Criminology - Asha Degree

Episode Date: January 17, 2021

On Valentine's day, Feb 14, 2000, 9-year-old Asha Degree vanished. The circumstances around her disappearance are extremely mysterious. It seemed as though this little girl walked away from her North Carolina home in the dark in the early morning hours, never to come home. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the disappearance of Asha Degree. Police found no signs of forced entry at the home or any indications that she had been taken. Two different people came forward and said they saw her walking by herself in the early morning hours. Over the past 21 years, the police have found a few clues related to her disappearance. But they've never had enough to put the entire story together, and no arrests have ever been made. You can support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 142 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Mr. Morford, what is going on with you? Not much. I'm hanging out and enjoying the fresh weather down here.

How about you? No, I'm good. I'm good. A little colder than you are, I'm sure. But now everything's going good. A little rocky start to 2021, but... Hopefully it gets better. We say that every week.

We say that every week. I don't know about you, but I bought a bunch of lottery tickets, so I plan on hitting one or both lotteries. All right. We'll go for it, man. So I might be unavailable for a while. You got to have hope, right? You got to have hope.

That would make the year better for sure. More if let's give our Patreon shoutouts, and it'll be quick, because we only had two names. this week. Roam Champagne and Matt Causey jumped out at our highest level. So we appreciate that support very much. Yeah, every little bit, every person that says they're willing to help the show, it means a lot to us and we can't thank you enough. For anyone that would like to support the show, you can go to patreon.com slash criminology to sign up. Don't forget about Stitcher Premium. That's where you can find all of our episodes older than six months. And they have a free 30-day

So there's really nothing to lose to check that out. All right, Morph, it's time to get into this case. In this episode, we have a missing person's case of a little nine-year-old girl named Aisha Degree. It's a good time to cover her case because we're just a month away from Valentine's Day. And Little Asia vanished on Valentine's Day 21 years ago, February 14, 2000. The disappearance of Aisha Degree. from Shelby, North Carolina is perplexing because unlike a lot of other disappearances or abductions,

authorities are not exactly sure the location where whatever happened to Asia happened. The last time Asia was seen, she was peacefully sleeping in her own bed safe at her home with her entire family there. Usually children are abducted from outside the home. And even when Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped. The perpetrator left evidence of a break-in and her little sister was there to witness it. Asia's older brother saw and heard nothing unusual. The last night he saw his sister. Nothing was amiss. It's a case that has puzzled many for a large number of years now. And it's also a case that is often discussed by online slews. But given all of that, Aisha, Asia's disappearance hasn't really garnered that much mainstream media attention over the last 20-plus years.

Aisha Jaquilla Degree was born on August 5, 1990. Coincidentally, just one day before John Bonae Ramsey, another little girl whose mysterious murder became infamous. Although John Bonae's case has garnered more national attention, Aisha's case is just as perplexing. Aisha is the youngest of two children and the only daughter of Harold and Echilla degree. She loved the draw, and she was smart and athletic, just like her big brother. By all appearances, the degrees were a normal and loving family. They lived in a modest duplex apartment in Shelby, North Carolina. In 2000, Shelby had a population of just under 19,500 people.

Over 15% of the population were below the poverty line. Shelby doesn't seem like an overly dangerous community to live in. It's not gang infested or in the news regularly for violent crimes. The most notable story in recent years to come out of Shelby was in 2015 when Dylan Roof, who shot and killed nine people in a church in Charleston, North Carolina, ended up being arrested there. But Shelby also isn't the safest city either. the crime rate is slightly higher than the national average.

Thiefs, burglaries, and robberies make up the majority of reported crimes in Shelby. And since 2016, crime has been decreasing. It's a rural area that despite having thousands of residents seems like the kind of place where things like this just don't happen. Kids don't just go missing. The Degree family attended church weekly at Macedonian Missionary Baptist Church in nearby Waco, North Carolina, and they saw their extended family often. No signs of trouble in the family or neighborhood have ever been noted. Aisha and her brother were Bryant, who was just one year older than her, were Lachke kids. Their parents, Harold and Aquila, both worked hard to support their family in an area with few economic opportunities.

