girl's whereabouts. Police pursued even those leads, to
no avail.
"America's Most Wanted" aired a segment on Asha last

month. "The Montel Williams Show" will show its
interview with Asha's parents and basketball coach at 4
p.m. today on WBTV (Channel 3).
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

posted Asha's picture on its Web site and faxed it to 12,500
law enforcement agencies.
It was sent to the U.S. Postal Service and to truck stops

along Interstates 85, 81 and 95.
A quick response is an abducted child's best chance at
survival, experts say. Of those taken by strangers, 74
percent are dead within three hours, a 1997 national study
showed.
North Carolina has a month-old pilot program in

Chatham, Moore, Harnett and Lee counties, outside
Raleigh, modeled after one in the Dallas, Texas, area
credited with the recovery of at least five children.
The Amber plan - named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman,

who was abducted and murdered in 1996 in Arlington,
Texas - alerts TV and radio stations, who interrupt
broadcasts with an emergency signal and a description of a
missing child, kidnapper and vehicle. North Carolina calls
its version NCCAN, or the N.C. Child Alert Notification.
South Carolina has a similar plan.
"It's a narrow window of opportunity," Goad said.
ASHA'S MYSTERY
LINGERS AFTER A YEAR
OF SEARCHING
Newspaper
Author: Aileen Soper And Karen Cimino, Staff Writers | Page: 1B | Section:
METRO
1074 Words
One year ago, 9-year-old Asha Degree packed her
basketball uniform, two favorite outfits and Tweety Bird
purse and slipped out of her Cleveland County house in
the middle of a rainy night.
What happened next remains a mystery.
Investigators dissect tips that lead nowhere. Strangers and

friends continue scanning the fields where she vanished.
And her family struggles to rise in the morning, greeted
only by Asha's empty bed.
"You can't grieve," said her mother, Iquilla Degree. "With

death you can grieve. This is worse than death. This, you
can't move.
"I can't even go to a grave."
Jailhouse tale: Was it a lie?
The collect calls started last summer.
Barron Ramsey, a Mecklenburg County Jail inmate who

went to school with Asha's mother and has a lengthy
criminal record, insisted to officials and The Observer he
knew what happened.
Though authorities haven't been able to verify anything
Ramsey told them, they spent months investigating his
account of Asha's disappearance.
Ramsey, 32, told this story in interviews with The

Observer:
He and another Cleveland County man were heading back

to Shelby on rural N.C. 18 early Feb. 14 after buying drugs
in Hickory.
The other man was driving, and the pickup struck a girl as
she crossed the road, according to Ramsey. He said the girl
was alive when the driver put her in the back of the pickup.
Ramsey said the driver dropped him at home and left with
the girl.
A few days later, Ramsey said, the man returned to take

him fishing on Moss Lake near Kings Mountain. Ramsey
said he helped the other man dump the now-dead girl's
body in the lake.
Months later, Ramsey said his conscience was bothering

him. He wanted to get the driver to confess, to give Asha's
family closure.
Ramsey, facing the prospect of a long stay in federal

prison, said he also was looking for a deal. He was in jail
on charges he robbed a Bessemer City bank in April. He
agreed to plead guilty to bank robbery June 23 in federal
court in Charlotte, though on Tuesday he withdrew the
plea and now is expected to stand trial.
Based on Ramsey's information, investigators searched a

stretch of N.C. 18 for car parts. They dragged Moss Lake
twice, once using an infrared underwater camera and dive
teams from Gastonia and York County, S.C.
They found nothing.
"Everything to this point has been a dead end," said

Cleveland County Sheriff Dan Crawford, who would not
discuss possible leads. "We look into everything that
comes our way."
Ramsey's court-appointed lawyer has not returned calls.
In October, officials moved Ramsey to the Cleveland

County Jail, Ramsey said, to arrange a meeting with the
pickup driver. Once there, Ramsey planned an escape with
cellmates, according to the sheriff's office. A fellow
prisoner tipped off guards before prisoners could carry out
the scheme.
Investigators told the family about Ramsey's tips in

November.
Authorities told the Degrees they didn't believe Ramsey

after he failed several polygraph tests, but they kept trying
to get him to reveal useful information.
"When we first heard it we was angry," Iquilla Degree said,
"because it was a lie."
'The impossible question'
Today, on the stretch of N.C. 18 where Asha was last seen,

a small, color billboard with the girl's picture is joined by
signs for a livestock auction, a church's chicken pie supper
and a mattress sale.
Chad Wilson, who was Asha's basketball coach, slows his

car on the way to church and looks toward the fields he
helped search. He scans them again, just in case.
Beau Lovelace, who led the search, still pulls off back roads
to check patches that haven't been covered.
"When I'm on a trip somewhere, I'll find myself looking on

the side of the road when I see a child her age walking
along. Just for a second I think - is it?" said Rick Dancy,
executive director of the Cleveland County chapter of the
American Red Cross.
Wilson hunted for Asha 21 hours a day for a week.
"God, all the places we looked," he said. "You'd go over

barbed wire fences. I'd go down in gullies you could almost
set a house down in. We went through cow fields, old
barns, neighborhoods."
At night, Wilson and others drove through neighborhood
after neighborhood, shining flashlights and calling Asha's
name.
"It's like the impossible question," he said. "There is no

answer."
'Somebody has my child'
Today is Harold and Iquilla Degree's 13th wedding

anniversary.
"We love each other. We know that," Iquilla Degree said.

