CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — Nine-year-old Asha Degree vanished 24 years ago leaving nothing behind but questions for her family.
“She was just a beautiful kid, quiet, smiled a lot,” said Asha’s Great Uncle Willie Key.
He came to see an extensive search on Wednesday in Cleveland County that could be tied to the girl’s disappearance.
Key said it is important to have closure in his niece’s missing persons case, which has impacted a community for 24 years.
“It would mean the world to us to know we finally found out what happened to our niece,” he said.
Agents with the FBI, SBI, and Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office descended on Cherryville Road Tuesday.
Authorities searched the area using ground-penetrating radar, and specially trained K-9 units.
Authorities towed away a green 1960s model car on Wednesday.
The FBI released photographs several years ago of a similar-looking car authorities said that Asha might have gotten into.
It’s not an exact match, but it would have been dark the night she got into the vehicle.
The search is one of many that have occurred through the years to determine what happened to Asha.
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“We kept hearing different things and not amount to anything,” Key said. “That’s all I know. I just have to wait and see.”
Authorities have not said what, if anything, was taken during the search and whether it rules any possibilities out.
“It gives me hope and it makes me a little angry,” Key said. “I don’t know how to explain it. Somebody would do my niece like that. Keep it covered up all this time.”
‘People want to know’
Many others came to see what was happening over the past 36 hours on Cherryville Road.
They said it was the largest search they’ve seen in years. People from Shelby and beyond watched from across the street.
Stacey Asbell drove one of dozens of cars that filled a field across the street from where the search was happening.
“The mystery of her disappearing and nobody knows anything. I guess people want to know,” he said.
They all watched when the green car got hauled off on a flatbed.
“There are thousands of green cars, but it’s like what you remember being described, the car seen that night,” said Jada Fortenberry, Asha’s former classmate.
Fortenberry remembers walking the halls of Fallston Elementary School with Asha before her disappearance. She hopes this search will provide answers.
“You always felt like it would be unsolved,” she said. “So it would be nice for the family to have some closure.”
Investigators left the scene by nightfall, and Channel 9 was told they would not return Thursday.
Authorities have not released much information. However, the feds said they executed multiple search warrants in the county. They would not say if the investigation was related to ongoing cases.
This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.
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