The Degree has also had family members living in the immediate. at neighborhood. So the two kids weren't completely left to fend for themselves. They had a regular routine waking up daily at 6.30 a.m. eating breakfast, getting dressed for school, and then making it to the school bus on time on their own in the mornings after Aquila left for work. Asia's and O'Brien's routines weren't restricted to just the mornings. They were expected to have their chores and homework done when their parents arrived home for the day. Asia was described as being very responsible and an excellent student. She was competitive, ambitious. She planned to become an illustrator someday. By all accounts, neither child was rebellious. And there had been no issues with them being

unsupervised for the short time between school and the time one or both parents came home. Both siblings were on sports teams at Falston Elementary School. They attended church weekly with their family. they were in bed by 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends. Their lives were pretty routine and quiet. Not only did Aisha not have internet access, there was no computer in the degree household, in part due to the horror stories about children in the internet. Harold and Aquila wanted to keep their two children safe

and to an extent isolated from the dangers that face children. Asia and O'Brien may have been sheltered, but it was out of love and protection. The degrees were right to be protective of their children. At the time of Asia's disappearance, three of the multiple registered sex offenders within a three-mile radius of the degree home had already committed repeat offenses.

Aisha has also been described as shy, obedient, and cautious. Her father says that Aisha was terrified of dogs. She was known to be very afraid of the dark. She was scared by storms. Some nights she would end up sleeping on the floor, next to her brother's bed when she was afraid, rather than sleep alone in her own bed. She knew she was too old to sleep in her brother's bed, so this was her compromise. So I think this paints a picture of a timid and docile child.

It's important to note that Aisha disappeared on Valentine's Day, which is a special day for most children, celebrated with cards and candy in class. For Aisha and O'Brien, the day was made even more special each year because Harold and Aquila were married on Valentine's Day in 1988. So more if I think this is a fact that many people look at, the fact that Asia disappeared on her parents' anniversary. You could look at it and say it was a coincidence. But you could also look at it and say maybe the fact that. that it was her parents' anniversary plays a huge role in this case and the events that occurred that night. The Friday before her disappearance was a school holiday, so Aisha and O'Brien

spent that day with her aunt at her house, which was just down the street from their own. The next day, Saturday, Aisha played basketball. Asia was a point guard on her basketball team at Falston Elementary School. During the game, Aisha fouled out, and her team wanted to up losing the game. It's unclear if she was the reason they lost, but she was upset along with the rest of her teammates. This was understandable, as it was their first loss of the entire season, and they lost by just one point. Some of them, including Aisha, pretended to be injured, and other teammates cried over the loss. But Aisha's spirits seemed to eventually lift. She stopped pretending to be injured, and she watched her brother play in his game that night.

but Aisha still seemed upset that she had made a mistake and that her team had lost. That's Saturday night, Aisha had a sleepover with some of her cousins at her relative's house. On Sunday, February 13th, the degrees picked Aisha up and she went to church with her family. After church, they all returned to Aisha's cousin Shalonda Brown's home. There, Aisha visited with her grandma. Once she got home, Aisha fell asleep because she hadn't slept that. much. Due to the excitement of the slumber party with cousins the night before, she napped till around 6.30 p.m. when the thunderstorm woke her up, Aisha then watched TV with her

family until the power went out around 8.30 p.m. A car crash had caused a power outage for much of the Shelby North Carolina area. Aquila had been drawing the kids a bath when the power went out. So she sent them to bed instead. There's some conflicting information about whether Harold was already home that day or whether he returned from work after the kids had already gone to bed. Either way, it's widely reported that Harold went out to the store late that night and bought some candy last minute before Valentine's Day. When he returned, he watched TV for a while before going to sleep.

Harold saw Aisha and O'Brien asleep in their beds early on the 14th, around 2.30 a.m. before he went to bed. At 5.45 a.m. on Monday, February 14th, Equila Degree woke up and started getting ready for the day. She wanted to wake the kids up a bit earlier than their normal 6.30 a.m. time because she wanted them to take bath since they hadn't taken one the night before. When Aquila went to check on the kids, she found that Aisha was gone. Panicked, she first. called her mother, who lived across the street, to check and see if Asia had gone over for a visit for some reason. When it was confirmed that Asia's grandmother hadn't seen her, Aquila became horrified, and she asked Harold to call 911. Police were at the degree home by 6.40 a.m. Asia had been known to be missing for almost an hour at that point, and the police investigation would reveal that

Aisha had been on the move by foot and that based on the timeline, she could have walked at least a mile before her mother even knew she was gone. O'Brien, who shared a room with Aisha, didn't remember seeing or hearing anything strange during the night. He did remember Aisha getting up to use the restroom and he heard her bed squeak during the night. But it didn't stand out to him at the time and he thought she was just switching positions. tossing and turning, O'Brien and Aisha were extremely close, but he had no knowledge of any plans that Aisha had to run away. It had rained overnight, and police walked around the soggy ground outside the home, and then checked inside carefully looking for clues.

