The Girl Who Walked Into the Storm: Twenty-Six Years of Asha Degree
Sometime after half past two on the morning of Monday, February 14, 2000, a nine-year-old girl in Shelby, North Carolina, got out of bed, dressed herself, picked up a packed book bag and walked out of her family's house into a storm. Asha Jaquilla Degree has not been seen since. Twenty-six years later her case is being investigated as a homicide, DNA has tied items she carried to specific people, and not one person has been charged.
Asha was born on August 5, 1990, the second child of Harold and Iquilla Degree, who had married on Valentine's Day in 1988. The family lived on Oakcrest Drive, north of Shelby in Cleveland County. Harold was a dock loader at Pittsburgh Plate Glass; Iquilla built pianos at the Kawai America plant. Asha was a fourth grader at Fallston Elementary School and played point guard on the girls basketball team. She shared a bedroom with her brother O'Bryant, who was ten.
Sign up and get your first month completely free — unlimited access to the entire archive, ad-free for subscribers. Cancel anytime.
Subscribe — first month free