"But for us, there are no other anniversaries. We won't
celebrate them anymore."
As the anniversary of their child's disappearance drew

closer, things got harder.
"It's the same. We still don't know nothing," Asha's mother

said.
Without God, she said, "I would not be able to get my body
out of the bed in the morning. And my husband and I
would not still be together."
Six months ago, the Degrees and their son, O'Bryant, 11,
often found it too painful to spend time together as a
family. They were apart for Asha's 10th birthday. Now the
trio sometimes steals a rare moment of joy. Every
weekend, Harold and Iquilla cheer for their son's
basketball team.
Trust is delicate. At Christmas, a stranger from Bermuda

sent flowers. In a card, the woman said she was praying for
the Degrees.
Iquilla Degree was touched - but nervous.
"I was wondering, how did she know about us?" she asked.
"I don't trust people no more. I try to, but I can't."
All of them get lonely, especially O'Bryant, who used to fall

asleep to the sound of Asha's breathing every night. The
boy goes to counseling weekly and is adjusting to middle
school.
For a couple of months, Iquilla Degree has been wearing a

large, red heart-shaped pendant attached to a shiny silver
necklace. "O'Bryant and Asha together forever," it says.
"In my mind, until somebody proves me wrong, somebody

has my child," Iquilla Degree said. "I don't think she's
dead. I just think that if the good Lord had her he would
let me know."
ANALYSIS MAY LINK
DISCOVERY TO ASHA
SOURCE: BOOK BAG
FOUND IN BURKE
COUNTY LIKELY MISSING
GIRL'S ITEMS TURN UP
ON N.C. 18, ABOUT 40
MILES NORTH OF 9-
YEAR-OLD'S LAST
SIGHTING
Newspaper
August 6, 2001 | Charlotte Observer (NC)
Author: ROBERT F. MOORE, Staff Writer. STAFF WRITER AILEEN
SOPER CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE. | Page: 1B | Section: METRO
A book bag that sources said likely belongs to a Cleveland
County girl missing for nearly 18 months will be sent to an
FBI lab today for analysis.
Two sources with detailed knowledge of the case said the
bag, found in Burke County Friday, contained several
items that also appear to belong to Asha Degree.
A construction worker found the items about 1 p.m. Friday

in a wooded area along N.C. 18 about six miles south of
Morganton, officials said. Authorities reported the find
Sunday afternoon.
Asha, then 9, was reported missing Feb. 14, 2000. A

passing truck driver reported seeing her about 4 a.m.
walking south on N.C. 18 about a mile from her Oakcrest
Street home. The site of Friday's find is about 40 miles
north of where she was last seen, according to Cleveland
County Sheriff Dan Crawford.
The sheriff would not say what the items were, but they
could be tied to the investigation, he said. He would not
elaborate, pending the outcome of the FBI analysis.
"We don't know how significant it is right now," Crawford

said. He would not confirm that the items were found in a
book bag or say how far from the roadway the items were
found.
"I don't want to release details that only a potential suspect

would know," Crawford said.
Authorities have said Asha left her house carrying a book
bag containing her basketball uniform, two favorite outfits
and a Tweety Bird purse.
Her hair bow, candy wrappers, a pencil and other

belongings were found a day later in a shed near N.C. 18.
For a week authorities searched a two-mile area around
Asha's house, but nothing else was found.
The investigation has been classified as a missing persons

case, but authorities suspected foul play after initial
searches and tips failed to locate Asha.
"When you don't hear from a 9-year-old girl for this long,
you've got to assume the worst," Crawford said.
Friday's find could be the most significant of more than

