A warrant released on Monday stated that a 9-year-old North Carolina girl who vanished 24 years earlier is presumed dead.
Asha Degree vanished from her Shelby home in the rain in 2000. Degree was reported missing by her parents the next morning — and Cleveland County police wrote in a recent search warrant that they believe she was killed, according to WBTV.
Last week, the FBI seized a vehicle from a property miles from where Degree vanished decades earlier. The car possibly resembled a vehicle Degree was picked up around when she went missing.
In addition to a home in property in Shelby, authorities reportedly searched a home in Charlotte and an assisted living center in Vale. WBTV reported that 17 months after Degree’s disappearance, her backpack was discovered more than 30 miles away off a highway in Morgantown. Her belongings were said to be wrapped in two sealed garbage bags.
Reports indicated that one of the properties searched last week is owned by Roy Lee Dedmon. His connection to Degree has not been disclosed.
According to WBTV, DNA from two items in Degree’s backpack was linked to AnnaLee Dedmon Ramirez and Russell Underhill. Dedmon’s relationship to Dedmon Ramirez, who was 13 when Degree vanished, is unclear.
Investigators said Underhill, who died in 2004, lived in at least two facilities owned by Dedmon.
The search warrant stated that authorities seized cellphones, computers, and laptops from Dedmon’s home. They reportedly also seized a plastic bag containing a human tooth.
Degree remains unaccounted for, and no criminal charges have been filed. Dedmon has maintained his innocence.
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[Feature Photo: FBI Charlotte]