They found the doors and the windows were closed, and there was no sign of forced entry. Asia's backpack, where she kept her house key, was gone. All signs pointed to Asia, having left the house, house voluntarily by herself. But why? It would have been between 2.30 a.m. and 5.45 a.m. Early on a dreary morning with bad weather. It was storming that night with heavy rains, high wind, and there were few, if any, streetlights. Many adults who have seen the route Aisha is believed to have taken early that morning admit it's a walk they wouldn't have taken themselves in those

conditions. It's especially puzzling because Aisha was generally timid and afraid to go out in the dark. Police put out alerts and began looking for witnesses and questioning local residents. Two people came forward to tell police that they saw Asia as they drove by her early that morning. We know that at least one was spurred to call in after watching the evening news and seeing reports about her being missing. The two separate reports of Asia being seen were at different times. One person said they saw her around 345, and the second person said that they saw her at around 4.15 a.m. Both tipsters claim to see A.S.W.S.th. Along North Carolina Highway 18, near the intersection of Highway 180. So I think more if it's pretty safe to assume that when you combine these two accounts, Asia was on Highway 18,

sometime around 4 a.m. During one of the sightings, the witness described spotting a young girl walking along North Carolina 18, headed south towards Shelby. She was dressed in a long white shirt and white jeans. This man actually turned around and headed in the opposite direction

on North Carolina 18 to make sure he really saw a child alone at night. in a downpour. When he confirmed it was, in fact, a young girl, he turned around again and tried to pull over and offer her assistance. But the young girl, who authorities do believe, was Aisha, got frightened, and ran off into the woods. This is believed to be the last sighting of Aisha degree.

And in fact, a billboard with her photo and information on it now. stands at this spot. The outfit the eyewitnesses remember is what Aisha is believed to have been wearing at the time, long sleeve white shirt, white jeans, and white Nike sneakers. The second driver made a report to other truckers in the area via CB radio to be alert for the child he saw. Some believe that her running into the woods points to Aisha not wanting to be seen, while others point out that she was wearing her most visible outfit, and the motorist saw her twice before she ran. She could have been scared only because the driver circled back around for her, and Aisha was afraid of an interaction with a stranger.

If Aisha left on her own that night, why didn't she wear her pack a jacket of any kind? Aisha was described as bright and responsible. And surely, even if she left her house on her own that night, for some unknown reason, at nine years old, she'd know to dress for the bad weather when it was raining outside. In 2000, there were hardly any streetlights along the route, Asia is believed to have taken, the houses along the road that leave their porch lights on are far enough away from the road that they really don't provide any illumination of the road or what would be considered the shoulder.

Highway 18 is a 145.5 mile highway that connects major cities in western North Carolina. Much of it is completely pitch black after sunset. There are numerous mailboxes, ditches, road signs, drainage pipes with large drop-offs, and a host of other hazards on the side of the road. Much of that highway has no sidewalk or shoulder, and the rain would mean the ditches along the roadside were full of water and mud. Police brought in search dogs, and those tracking dogs didn't manage to pick up Asia's scent or indicate any kind of trail, even outside the degree home.

As we noted, there was no sign of forced entry to any point in the home, and it's unknown whether Asia left the home through the front or the back door. All that was found the first day of searching was a glove or a mitten that the degrees didn't recognize, and it's not believed to have belonged to Asia. On the 15th, candy wrappers matching the kind of candy Asia's team had been given were found near the last sighting of her on Highway 18. Days later, items believed to belong to Asia were found in a shed belonging to an upholstery business. This shed was 300 feet off highway 18. More candy wrappers, a yellow teddy bear, hair barrette, a green marker, and a pencil that said Atlanta on it were found in the shed, which was quite a ways off the road from the spot.

where Asia was last reported scene. Perhaps Asia knew the shed was there, or maybe she just came upon the shed and saw it as a place to shelter from the bad weather. Unfortunately, the owners of the shed didn't connect the items to Asia until after they had moved around in the shed and pretty much disturbed the scene. The yellow barrette has also been described in reports,

as a Mickey Mouse hairbow. But I think most importantly, the degrees identified it as one of Aisha's hair accessories. Also in the shed was a small photo of an unidentified little girl. It looked like a school photo or a professional portrait of some kind. Police tried to ID this little girl in the picture, but no one at Aisha's school and no one in her family recognize the girl. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency?

