What is known from the earliest hours of the investigation is that Asha disappeared from her bedroom sometime between about 2:30 a.m. on February 14, 2000, when Harold checked on Asha and her older brother, and 6:30 a.m., when Iquilla went in to wake the kids for school. There was no sign of forced entry and no promising scent trail for search dogs to follow. That afternoon, investigators received at least two separate reports from individuals who said they saw a young female walking along Highway 18, in the opposite direction of the Degrees’ home, around 4 a.m. One person said they went back to check on the girl but she had left the roadway and disappeared into the woods.

“That was the last time anyone had a sighting of Asha that had actually been confirmed,” Det. Adams said.

On August 3, 2001, some 30 miles north of the last sighting, construction workers digging an access road for a new home in neighboring Burke County found a book bag that belonged to Asha. Inside was a concert T-shirt featuring boy band New Kids On The Block and a children’s book, McElligot’s Pool, by Dr. Seuss. Neither belonged to Asha, though the book was from the library at Asha’s school, Fallston Elementary. Investigators released images of the shirt and book in 2018, hoping to jog the memories of people who may have helpful information.