100 leads since the search began.
For about seven hours on Friday authorities searched the

area in Burke County where the items were found. They
used a dog specially trained to locate human remains.
Nothing else was found.
Sources said the search was near an embankment in an

area authorities had not previously searched. The bag,
sources said, appeared to have been there for a significant
amount of time rather than dumped there recently.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in
Alexandria, Va., posted Asha's picture on its Web site and
began circulating her picture nationally on posters after
she was reported missing. Authorities have chased several
other leads, including one that prompted them to search
Moss Lake near Kings Mountain.
Crawford talked to Asha's parents over the weekend.
"I told them as I have from the beginning to assume that

everything they hear is rumor unless they hear it from
me," Crawford said.
Relatives declined comment late Sunday, Asha's 11th

birthday. But Iquilla Degree, the girl's mother, told The
Observer earlier this year the uncertainty hurts the most.
"With death, you can grieve," Degree said. "This is worse

than death."
AERIAL SEARCH SET

FOR ASHA BOOK BAG
DISCOVERED IN BURKE
COUNTY HAD MISSING
GIRL'S NAME WRITTEN
ON IT, SOURCES SAY
AUTHORITIES HOPE
FLYOVER WILL YIELD
IDEAS WHERE TO SEND
GROUND TEAMS THAT
HOPE TO FIND MORE
CLUES
Newspaper
Author: AILEEN SOPER and ERICA BESHEARS, Staff Writers | Page: 1B |
Section: METRO
524 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1250, grade level(s): 11-12
Federal agents are planning an aerial search of a rural area
where a construction worker stumbled on a backpack and
other items belonging to a missing Cleveland County girl.
Two law enforcement sources said Monday that the book

bag, found Friday off N.C. 18 about six miles south of
Morganton, had Asha Degree's name written on it and was
double-wrapped in black plastic bags.
The discovery, which sources said also included clothing, a
piece of paper and a pencil case, is the first concrete lead
investigators have had in the nearly 18 months since the
fourth-grader vanished.
The black and beige bag was spotted 20 feet off the road
and nearly 40 miles north of where two truck drivers last
reported seeing Asha walking before dawn Feb. 14, 2000.
Chris Swecker, head of the FBI's Charlotte office, said the

aerial survey may take place as early as today. It could help
investigators focus continued ground search efforts, he
said.
Investigators using dogs able to detect human remains

searched a six-mile stretch along N.C. 18 over the weekend
but found nothing.
The backpack and its contents were flown Monday to an

FBI lab in Quantico, Va., for tests officials hope might lead
them to a suspect in Asha's disappearance. It is unclear
how long the tests will take.
The forensic analysis will likely include checks for hair,

fingerprints, fibers or other microscopic evidence, sources
said.
Authorities said they told the Degree family about the find
but did not show them the backpack or items inside it.
Terry Fleming, owner of Precision Grading, found the bag
while clearing land for a driveway.
The spot - once swampy and wooded but now graded and
muddy - is sandwiched between the road and a creek,
down a 20-foot embankment. Fleming was back at work
Monday, clearing land several hundred feet from where he
found the items. There is now a massive pile of tree roots,
logs and loosened dirt near the spot. There were also signs
of the weekend search, including pairs of latex gloves.
Jimmy Hughes, who lives nearby, searched his own

property for clues but didn't find anything. He tried to
remember anything from last year that might seem
significant now. Hughes said he feels for Asha's family: "I
got kids myself."
Asha's hair bow, candy wrappers and other belongings

were found in a shed near N.C. 18 about a mile from her
Shelby home a day after the truckers reported seeing her
walking. A weeklong, massive search revealed nothing
else.
Investigators believe she left home on her own, then met

trouble. Authorities say Asha took a backpack, her two
favorite outfits and a Tweety Bird purse.
Sunday was her 11th birthday.

Shirley Wilson, mother of Asha's former basketball coach
and one of hundreds of volunteers who helped look for the
girl, still keeps Asha's picture on her wall at home. She felt
hopeful after hearing of the Burke County discovery.
"It's the first little thing they've had in such a long time,"
Wilson said. "Her family - they've kept the faith and it's
hard to keep it so long. I wish they would find her alive.
"I guess the Lord will reveal an answer when He's ready."
MAJOR SEARCH
PLANNED FOR ASHA,
FURTHER CLUES
`SIGNIFICANT'
DISCOVERY OF GIRL'S
BOOK BAG GIVES NEW
PLACE TO LOOK
Newspaper
Author: AILEEN SOPER, STAFF WRITER | Page: 1A | Section: MAIN
672 Words
Authorities say they will mount a large-scale ground
search to look for remains or other evidence near where
Asha Degree's book bag, clothing and other items were
found last week off N.C. 18 in Burke County.
Cleveland County Sheriff Dan Crawford said Friday the