We just walked in the door, and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, Blood and Water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor, moms and mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for. Hey guys, I'm Mandy.

And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for moms and mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases as we shed light on everything from heist to who-done-it. We're your go-to podcast for Mysteries with a motherly touch. Subscribe now to moms and mysteries wherever you get your podcast. The ground search for Aisha was officially stopped on February 23rd, just after a week of searching. The search included police officers, more than 60 volunteers, and canines. Highway patrols searched by error and found nothing.

In addition, countless missing persons flyers were handed out and posted in the community. Investigators went back to Square One and soon became convinced that Aisha left her home willingly and planned in advance. They believe that Aisha packed her back. over a number of days. Items known to be missing from the degree home and believed to have been with Aisha when she left are a red vest with black trim, blue jeans

with a red stripe down each side, which are said to have been Aces' favorite jeans, a pair of black shoes, black Tweety Bird overalls, a black and white long-sleeved shirt, a Tweety Bird purse or pocketbook, her basketball uniform, and candy that she had been given

along with her teammates. on Saturday. Findacia degree.com reports that Asia is believed to have taken three family photos with her that night as well. Two theories intersect here because of the photos, the outfits, and the date. There are three clearly coordinated outfits missing as well as possibly a few family photos. Some people believe that Asia was lured out by some sort of promise of an anniversary surprise for her parents. Some listeners may remember 10-year-old Amy Mahalovic. Before she was abducted, she received a phone call from a stranger that her mother was being promoted and she was going to be taken to get a special surprise gift for her to celebrate. So you have the multiple coordinated outfits,

the family photos, and the portrait of the little girl. In Asia's case, Many people wonder if that anniversary surprise could have been some sort of portrait package for her parents. Did Aisha leave the house early that morning packed for a photo shoot? Or was Aisha simply running away and wanted photos of her family? As keepsakes by which to remember them, what could have motivated her to run away from the family? she obviously loved enough to want mementos of, that part is anyone's guess. And it's part of what makes this case so mysterious. Because there were no known problems with Aisha at home or at school, people have really examined

all parts of the case that are publicly known. Some of even theorized that perhaps Aisha was sleepwalking and tried to walk to school or church. But Fall School elementary school was a five-mile walk north from A.C. his house, and witnesses say she was heading south and was already a mile south of home when she was spotted. She also seemed to wear that when the same car slowed down there multiple times, that she looked determined to avoid the driver, neither of which point to sleepwalking behaviors. But since nothing about this case makes sense, you can't fault people for trying to explain what may have happened. Another theory surrounds a book that Asia was reading in her

class at Falston Elementary. The book is called The Whipping Boy, and it centers around a prince and a slave who go on a terrifying adventure, getting captured for ransom, but return home at the end, safe and happy. Maybe Aisha wanted to have her own adventure. Perhaps the little girl in the photo found in the shed was not used to lure Asia, but was the one who lured or was even lured by Aisha for a few. fun adventure where everyone was supposed to return home safely. The whipping boy was about two children on an adventure, not one. In March, following Aisha's disappearance, her friends were

interviewed. Police were desperate to find any lead to pursue, but nothing really came of it in terms of suspects or motives for Aisha to run away. But it was noted that Aisha had showed her friend's money, just a few dollars on the 10th, and it's unknown where the money came from. or how she got it, or whether she had it when she left on the 14th. The summer after Asia disappeared, a man claimed to have been a passenger in a truck that hit Asia while she was walking down the road that night. Baron Ramsey, who happened to be a former classmate of Aquila's, claimed that out of panic because she was dead, the driver, another Cleveland County man, put her in the bed of the truck,

and then days later, the two dumped her body in Moss Lake. authorities dragged the lake twice and searched the highway for any evidence to back up the story, but nothing was found. It's believed that Ramsey made the story up to try and leverage the information for a lighter sentence in a bank robbery case he was involved in at the time. For the rest of 2000, Aisha's family waited desperately for news of their missing little girl as 2000 turned to 2001. Their hopes faded. Then a year and a half after, Asia's disappearance. A huge piece of evidence was literally unearthed.

