#murderandmacabre

Valentine's Day comes on February 14th each year. Most people celebrate this time with their significant others, often having dinners and exchanging candies and "I love you’s." Valentine's Day was even more to Harold and Iquilla Degree. In fact, February 14th, 2000 was set to be the couple's 12th wedding anniversary, but instead of enjoying what should have been a very happy day, they woke to an unimaginable fear. Their 9-year-old daughter, Asha Jaquilla Degree was nowhere to be found.

The Degree family lived in a rural subdivision of Shelby, North Carolina. The family led lives that some wouldn't dream of now, but back then the family didn't have too many fears about going to work and allowing Asha and her 10-year-old brother let themselves in the house after school. The family is sometimes seen as strict, centering their lives around family, school, and church. The Degrees did not have a home computer with internet access and Iquilla had spoken to Asha about "stranger danger" stating, "Every time you turned on the T.V., there was some pedophile who had lured somebody's child away, via the internet." Iquilla said that because of this, Asha was cautious and content within the limits set by her parents.

Asha Degree was deathly afraid of dogs and was her basketball team's star point guard. On February 12th, just two days before her disappearance, Asha fouled out of the game and her team lost. It was noted that Asha took this hard, crying with her teammates, but eventually seemed to get over it and watched her brother's game afterward. The events leading up to Asha's disappearance often have varying times, but the usual story is that on February 13th, the Degrees attended church and had dinner at Asha's aunt's house. The family returned home around 8 p.m. An hour later, the power went out due to a nearby car accident and came back on around 12:30, an hour after Harold arrived back home from work on February 14th. Shortly before Harold went to bed at 2:30 a.m., he checked Asha and O'Bryant's room and said that they were both there in bed. Sometime after this, O'Bryant recalled hearing Asha's bed squeak, however, this must have been common as he thought she may have been shifting positions, and he went back to sleep. It is believed that at that point, Asha had gotten out of bed and left the home with a backpack that included several sets of clothes and some personal items.

A truck driver and motorist reported sightings that could have potentially been Asha between 3:45 and 4:15 a.m. walking along Highway 18 wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and white pants. The reports were made when they saw the news about Asha on television. Cell phones were not as common in 2000 and cell service was sometimes shaky at best, explaining why calls were not placed immediately and no one waited at the scene. The motorist noted that a storm was raging when he saw the girl, so he circled three times and she eventually ran into the woods and disappeared. The sightings are believed to be Asha as she was wearing something similar that night and both eyewitnesses saw the same clothing on her and both stories have her heading in the same direction.

At 5:45 a.m., Iquilla awoke to start drawing a bath for the children who were not able to bathe the night before due to the power outage. When she opened the door to the children's room, she found O'Bryant but no Asha. Not immediately expecting the worst, Iquilla checked the home, the family cars and then at Harold's suggestion, she called her mother-in-law's home next door. When she was notified Asha was not there, panic set in. Iquilla wasted no time in calling the police, who arrived on the scene at 6:40 a.m. An extensive search was conducted nearby, but there was no sign of Asha.

On February 15th,  just off the highway where Asha was seen running off, candy wrappers were found in a toolshed that a nearby business used. Along with these items, a pencil, marker and Mickey Mouse hairbow were found. All items were identified as Asha's. On February 16th, Iquilla noticed that some of Asha's favorite clothing was missing as well as her Tweety Bird purse. On August 3, 2001, a contractor found Asha's bookbag buried and wrapped in a plastic bag off Highway 18 about 26 miles from her home. A search of the area where the bookbag was found only turned up some animal bones and a pair of men's khaki pants.

In 2015, it was announced that Asha's disappearance was being re-examined and people were being re-interviewed. A $25,000 reward was also announced for any information that would lead to the conviction of the person or persons involved in Asha's disappearance. There is an additional $20,000 being offered by a community group. In May 2016, investigators announced that re-examination may have turned up a new lead. Asha may have been spotted getting into 1970's Lincoln Continental Mark IV or possibly a Ford Thunderbird. The car is described as dark green with rust around the wheel wells. In October 2018, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office appealed to the public, about two items of interest. A New Kids on the Block concert t-shirt and the book "McElligot's Pool" by Dr. Suess, which was borrowed from Fallston Middle School library early in the year 2000, just before Asha disappeared. These items are believed to be critical to solving the cold case.

Many theories surround Asha's case, but unfortunately, there are no answers. Though the Degrees were cleared as suspects in Asha's disappearance, some believe they may have had involvement. Some theorize that Asha ran away due to having an "abusive" or "strict" home. Some think that Asha just wanted an adventure. Some even believe Asha left on a whim and either fell victim to an opportunistic predator or was involved in a hit and run. Most popularly, one theory states that Asha was groomed and lured from her home by someone promising her something. Each theory has different details. Asha was possibly told she'd be doing something special for her parent's anniversary. Asha was upset about the loss of her basketball game. When the woman who owned the toolshed that Asha's belongings were found in was interviewed, she mentioned a photo of a little girl who could not be identified by Asha's family. Though this report is usually not stated as fact, some believe that Asha may have been lured by promises of making a new friend.

Whatever happened to Asha, it's clear the Degrees have not given up hope, hosting an annual walk to raise awareness. Pictures of Asha are still readily available in the Degree's home, both real and those showing how she might appear all these years later.

"I often wonder if I would recognize her if she walked by me today, the sound of her voice, the sound of her laugh," said O'Bryant in a Shelby Star interview in February 2018.

“I don’t know why you left, but it doesn’t matter. We just want you to come home,” Iquilla said in a message to the daughter she has not seen in nearly two decades. 

At around midnight on June 22, 1991, Charles Holden stopped at a fast food restaraunt after his shift at a local factory. As Charles was preparing to leave the parking lot, a stranger approached him and asked for a ride because he needed to get to the hospital as his sister was having a baby. Charles first told the hitcher that he couldn't and he only lived a few miles away, but then changed his mind and agreed to take the man a certain distance. Charles drove three miles down the highway before stopping at an intersection where he would usually turn to go home, and told the man that was as far as he could take him. When Charles said this, the man became enraged, attacked Charles and demanded his money and his truck. Charles then grabbed his keys and exited the truck, but the angry man raced toward him with a screwdriver. Defeated, Charles told the man he would take him wherever he wanted to go. As the man walked around to enter the passenger side of the truck, Charles sped off, and the man tried to chase after, but his attempt proved futile.

Charles rode around in the opposite direction of his home trying to shake off the experience he just had, and once he returned home, he observed the man from earlier lurking about his trailer. Charles drove away again to contact police from a payphone. A police officer escorted Charles back home to examine the trailer, however the stranger did not seem to be there and nothing was unlocked or tampered with. Worried about his mother, Charles asked the officer to check on her, she lived in the farmhouse just behind his trailer. When they arrived, they found the back door window busted and blood inside the home. When they went upstairs to the bedroom, they found Dorothy Donovan, Charles' mother, stabbed in the chest, arms and face. Nothing from the scene had been stolen, so a robbery motive was quickly ruled out. The only other idea the police had was that Charles was responsible and his story was too bizarre. Eventually, physical evidence at the scene ruled Charles out.