SHELBY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- Tuesday marks what should have been a joyful milestone for Asha Degree: her 35th birthday. Instead, her name remains linked to one of North Carolina’s biggest cold cases.

Asha was just 9 years old when she disappeared from her home in Shelby in the early hours of Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2000.

Despite no signs of forced entry, witnesses reported seeing a young girl walking alone along Highway 18 that night in the pouring rain. Those sightings, combined with the later discovery of her book bag, buried in plastic over 26 miles away in Burke County, only deepened the mystery.

Tuesday, on August 5, 2025, Asha would be turning 35. And yet, she is still missing.

But there’s renewed hope. Earlier this year, investigators said they’re making “significant

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