A construction worker found a backpack, double-bagged in black plastic trash bags, and buried on the side of the road during a development project. This spot was just off Highway 18, but 26 miles north of where Asia had last been seen heading south. It had Asia's name and number written on it, since Asia had vanished, many investigators felt deep down that she was a runaway. But after this discovery, authorities officially stated that they now believed Asia's disappearance

to be a case of foul play, not simply a runaway case. Results of any testing done on the bag or its contents by the FBI have never been made public. Authorities have stated that, quote, 99.99% of what was in the bag belonged to Asia. Exactly what this means has never quite been explained. Like with other pieces of evidence in the case, there are lingering questions. Did someone double bag and bury this backpack in order to preserve it from the elements and perhaps be able to come back to it later?

Maybe to retrieve its contents, or as a morbid trophy of sorts. Or was it buried to hide it and bagged to look like trash and seal the scent from any sort of bloodhound? If it was meant to be retrieved, no one ever went back for it. Discounting the trophy theory is the fact that the burial of the backpack probably happened over time due to the elements, as well as the construction that was happening. Sheriff Crawford believed that Aces backpack was thrown out of a moving car. The location of the backpack would indicate that someone was going south back towards Shelby. The area the backpack was found in was west of Highway 18. It was between a creek and the highway, and it was a pretty dangerous area.

Cleveland County Sheriff Dan Crawford did not allow volunteers to search this area, which was wooded, muddy, and had clear trails from wild boars. Police needed walking sticks and snake guards. The wild boars and terrain leave you wondering if Aisha could have indeed been buried or dumped with her backpack at one point. point, only to have basically disappeared again due to scavenger and wild boar activity. This could even mean that she may have gotten lost somewhere in the woods and died from exposure because she was soaking wet at 4 a.m. in the February rain and there was just nothing left for investigators to find. But this does not explain why her backpack was double-backed.

So I think a lot of people look at this and think this is the least likely theory of all. The man who worked with police to coordinate the search of the area felt that the backpack being found was a surprise in itself due to the area it was buried in. During the search, men's khaki pants and small bones were found. Crawford stated that the bones were animal bones and made no further comments on the pair of pants. It's assumed they were unrelated to Aisha's disappearance. because no photographs of them or information about them was released. Police have asked for the public's help in this case, and you would think that if the pants were connected to Aisha's disappearance,

they would have provided photos of them. Cadaver dogs were brought in to sniff certain areas, and more digging did not reveal any evidence. A single black plastic trash bag, similar to the ones Aisha's backpack was in, were found near Poole Street in Falsden, about seven miles north of where Aisha was last seen. but authorities have never mentioned any identifying characteristics of the trash bags.

And since so many people use black trash bags, it would be impossible to know if this bag was connected to Aces' case. But generally it's thought that the trash bag wasn't related to Aces' disappearance. The contractor who found Aisha's backpack on his construction site is known and has been identified. But we're leaving his name out because he's been accused of, being involved in Asia's disappearance many times, despite having fully cooperated with the police investigation. A Reddit user claims to have interviewed him, and he felt harassed by law enforcement and media and said that he had given DNA and hair samples. The user who claims to have interviewed him said that he wouldn't talk about what was inside the bag. For whatever reason, the actual contents of

the bag made the contractor uncomfortable. It may be that he can't talk about important details of the case and whatever was inside is considered key or there was something strange about what was left inside the bag. In late 2004, another search was conducted in Lawndale, North Carolina, about 20 minutes away from Shelby. All that was found were more animal bones. From there, the case appeared to go cold. until 2014. That's when police began to look into an actual suspect. The man was Donald Ferguson,

and he had been arrested the year before for raping and murdering, 7-year-old Shalanda Pool in 1990. Shalanda's body was found in Greensboro, North Carolina, two hours away from Shelby. Authorities haven't been able to link Ferguson to Aisha's disappearance, and they definitely have his DNA. In fact, that's how they found him. While investigating an unrelated case in two, 2013. His DNA came up as a match in Shalonda's case. In 2015, former sheriff Dan Crawford took his own life. At the age of 67, his official cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had a total of 29 years as a police officer and ended his law enforcement career in 2002. Sadly, Aisha's case has been handed down to multiple

detectives over the years, and there are still no strong leads. A colleague of Crawfords has said that he thought about Aisha's case long after he retired, and that he would have liked the opportunity to continue working on finding Aisha. It wasn't until 2016, 16 years after Aisha's disappearance, that the FBI released details to the public of a possible witness citing of Aisha getting into car. It's now believed that Aisha may have been seen getting into an older green car with two people in it. This car is described as a 1970s model Lincoln Mark 4 or Ford Thunderbird and is noted to have rusted wheel wheels. Both types of cars have very small non-functional windows behind the main rear window area called opera windows. Both have long hoods and are cooped styles with two doors, not four.