"significant" discovery gives investigators a new place to
look, 18 months after the then-9-year-old walked away
from her Shelby home in the middle of a rainy night.
Crawford would not reveal when or where the ground

search will start, saying he did not want to give a suspect a
chance to move evidence. But he said he is seeking trained
volunteers such as firefighters, not members of the general
public, to conduct the search.
A construction worker found the weather-beaten book bag

nine days ago, 26 miles north of where Asha was last seen
walking Feb. 14, 2000.
Crawford said its location - farther than the little girl could
have walked - and the fact it was wrapped in two black
trash bags indicates the girl, whose 11th birthday was
Sunday, was likely abducted, and possibly killed.
Crawford confirmed the book bag contained the girl's

name, address and telephone number. It also held
clothing. He wouldn't say what else was in the bag.
"It points us in some direction," he said. "Ninety-nine
point nine percent of what was in that bag was Asha's."
Investigators believe she left home on her own, but have

never determined why. They say she took a backpack, two
favorite outfits and a Tweety Bird purse.
Asha's hair bow, candy wrappers and other items were

found in a toolshed just off N.C. 18, about a mile from her
Shelby home a day after two truck drivers reported seeing
her walking on the highway about 4 a.m. A weeklong,
massive search near there revealed nothing more. The case
had all but died until the book bag discovery.
Previously, Crawford said he believed the fourth-grader

might have walked beyond the 4-mile radius of the original
search and died of natural causes. But the Burke County
find changes that, he said.
"It's highly unlikely Asha placed them there herself," he

said. "We have reason to believe that was not Asha's plastic
bag, so it certainly heightens our suspicion that one or
more people were involved."
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office flew the bundle,

including the plastic bags, to an FBI lab in Quantico, Va.,
for forensic tests that are still underway.
It is unclear whether the clothing found was the outfit

Asha wore when she left home.
He said local investigators did not closely examine the
book bag, preserving evidence for the FBI lab tests.
The last time people searched, they hoped to find a little

girl alive. This time, they would likely be looking for
remains - over a much larger area with no certainty of
finding anything.
Crawford said it will be a challenge to coordinate a battery

of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies for a
ground search.
And he said he needed time to rally public interest for a

ground search, which might be difficult to sustain in hot
weather over rough terrain.
"They're in for a hard road," said Dave Barrie, an assistant

ranger for the N.C. Forest Service in Burke County. "It's
steep up there - pretty hilly, with thick brush."
Cleveland County is expected to ask for air support in a

ground search and utilize aerial photos taken by the FBI
this week.
In another development, detectives are re-interviewing

witnesses and potential suspects they talked to following
Asha's disappearance.
Among those originally questioned were Asha's relatives,
neighbors, teachers, classmates, the truck drivers who
reported seeing her walking, a federal inmate who called
the FBI claiming she'd been hit by a car, plus known area
sex offenders.
Crawford said his ultimate mission is to bring answers to

Asha's family: "I believe they know we are doing
everything we can to bring their child home. Our goal is to
give that family an end to their grieving to know who and
why."
N.C. 18 DANGEROUS
FOR ASHA MISSING GIRL
WASN'T ALLOWED TO
RIDE BIKE ALONE ON
BUSY ROAD
Newspaper
Author: AILEEN SOPER, STAFF WRITER | Page: 1B | Section: METRO
It's a question that haunts N.C. 18: What happened to the
pigtailed girl from Cleveland County who slipped out of
her house on a rainy night?
Truckers last saw Asha Degree, then 9, walking on the
twisty, two-lane highway near her Shelby home. Searchers
found her candy wrappers in a roadside shed. For 18
months, there was no sign of her. Then just last week,
Asha's book bag was found three counties away and 26
miles up that same road.
The sightings, items in the shed and the bag are the only
clues to what may have happened. They form more than
coordinates on a map: Their common link is the highway.
Taken together, detectives now say they believe Asha was
abducted and possibly killed along N.C. 18.
It's a road of contradictions.
To anyone just passing through, N.C. 18 seems like a

meandering country byway. But look closer. It's a major
commuter and trucking route - a mini-Interstate 77. A
place where little Asha wasn't allowed to ride her bike
alone.
13,000 vehicles daily
She grew up in a tiny house just off N.C. 18, a mile from
the highway's intersection with N.C. 180 - the last place
anyone reported seeing her alive.
Up and down the blacktop stretch that traverses the
foothills and the Piedmont are reminders she's missing.
"That road is always busy," said Sanjoi Patel, who owns the
Curve View "18" Express mini-mart at the intersection. His
only neighbor is a billboard with Asha's picture.
From there the road winds north past churches and barns,
juke joints and trailers. The businesses include Beam
Produce, Lail Hardware and Costner's Drapery. Fences
and trees line one side, a wall of kudzu, thatched thick as a
bird's nest, grows on the other.
In a tiny crossroads called Fallston, there's a florist shop

with a yellow ribbon and a sign: "Thinking of You Asha."
N.C. 18 is one of Cleveland County's main north-south

arteries, a major shortcut for truckers hauling freight from
Interstates 85 and 26 to Interstates 40 and 95. The N.C.
Department of Transportation says 13,000 vehicles pass
daily.
People commute from Shelby to the furniture factories and

other manufacturing hubs in Morganton and Hickory, said
Burke County house painter Henry Stewart, who's lived on
the road 35 years.
They're on the road day and night, speeding to the shifts

that change every eight hours.
There are the tourists, some heading north from Florida
vacations.
Others are the mountain lovers on their way to Blowing

