New land, buildings searched in Asha Degree investigation
LINCOLN, N.C. – Three run down, empty buildings along Highway 274 and NC 182 were the focus of investigators Friday. The search, in Lincoln County, announced by the Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman. He says they continue to follow leads and evidence connected to the disappearance of 9-year-old Asha Degree.
Norman wrote in a press release on Friday in part, “The current property owner gave consent for the search and is not connected to our ongoing investigation in any way.”
The man who used to own the property is Roy Dedmon. Lincoln County property records show Dedmon bought it in 1991 and sold it in 2004. Asha degree disappeared in 2000. Dedmon, who is now 80-years-old, has been named a suspect in the case.
The sheriff would not release any other information about the nature of the outcome of Friday’s search, but neighbors who don’t even know the Degree family are hopeful. Belmont resident Tiffany Porter says, “We care about them. We’re praying for them. They deserve justice. And we want this case to be solved for them.”
Gaston County resident Jennifer Sanders says, “Anytime we see breaking news about this case, we we think maybe this one step closer to finalizing what actually happened to a degree.”
True crime podcasters Donnie Peeler and Dale Champion are invested in the Asha Degree case because they were working in Shelby the day she disappeared. Champion says, “And we were going down through there, and they had the roadblock, and we thought it was like a license check, but it was actually they were looking for a little girl.”
As investigators searched the land and the buildings, onlookers watched. One of them had a message for whoever knows what happened to Asha. Shelby resident Michael Owens says, “Just come clean and tell the truth, so she can be laid to rest and her family can have peace. And Cleveland County and the rest of the counties around here (can) have peace.”
Friday’s search lasted a few hours. There were dogs and drones helping in the search, too