Both car styles appear to have a specific type of roof called a Landau carriage, which is most recognizable on a hearse. It's unknown exactly how this witness got such a good look at a random car and the number of passengers in it at night through the veil of a downpour. The opera windows and Landau carriage probably made the car much easier to remember. Though the witness couldn't narrow down the exact type of car, it's easy to see the common features that must have stuck out in their mind. But, Morph, there are a lot of nagging questions about this tip that authorities have not clarified. Did a witness suddenly remember this info 16 years later all the way down to the fact that the car had rusted wheel wells or had they known it all along, but didn't feel as though it was important enough to come forward sooner? All that is known about this tip is that a new investment,

of Asia's case brought forward the information. Perhaps this could have been a previously overlooked tip that the witness did provide early on. But if authorities knew of the green car the entire time, why was it overlooked or discounted? Was there new information that made them take a second look at the tip, you could definitely speculate on why this person maybe took so many years to come forward with the information. Maybe it was a minor at the time who had, you know, obviously now grown up. Or was this possibly a person who had a relationship back in 2000 with the owner of the green car? That relationship ended. And this person. And this person, then later found the strength to come forward.

I think you have a lot of questions like that in these types of cases, especially when someone comes forward with information that could be vital to the case, so many years later. Well, it may be frustrating, especially for Aisha's family and friends, that information has taken so long to trickle out to the public. I'm worried about my daughter's mental health. She's not getting any better. Have you heard about advanced mental health?

Why are they special? They treat complex mental health disorders while minimizing medications, and they provide advanced therapies like TMS and ketamine. They only accept five to six people at a time, and the therapy is intensive. That's amazing. I'm going to call right now. For treatment of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or trauma. Call 888-8-18-7762 or visit advancedmentalhealth.org today.

The good news is that new tip 16 years later means that Aisha's case is still in the public eye, and authorities in charge of her case are still actively working it and eagerly looking for her. In 2017, the FBI's Child Adduction Rapid Deployment Team went over the case. In 2018, more evidence was released to the public. It is unknown whether these items have always been in the authority's possession, or if they were newly discovered pieces of evidence. The newly listed items of interest are a copy of the Dr. Seuss book, McElegats Pool, and a night shirt with an advertisement for a new kids on the block concert.

Neither is said to have belonged to Asia, but the book did have a stamp in it, which indicated that it was taken from the Falston Elementary School Library. By the time this book was found or investigated, The records of who could have checked this book out no longer existed. These items were presented almost without any context, with many wondering whether the items were recovered from Aisha's book bag and how they related at all to Aisha's disappearance. By 2000, New Kids on the Block was already kind of an older band.

The boy bands, Backstreet Boys, InSync, Boys to Men, 98 degrees and many more were quite popular at that time. While new kids on the block hadn't released an album since they officially disbanded in 1994, it speculated that the shirt didn't belong to Asia and must have come from someone older. The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office released a video online showing the Dr. Seuss book as well as the night shirt. The sheriff's office has asked that anyone who recognizes the shirt and had it or knew someone who owned that kind of shirt, contact them about it. They've also asked that anyone who had or knew someone who had that library book around the time Asia disappeared to call in and talk with them. For whatever reason, these items are considered pertinent pieces of evidence.

And I think more if in cases like this, you know, these details are very interesting, but they're often frustrating to everyone. Because police are releasing the information, but they're not giving you the clues or the context or, you know, kind of enough information to figure out why they're important or why they believe they're important to the investigation. I think that can lead to a lot of false information or false material getting out there, especially in a case like this where it's heavily sleuth by online investigators. Well, you're always going to have a lot of speculation, right, in a case like this, because there are so many unanswered questions. So when police introduce items of interest, I'll call them, but don't provide the content. text to go with them, well, that just opens it up for pure speculation. In late 2020, a man named Marcus Mellon wrote a letter to the editor of the star, a newspaper in Shelby, asking them that passes of information to the FBI. He claims to have knowledge of what

happened to Asia. In 2014, Mellon was convicted of sex crimes against minors in Cleveland County. He's currently serving 14 years at Alexander Correctional Institute. There was a COVID- 19 outbreak at the facility, and it's prevented investigators from following up quickly and fully on Mellon's tip. He claims that months before he wrote his letter, he learned of the events of the night, and that Asia was killed and buried, and he claims to know where. The FBI did report in November 2020 that they planned to follow up and interview Mellon when Alexander Correctional Institute was finally safe, and the COVID-19 outbreak under control. We're still waiting on any updates to see if they've managed to interview them. But more likely,