Rock or the Blue Ridge Parkway.
"People from all over the country travel this road," said
Fitzhugh McMurray, who opened a produce stand five
years ago to supplement his century-old farm business.
"I meet new people every week that I ain't never seen
before."
McMurray peddles cantaloupes and molasses under a

picture of Asha in his front window. Her grandparents
used to pick fruit on McMurray's farm. His wife is a
teacher's assistant around the corner at Fallston
Elementary, Asha's school.
Like others, McMurray spins his own scenarios of what

happened: "Somebody had to pick the girl up," McMurray
said. "Maybe they went up the road a piece and decided
they had to get rid of that bag and went on."
`A tough search'
Keep going, and the highway splinters into countless
gravel driveways and roads named Grey Oaks, Music
Mountain and Laurel Creek.
Up here, the number of vehicles passing daily drops to

2,600, the DOT says.
The road nips a corner of Lincoln and Catawba counties.

Bluish mountains appear to the west at the Burke County
line.
There's almost no shoulder, and the land rises into rocky

pine forests.
At Morganton, the road hits I-40, which goes all the way to
California.
Construction worker Terry Fleming found Asha's book bag

as he carved a driveway into a hillside six miles south of
city.
This is where detectives say they will look again, using

dogs, four-wheelers and trained searchers.
"It's steep and rough in there, 100 percent slope in some

spots," said Dave Barrie, an assistant ranger for the N.C.
Forest Service in Burke County.
"Unless they find her not far from the road," Barrie said,
"they're in for a tough search."
TERRAIN COMPLICATES
SEARCH FOR ASHA
DOZENS FROM SEVERAL
AGENCIES SCOUR 3-
MILE STRETCH OF N.C.
18 BOOK BAG FOUND IN
AREA 26 MILES FROM
WHERE CLEVELAND
COUNTY GIRL WAS LAST
SEEN
Newspaper
Author: AILEEN SOPER and ERICA BESHEARS, STAFF WRITERS |
Page: 1B | Section: METRO
862 Words
Searchers tramped through jungle-like brush and mud
coating the slopes along N.C. 18 in Burke County on
Wednesday, looking for evidence that could end the 18-
month hunt for a missing Cleveland County girl.
The 100 searchers did come upon scattered bones - which

they believed were animal remains - plus bits of cloth, a
hair bow, mounds of soil and other items. But it was
unclear whether any of the discoveries were related to the
case or were just discarded along the rural highway in the
N.C. foothills.
Cleveland County Sheriff's Office investigators said they

will not be satisfied until they've searched the entire 26-
mile stretch of road between where then-9-year-old Asha
Degree was last seen Feb. 14, 2000, and the spot where a
construction worker found her book bag two weeks ago.
The search did not happen right away because of

dangerously hot weather and the logistics involved with
bringing together multiple agencies.
No timetable has been set for future searches, said

Cleveland County Sheriff's Capt. Billy Benton.
"There are some prime spots between here and Shelby

where she could have been discarded," Benton said,
referring to the endless gullies, ravines and kudzu patches
that line the stretch.
"We'll have to evaluate what we've found today and go

from there."
Searchers from Burke and Cleveland counties and the FBI
focused on a 3-mile area along the highway where the
book bag turned up Aug. 3. Wrapped in plastic bags, the
book bag was the first concrete evidence investigators have
recovered since the day after truckers spotted Asha
walking a mile from her Shelby home before dawn.
Before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Cleveland County Sheriff Dan

Crawford told the searchers gathered that he'd spoken to
the Degree family Tuesday night. "They want you to be
safe," he said.
Benton told the searchers to look for small sneakers and a

light-colored shirt and pants that Asha might have been
wearing.
Randy McKinney, assistant director of Burke County

Emergency Services, told them to watch for mounds,
sunken areas and unusual vegetation -- possible
gravesites.
His agency leads what is regarded as one of North

Carolina's best search and rescue squads. It finds an
average of 50 lost people in the Linville Gorge wilderness
each year.
After McKinney's remarks, 16 crews fanned out to search

along the highway. They slathered themselves with bug
repellant and toted bottled water, walking sticks and two-
way radios.
The thick brush made it impossible to methodically comb

the banks and stay within a few feet of one another, as
search leaders recommended.
"When you get into terrain like this, the theory goes all to
pieces," said Louis Jenkins with Cleveland County EMS.
A five-man crew led by Tim Hubbard of Burke County

