CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Newly released search warrants have revealed fearful text messages and a possible admission of guilt in connection to the Asha Degree case.
Authorities said on Feb. 14, 2000, 9-year-old Asha Jaquilla Degree went missing from her home in Shelby. She was last seen by drivers walking along NC Hwy 18.
The young girl was observed being pulled into a 1970s green Lincoln Thunderbird, or a similar vehicle, before she disappeared. Degree has officially been missing for 25 years.
Heavy manpower used in search for Asha Degree
Following the initial missing persons report in 2000, a search for Degree was conducted for about two weeks which included searches that utilized tracking and Human Remains Detection K-9s, horses, ATVs, drive teams, aerial searches, neighborhood canvasses, and interviews.
At that time, all efforts during the two-week search concluded with negative results.
Authorities said on Aug. 2, 2022, evidence belonging to Degree was found in Burke County on the side of Hwy 18, about 21 miles north of where she was last seen.
A construction crew working in the area found the evidence double-bagged in black garbage bags and turned it over to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.
Court documents confirm numerous items of evidence were collected from the area; some having been identified as belonging to Degree, and other items not belonging to her.
DNA reveals connections to Asha Degree
The items were sent to a lab for analysis. Court documents state that genealogical data narrowed the samples down to two people. Investigators said one sample belonged to Russell Bradley Underhill and the other sample belonged to a blood family member of identified suspects Roy Lee Dedmon and Connie Elliot Dedmon.
Records state that investigators determined Underhill had lived in at least two properties operated by Roy Lee Dedmon and Connie Elliott Dedmon during the time Degree was reported missing. Underhill was discovered dead in Lincoln County in 2004, authorities confirmed.
The Dedmons share three children, all daughters. Records state one lives in Texas, while the other two live in Shelby and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Records state laboratory analysis of collected DNA samples indicated the likelihood that the hair stem sample from Degree’s undershirt is a person genetically identical to ‘the DNA standard’ collected from the daughter who lives in Charlotte.
Court documents state the Dedmons currently live in separate homes from one another. Records show the couple owned and resided at the property on Cherryville Road when Degree was reported as missing. Their three daughters would have been 16, 15, and 13 years old at the time.
Investigators believe the Dedmons are “the two common links between the profiles of Russell Bradley Underhill” and their daughter, which was collected and identified from Degree’s shirt and the trash bag, which contained Degree’s bookbag.
Authorities said due to the ages of the Dedmon’s three daughters in 2000, they believe adult assistance from the Dedmons would have been “necessary in the execution and/or concealment of the crime.”
Based on these findings, investigators believe Degree is a victim of homicide, with her body concealed.
Property searches conducted in 2024 for Asha Degree
On Sept. 10, 2024, one of Dedmon’s daughters, who lives in Shelby, and would have been around 16 at the time Degree went missing, was interviewed at her home regarding the case.
Court documents state that she admitted to driving a 1964 AMC Rambler in 2000, which has very similar features to a 1970s model Lincoln Thunderbird. She claimed the vehicle was given to her by her father in 1999. This vehicle was seized on Sept. 11, 2024, authorities confirmed.
(File Photo)
Investigators said on Sept. 10, 2024, one of the other daughters “spent a significant amount of time on her cell phone communicating with her family” throughout the day.
Witness from mid-2000s comes forward
Court documents state on Sept. 18, 2024, a man came to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office for an interview regarding the Degree case.
He stated that around the mid-2000s he was in his 20s and occasionally frequented bars and house parties with the Dedmon girls. He recalled to authorities a time when he was at a house party with two of the daughters when he saw one of them “sobbing and balling” while reportedly extremely intoxicated. The man told authorities that she then made several statements admitting to killing Asha Degree.
Specifically, he stated that one of the daughters said, “I killed Asha Degree.”
Following the possible admission of guilt, court documents state the man claimed the other sister came up to her, became stern and angry, and told her to “shut the f*** up,” while she grabbed her head. The man said the behavior was not normal for them and he was confident in his memory and how he was “100% positive in those moments” of what he remembers.
Authorities said this man later passed a polygraph test to verify the information he gave.
iMessage records obtained by investigators
According to the newly released Cleveland County court documents, investigators submitted a request to seize and search an Apple iPhone 14 Pro and obtained iMessages from the cloud.
Cell phone records from 9/10/2024:
Text from daughter A: “I am so sorry I just said all that.”
Text from daughter A: “I am just in complete shock.”
Text from daughter L: “It’s okay. I’m leaving school.”
According to investigators, over the next day there are several messages between the daughters and another woman in reference to being approached by law enforcement regarding this case.
Text from daughter S: “They think it’s our shirt. It’s not her shirt.”
Text from daughter S: “Her mom said it wasn’t hers.”
Text from daughter S: “I don’t remember that shirt. I’m scared though. Dad is probably going to be a huge suspect.”
Text from daughter S: “[Daughter L], can you talk?”
Text from daughter S: “This is a nightmare. I’m like shaking and can’t walk now either.”
Text from daughter A: [Daughter L], Lizzie, you don’t need to be talking to anyone. I’m at the lawyers office this.”
Text from daughter A: “Now. They advise we should all not talk to them ‘without representation.'”
Text from daughter L: “This is going to get nothing but worse. I’m talking to my Dr. at 5 to get something for my nerves.”
Text from daughter L: “I’m just so worried. So so worried.”
Text from daughter L: “I mean, it’s a nightmare that’s going to keep getting worse. I can see nothing good happening anytime soon. And I’m an optimist.”
Text from daughter L: “There is no way this is going to be okay.”
In court records, the text messages continue with the three women expressing feelings of anxiety and not initially speaking with authorities.
Text from daughter L: “What’s gonna happen to me since I wouldn’t talk to them?”
Text from daughter L: “I’m afraid it’s going to get worse. Well, he told me it’s going to.”
Text from daughter S: “I know girl I am a disaster.”
Text from daughter S: “I think if they come at you again you just go and be compliant.”
Text from daughter S: “That’s what I’m planning on doing.”
Text from daughter L: “I think so too. Honestly. I mean, I wanna do what dad says.”
According to court documents, authorities approached ‘daughter L’ several times in an attempt for her to take a polygraph test, which she refused. Records state she also spoke on the phone with her ex-husband for more than 45 minutes, who also refused to cooperate with police.
‘Daughter S’ also reportedly declined to be interviewed until a later date, documents said.
Search warrants granted for iPhones
Documents state that investigators believe further evidence may be stored on the Apple iPhone 14 Pro that belongs to ‘Daughter L,’ and believe it could show the crime(s) of felony obstruction of justice. Records state the date of search as Feb. 13, 2025.
The search of the seized electronic device will include: text messages, phone call logs, notes, internet history, social media applications, pictures and/or videos, email, and more.
Search warrant records were officially signed off on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. Search warrants were also obtained for an Apple iPhone 11 Pro that belongs to Roy Lee Dedmon and an Apple iPhone 11 that is owned by ‘Daughter S,’ according to court documents.
Queen City News reached out to the Charlotte FBI and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office who stated they have no further information to provide at this time.