Mellon is still waiting on his chance to share what he knows with investigators. But some people believe that this is yet another ploy by an inmate for special treatment or favors. But Aisha's family hopes for answers. And more for me, those are always tough and has to be tough on the family, right? Anytime there's this glimmer of hope that they could possibly find out what happened to their daughter, I think when it comes from an inmate in a correctional institute, you have to be a little bit leery because we've seen it time after time. Inmates are willing to say just about anything if they think they can get something out of it, whether it's a reduced sentence, more tapioca pudding, whatever it is. They'll make up stuff

sometimes if they have to. I think one of the saddest aspects of this case is that there are people out there who believe that Aisha's parents were involved in her disappearance. And I think you will have that in any type of child disappearance. People are going to look at the family, but there's no evidence pointing to them being involved. they have cooperated fully with all of the investigations over the past 20 years, and they've never stopped trying to find Asia. I think the argument that you see most often from accusers is that statistically,

it's most likely to be the parents. You also see people saying that there's just something off about their story. And granted, there are some questions that, some people find to be perplexing, why would a parent have to draw a bath or a shower for nine and 10 year olds? Why would Harold go to the store so late at night? Why did Harold check on his children so many times during the night? Certain people look at these things as being suspicious. But when it comes to Harold, I mean, the guy works second shift. So, you know, he was up at what a lot of us would find to be odd hours. Their home was small enough that the siblings had to

share a room. So checking in on the children was very simple, as simple as their door being open as he walked by in the hallway and looking over at them, whether he was going to his room, the bathroom, the living room. And I think it's rough to question, mother just because she starts a bath or a shower for kids that are nine or 10 years old. Were they fully capable of preparing their own bath or shower? Yeah, I'm sure they were. But the simple fact that a mother does that, should that warrant suspicion? I don't know, Morve.

I don't think it really should. I think some people throwing that accusation out there probably don't have. nine or 10 year olds because my kids, if you're relying on them to run their own bath, they're never going to take a bath. That's what I was going to say. And that's been my experience. Could they do it at that age? Yes. Will they do it? Will some kids do it if you're not on top of them? If you don't stay on top of them? No. I know my kids went through stages where, you know, it was a battle to get them to take a bath or a shower. And I have two girls.

So then at a certain point, it was a battle to get them out of the shower. They would take 50 minute showers, hour long showers. So more if I really have a hard time, making any accusations or even insinuating that those things are pointing in the direction of the parents having something to do with it. I think that's very tough. And I think a lot of parents were probably like Aquila. It'd be easier to get them to take baths before they go to bed than to try and rush and do it in the morning and risk missing the bus and that kind of thing. So her story completely adds up to me, in my opinion.

Yeah, I'm right with you. And I think most listeners who have children, multiple children, they'll sympathize with the hectic mornings, the squabbles that you have with your children. Sometimes it's just easier to do it a certain way. And maybe that's what she had found and knew to be true. One thing that I do think is important to point out is that it seems as though authorities don't believe Aisha's family had anything to do with her disappearance. Asia's brother, O'Brien, is now 31 and has a family of his own and sees Asia and his own

daughter. Every year, Harold and Aquila host a walk to remember Aisha and keep up public awareness of her case. They walked the same route Aisha did, from their home to the billboard that still asked for information in her case. They used to walk on February 14th, the anniversary of Aisha's disappearance. but now hold it earlier in February so as not to make other people's Valentine's Day a glum event. Asia is still referred to as Shelby's sweetheart and many people in the community want to know what happened

to her and for her family to finally have peace and answers. In 2020, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age progression of Asia who would now be 30 years old. The NCMEC had released prior age progressions at age 18 and then another one again at age 24. There are two other age progressions that don't list her age but look to be when she would have been a young teenager. The FBI is still offering a $25,000 reward to those who have credible information that leads to the identification or arrest of those responsible for Aisha's discipline. appearance. Investigators stress the importance of any tip and say that no information is too minor to report, you can submit anonymous tips to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov, the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office and Aces community are also offering a $20,000 reward for useful information.