EMS encountered thorn bushes, spider webs, a black
snake, poison ivy and a wasp's nest. They walked in ankle-
deep Laurel Creek when the dense vegetation on either
side became impossible to traverse.
"I guess we're going to have to be realistic here, so walk

what you can," Hubbard said, sweating so much the Band-
Aid on his neck was peeling. "Just stay within hollering
distance."
Hubbard's crew located a frayed, mud-covered purple rag

half-buried in a pile of mulch beside the creek. They
radioed for a team of crime-scene investigators, who drove
straight there. One snapped pictures while a second put on
latex gloves and scooped away dirt before lifting out the
cloth and storing it for safekeeping.
Hubbard stored the coordinates of their find into a global
positioning device. The rag, along with other items
collected, will be sent to an FBI lab for tests.
"If she were wearing light-colored clothing, it would be red

now because of the mud and dirt," said Jake Whisnant,
assistant chief of the Shelby Fire Department. He and
others helped on the original seven-day ground search just
after Asha vanished.
Hubbard's group found trails that seemed to go on and on

and an old log cabin with a tin roof and sunken floor.
Another crew was already checking inside: nothing.
Among the other things crews discovered: a submerged

car, an oven, a cracked commode, athletic socks and a bag
of dog remains. One group retrieved a lockbox stolen from
a Burke County house last year. Inside, Burke County
Sheriff John McDevitt found a jewelry case and drenched
documents including a birth certificate. Deputies called
the owner, who claimed it.
"You could probably check every bridge in North

Carolina," McDevitt said, "and find something under it."
CONFESSION
REPORTED IN RAPE OF
GIRL, 11 - CLEVELAND
COUNTY MAN ALSO
CHARGED IN 2ND CASE
Newspaper
September 11, 2003 | Charlotte Observer (NC)
Author: DaNICA COTO, Staff Writer * SARA KLEMMER, Staff Researcher
contributed to this article. | Page: 1B | Section: METRO
503 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1320, grade level(s): >12
Danny Ray Johnson has confessed to raping and
abducting an 11-year-old girl Sunday morning from a
tractor pull event and leaving her tied to a tree, said
Cleveland County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Danny Gordon.
He also has confessed to an earlier rape and kidnapping of

an 18-year-old Catawba County woman, Gordon said.
Johnson, 43, of Lawndale, 11 miles north of Shelby, will

probably be moved to Central Prison in Raleigh because
he's considered a flight risk, and deputies believe he'll be
safer there.
On Monday, Johnson was charged with one count of first-

degree rape, four counts of first-degree sexual offense and
two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, all in
connection with the attack on the 18-year-old woman.
In the case involving the 11-year-old, he was charged with

two counts of first-degree statutory rape, one count of
attempted first-degree murder, one count of first-degree
kidnapping and four counts of statutory sex offense.
Johnson said he lured the girl away from the tractor pull
event with promises of helping her find her mother, said
Capt. Bobby Steen of the Cleveland County Sheriff's
Department.
His brother, Herbert Johnson, 44, and mother, Shelby

Gantt, also were at the event. Herbert Johnson said,
according to Steen, that he was volunteering as a security
guard and his mother was helping at the petting zoo when
the girl's mother approached him for help in finding her
daughter. Deputies confirmed that he called 911 and
helped in the search that lasted through the night. A
deputy found the girl Sunday morning. She was treated at
a hospital and released.
Herbert Johnson said he did not know his brother was at

the event and did not hear of his involvement with the
girl's attack until deputies told him later, according to
Steen. Deputies said they are continuing to question
Herbert Johnson about his activities on the night of the
incident.
They also questioned him this week about Asha Degree, a

9-year-old Shelby girl who has been missing since Feb. 14,
2000. Deputies first interviewed him in August 2001,
about that case when her backpack was found near his
home.
Herbert Johnson and Danny Ray Johnson are not suspects
in the Degree investigation, deputies said.
"You don't assume that that's the person who did it, but
you automatically have to ask," Steen said, adding that the
ages of the girls were similar and the crimes occurred in
the same area.
Although deputies say they have found no evidence linking

Herbert Johnson to Degree's disappearance, they asked
him on Monday to submit hair and blood samples.
"If nothing else, to eliminate anything," Gordon said.
Herbert Johnson told The Observer he willingly gave the

samples because he had nothing to do with Degree's
disappearance.
Deputies said they've asked about the location of both

brothers at the time of her disappearance. Herbert
Johnson said he was either at Broughton Hospital, a state
psychiatric facility in Morganton, or at Marion
Correctional Facility. It's possible that Danny Ray Johnson
was in jail in West Virginia at the time.
DISCOVERY LIKELY
ANIMAL BONES
Newspaper
November 11, 2004 | Charlotte Observer (NC)
Author: MELISSA MANWARE, DaNICA COTO KAREN CIMINO, STAFF
WRITERS, STAFF WRITERS JOE DEPRIEST, ALICE GREGORY
HARTNETT AND KEVIN CARY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY. | Page:
1A | Section: MAIN
834 Words
After two days of digging for evidence in the case of a
missing Cleveland County girl, authorities said late
Wednesday they believe bones discovered in the search
belong to an animal, not Asha Degree.
Cleveland Sheriff Raymond Hamrick said one of his

detectives received information that led to the search, but
would not be more specific. Investigators had not decided
whether to continue looking in the area, he said.
Asha was 9 years old when she disappeared on Feb. 14,

