Authorities in Cleveland County tow car resembling vehicle sought in Asha Degree case

CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — As a large search in Cleveland County entered its second day, Channel 9 saw authorities tow a green car away from the property.

The car appears to resemble a car the FBI was searching for in connection with 9-year-old Asha Degree’s disappearance. The FBI has previously shared the photos below, saying tipsters told them Asha was picked up in a car that looked like the ones below.

Since Tuesday night, Channel 9 crews have seen several officers with dogs, all-terrain vehicles, and special equipment on Cherryville Road near Spake Circle.

The FBI said agents executed several search warrants in the county but would not share any details, including any details that relate to ongoing cases. They said Wednesday that as many as 50 to 60 investigators were searching the property.

People across the county are now focused on the largest search they have seen in a long time. Neighbors said authorities arrived in the area Tuesday around noon and were still there all day Wednesday.

But now, more than two decades after 9-year-old Asha Degree vanished, authorities might have another clue in the case.

On Tuesday evening, authorities searched two separate locations in Cleveland County looking for information tied to the case. One of those locations was a home in the 600 block of Cherryville Road in Shelby. The area is just a few miles from where Asha vanished.

Channel 9 crews observed several crews on the property, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and search dogs.

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The 9-year-old’s disappearance shook Cleveland County 24 years ago. Asha Degree’s parents said they woke up on Feb. 14, 2000, to find her gone.

Police believe the child walked away from the family’s home just north of Shelby in the middle of the night before vanishing in the rain.

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That launched one of the largest searches in the county’s history. Channel 9 was there as hundreds of volunteers, officers from several departments, and trained searchers combed the area.

Investigators said they were certain someone took Asha.

A year after her disappearance, Asha’s backpack was found along Highway 18. It was the same road where she was last seen, but 40 minutes north, in Burke County.

Investigators found a Dr. Seuss book from her school’s library in the bag and a New Kids On The Block concert T-shirt that didn’t belong to her.

The FBI later said Asha was picked up in a green car, either a 1970s-model Lincoln Continental Mark IV or a Ford Thunderbird with rust around the wheel well. That description looks like the car Channel 9 saw towed from the search scene on Wednesday.

Channel 9 reached out to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies who all had a presence in Cleveland County to find out what was happening. The FBI said the search warrants were not being made publicly available.

“The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the SBI are currently executing a court-authorized search warrant at a property on Cherryville Road in Shelby,” a statement from the FBI Charlotte reads. “Cleveland County deputies, the FBI’s Evidence Response Team, and SBI agents, including specially trained K-9s, arrived this morning and will likely be on the scene for most of the day.”

There is a $45,000 reward for information that can solve this case. You can call the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office at 704-484-4788, or the FBI at 704-672-6100. Either number can connect you with someone working the case.

This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

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It’s been 24 years since the disappearance of Asha Degree

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