There's a petition you can sign to have the producers of Unsolved Mysteries cover Aisha's disappearance. People stress the importance of getting Aisha's story to the masses. It's unknown why or if the FBI is working under the assumption that Aisha is still alive. But someone somewhere may truly be the break in the case that brings Aisha home. To this day, the degree home is a virtual shrine to their daughter. And Aquila waits for Aisha to walk through the door. It's been almost 21 years. since nine-year-old Asia degree presumably walked out of her home in the early morning hours,

and she has not been seen since. So many questions surround this case. I think first and foremost, Morph, you have to ask this question, what in the world would motivate a little girl to leave her safe home and head into a cold and rainy, pitch black environment? I mean, when you look at most nine-year-olds, and then especially Asia, a nine-year-old who was described as being afraid of a lot of things, why would she walk out into what would be a pretty scary proposition for a nine-year-old? It's really hard to understand. It's baffling, frankly. And then I think the second question is what would cause her to never return. I mean, really, to me, those are the two main questions.

You know, when you look at that second one, that's where you're getting into, okay, if she did leave, if she did walk, if she was in that shed, people saw her on the road, what happened? And who was responsible for what happened to her? We don't have all the clues, right? You never get everything that the police. though in some of these unsolved cases, there's a reason for that. You've got to hold a little bit back.

I think morph the book bag really intrigues me, you know, where it was found. I don't think there's any way that nine-year-old Asia degree made it that far, right, to where that book bag was found on her own. What do we say? 20-some miles from where she was last seen. don't think she walked that distance. So that leads me to believe that most likely she was picked up by someone in a car. Now, was this a stranger? Was this someone that she knew and there was a plan? And that plan was the reason why she left her house voluntarily. Again, all questions that need to be

answered, there are also questions that lead to, you know, all the speculation that you find online. I go back to the fact that police believe she left the house on her own in that kind of weather in the dark, because as we've said, she was afraid of the dark. My 10-year-old daughter, if I ask her to walk the dog at night, she doesn't want to do it. So I think most kids are probably the same way. So for her to go out there, there had to be something pretty compelling, in my opinion, to get her to go. Maybe it was something like we mentioned earlier, some kind of surprise for her family, something she was happy about to give them some false promise. And unfortunately, a lot of times kids that age can be fooled by people with sinister motives.

And I wonder if that's a possibility here. I definitely think it is. You know, when you look at it, though, would you say that it's most likely that it was a complete stranger or someone that Aisha knew? Because, you know, I kind of leaned toward the fact that it was most likely someone she knew. Because who could have set this up, right? A complete stranger walks up to her and says, I want to help you plan something special for your parents' anniversary.

I don't see that as being as plausible as someone she knew or her family knew coming to her and saying that. So, you know, when I look at this case, I'm really thinking it was somebody that was known to Asia and the family. it could have been somewhat in the periphery. It doesn't mean that it was like, uh, you know, in the circle of friends or a really good friend or something like that, but someone that was known. I just can't see a stranger coming up with something that would get her out of the house at nine, but it's possible. Yeah, because the alternative is that she left on her own to run away and just met up with some

sinister guy that just happened to see her at four in the morning. That doesn't seem very likely. Yeah, it doesn't just because of the things that have been reported about her family. It seemed to be a pretty good family unit. We didn't really find much in the way of discord and the family that would make you think a child would want to run away. But again, all of that is what makes this case such a mystery. You have, you. have to answer these questions. The problem is, how do you do it? Or how do investigators do it? And so far, they haven't been able to. And Morph, I don't really think they're going to ever be able to do it solely on their own. This is going to take someone coming forward who has known for 21 years

exactly what happened to Asia, and they're going to have to spill those secrets or else we're never going to know. I think either that or somehow unearthing more evidence that's buried someplace. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. That would be the other piece. But even then, sometimes unearthing new evidence just leads to more questions. Sometimes it does solve some questions, but a lot of times it just opens up new ones. Thanks goes out to Sunny Landon for writing and research assistance in this episode. As always, if you love the show, but you haven't done so yet, take a minute, go out, give us a five-star rating. Keep telling your friends, the word of mouth about criminology goes a long way. If you want to find us on social media, we're on Twitter with the handle at Criminology Pod.

You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Criminology Podcast or by searching our Facebook discussion group, which is criminology podcast discussion and fans. So that is it for our episode on the disappearance of Asia degree. Morph and I will be back with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode of criminology. So until then, for Mike and Morph. We'll talk to you next week. Take care, everyone.