2000, from her home north of Shelby.
Chief Deputy Danny Gordon told the Observer late

Wednesday that the remains had not been tested, but do
not appear to be human. He would not comment further.
Deputies and the SBI began digging near the corner of

Shelby and Rube Spangler roads near Lawndale on
Tuesday afternoon. A coroner and medical examiner stood
nearby.
"It's an emotional roller coaster," said Sgt. Wayne Thomas

of the Cleveland sheriff's department, who formerly was
assigned to the case.
"You've got no leads and then, boom, you've got something
coming in."
Harold Degree, Asha's father, told the Observer that his

family found out about the search from a television news
broadcast. The family lives in Fallston, six miles from the
dig site.
The road leading there has changed little since hundreds

combed the area for signs of the fourth-grader more than
four years ago.
A sign asking "Have you seen Asha Degree?" still stands on

N.C. 18.
Six or seven miles beyond that sign, law enforcement

officials searched again Wednesday off a curvy road lined
with modest houses and a few mobile homes. Neighbors
and media gathered nearby, peering over the crime scene
tape toward a ravine where a bulldozer dug into the soil.
Authorities carried a few brown bags from the cordoned

off area.
Asha's disappearance has haunted friends, family and the

community since she was reported missing from her
bedroom.
Her parents describe the girl as shy and quiet. At the time
of her disappearance, they said the family wasn't having
any problems and couldn't imagine that she'd run away.
Harold Degree said Asha went to bed at about 6:30 p.m.

on Feb. 13, but woke two hours later when lightning
storms and high winds swept through the area.
He said she watched TV in the den with the rest of the

family for a half-hour and then returned to bed.
He also said Asha and her brother, O'Bryan, were sleeping

when he checked on them after midnight.
In the morning, when Asha's mother, Iquilla, went to wake

the girl, Asha was not there. The family said her bed
looked slept in and that she usually made it up as soon as
she woke.
They said Asha went to sleep in a nightshirt, but the

clothes she wore the day before - a white T-shirt with
purple lettering made for a Degree family reunion, blue
jeans and white tennis shoes - were missing along with her
black book bag and a black purse with "Tweety Bird" on it.
Her parents said they found all the doors in the house
locked. Asha kept a key in her book bag.
A 12-hour ground hunt for the Fallston Elementary

student turned up nothing.
The FBI soon joined the case, and dog teams came from as
far away as Asheville to aid about 100 searchers who
combed a 3-mile radius for Asha on foot, on horseback, in
SUVs and helicopters.
As Asha's picture flashed on TV screens across the

Carolinas, two truckers called police to say they saw a child
fitting her description walking south on N.C. 18 about a
mile from her home about 4 a.m. on Feb. 14. One driver
said he turned around for a second look.
As he passed a third time, he said he noticed the girl

veering away from the highway into the fog and darkness.
The next day, candy wrappers, her hair bow, a pen and
pencil were found about 600 feet away in an old chicken
house.
Authorities suspended their ground search on Feb. 20, but

local, state and federal authorities continued to work on
the case.
In early August 2001, a construction worker found Asha's

book bag in a wooded area along N.C. 18 about six miles
south of Morganton and 40 miles north of where she was
last seen.
On Wednesday, law enforcement officials gave few details

about the latest search or what led them to dig.
Jean Williams of Shelby, 65, said she was driving home to
Shelby from work in Lawndale and stopped to see what
was going on.
Williams identified herself as Asha's great aunt.
"If we find her here, it would about kill me," she said. "I've
been hurting so long."
ASHA SEARCH HAD

LONG-SHOT CHANCES -
OFFICIAL: A BODY
BURIED SO CLOSE TO
LAST SIGHTING WOULD
NOT MAKE SENSE
Newspaper
November 13, 2004 | Charlotte Observer (NC)
Author: DaNICA COTO, STAFF WRITER | Page: 2B | Section: METRO
404 Words | Readability: Lexile: 1050, grade level(s): 6 7 8 9
The yellow crime scene tape came down Friday afternoon
as SBI and Cleveland County authorities finished a four-
day search near Lawndale for Asha Degree.
Earlier this week, authorities began digging behind an
abandoned trailer after receiving a tip about the 9-year-old
girl who disappeared almost five years ago. The
information could only be corroborated by searching the
area, police said in a news release. Authorities declined to
provide details.
"We get a lot of leads on Asha," said Capt. David Rankin.

"This one was not any more significant than any other
leads."
The former Cleveland County sheriff who supervised the

investigation into her disappearance praised authorities
Friday for following the lead, but doubted they would have
found anything.
Dan Crawford said it doesn't make sense that someone

would bury Asha close to where she was last seen on Feb.
14, 2000, and then risk driving somewhere else with her
belongings.
In August 2001, a construction worker found Asha's book

bag about 40 miles north of where she was last seen
walking along N.C. 18 about 4 a.m.
"Based on what I know from the investigation I don't put a

lot of credibility in (this week's search)," he said.
On Wednesday, Cleveland Chief Deputy Danny Gordon

told the Observer that the remains found this week
appeared to be animal bones. A medical examiner on
scene confirmed that finding, said an SBI spokesperson
Friday.
Crawford said he believes Asha was killed by a person

acting alone and committing that type of crime for the first
time.
He also said it's unlikely a sexual offender was involved

because they wouldn't go out so early in the morning
expecting to find a young girl alone on the highway.
Whoever saw Asha that night took the opportunity to

assault her in some way, Crawford said.
"And once they did whatever they did to her, they knew
they couldn't let her go," he said. "Once they cross that
barrier, they can't back up. Then fear sets in and they don't
know what to do."
Authorities said they would keep investigating leads that

develop in the Asha Degree case.

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SEARCH FOR GIRLTO

By dark, a 12-hour hunt by ground and air for Asha Degree

"We are canvassing every possible lead," said Bob

The search focused on the area near the family's house on

Roadcap said there were no signs of forced entry at the

Asha's parents were cooperating fully with investigators,

"Everybody is a suspect right now," Roadcap said.

In a telephone interview Monday morning, Asha's father

Asha's mother, Aquila, went to wake up the children

Asha went to bed in a nightshirt. Missing from her room

Her parents found all the doors in the house locked,

Authorities interviewed staff and students at Asha's

Up to 60 volunteers from area fire departments, the Red

"Dark is going to kill us," Lovelace said as the sun was

"She's an outstanding student with an excellent attendance

Neighbors and family members, exhausted from hours of

"Somebody could have snatched her out of the house," said

Asha plays basketball and likes riding her bike and

Chanel said she, Asha and a dozen of their cousins had a

Catina Degree, 15, the cousin who hosted the weekend

"We're in shock," said Banks, Asha's aunt, who formerly

Ruppe grew concerned.

Three days after Asha disappeared, attracting more than

"My gut tells me at this point that foul play is involved,"

Crawford said investigators were exploring several

Bob Roadcap, chief deputy of the Cleveland County

The air search was called off Wednesday morning, but

In all, Ruppe drove past a girl he now believes was Asha

"I wish I could have done more," said the 25-year-old

Asha's parents reported her missing about 6:30 a.m.

Another person who reported seeing someone on the road

"It was a small figure wearing light-colored clothing," said

From Fallston, the Blantons drove to High Point, then to

Dogs have not been able to pick up Asha's scent and

Family members say Asha is shy and quiet and had no

Crawford said Wednesday the investigators bought a pair

Beau Lovelace, Cleveland County fire marshal and head of

The air search, performed with helicopters and small

"The determining factor will be if we have any new leads,"

GIRL'S FAMILY FINDS

Investigators called the discovery of the bow, candy

Volunteers and investigators have combed an area along

The break came late Wednesday, when investigators

Investigators believe Asha likely left home on her own,

"My biggest fear is that she is somewhere, hurt, not able to

The Turners did not give investigators several other items

On Thursday morning, a member of a search party looking

Crawford said he believed the most significant find was the

FBI crime-scene technicians will test all of the articles,

"My gut feeling is that they are hers," Crawford said.

No one knows why Asha might have left home. Crawford

Crawford said investigators interviewed possible witnesses

Searchers refocused their efforts late Thursday afternoon

Cleveland County sheriff's Lt. Joel Newton instructed

Ten yards away searchers stopped again to examine a

"We're looking for anything we can find - candy wrappers,

Sally Thompson, 24, a Shelby mother of two came out to

Searchers moved on again. They formed a straight line,

B.E. Price, 14, pushed into a wooded area filled with

The searchers disbanded at nightfall with no new

Crawford said he would keep looking until he believed the

"Everybody is asking, `How long do you keep searching?' "

The new command post will be at the Hoyle Methodist

"Negative thinking harms the body and burdens the soul."

Searchers looked for Asha Degree with renewed fervor

Searchers will begin regrouping at 8:30 a.m. for the day's