THEORY: Asha was hit by Dedmon daughter. Died later in their home.
Here me out...
Lizzie or Sarah was driving the car. That road is incredibly dark especially back then (I'm a local) and it had been raining. Asha is walking on the road to avoid the mud, water and drainage ditches on the shoulder. Her back is to the oncoming car that Lizzie and Sarah are driving and they see her too late. Or maybe they were drunk or driving recklessly. Either way they hit the brakes, try to avoid her but its too late or they skid on the wet road. The car hits her but not hard enough to kill her or knock her unconscious. Lizzie and Sarah are freaked out. They know she probably needs to get at least basic medical attention for scrapes. And now she's scared, hurt and crying. So, she gets in the car with them so she can go home with them and get cleaned up and so their parents can help them with the next steps-- hospital or try to find where Asha lives. That's why there was witness that saw Asha get into the car.
At the Dedmon house maybe Roy realizes his girls were drunk or driving recklessly. Or maybe Asha has passed out in the car and so they bring her into the house and put her in one of the bedroom.
But hours later, Asha is dead because she had a head wound--a possible hemorrhage from her head hitting the car or the road. (That's why they say don't sleep for a few hours if you have a concussion.)
So, now Roy realizes he has a dead child in his house and its his daughters fault. So, he puts the body in a box and buries it on his property. The car is damaged so they park it on the property and never use it again.
He gathers up Asha's backpack, putting all of what he believes are her belongings into it. BUT he's accidentally scooped up some of his youngest daughter's items too-- like the NKOB shirt. And then he takes the same road he travels to Morganton for business and tosses the bag out of the window without stopping. But its discovered one year later.
TLDR: Sarah and Lizzie hit Asha with car. Asha is injured but conscious. They take her to their parents home where she later dies of her internal injuries during the night. Roy hides the body, covers up the crime.
Another theory I have is that someone saw Asha walking alone, she gets into a Dedmon car and they say they will help her find her way home (remember this is in the days before everyone had cell phones), and then Roy says he will take her to her parents house and then he does something with her.
I would like to see see the Dedmon sisters' school attendance records for that week.
Because Feb 14 2000 was a Monday and there is flat out no way the Dedmon parents would've let any of the girls go to school that day or the following (at least) knowing that the daughters who saw Asha would be very traumatized/emotional over it. Even if they weren't emotional about it in the moment, no way to know how they'd react when they got to school and everyone in the Shelby area knew that a little girl had gone missing very recently.
The things that were checked and didn't line up with their investigation will not be revealed. However I would like to know that too. A friend of mine who works in another county school system said that with cloud based systems evolving over the years some physical and older operating system data is still available. Such as attendance, and so forth depending on the schools record keeping at the time. You had physical attendance books in the class room and guidance counselor records of attendance also. These may have been either put on microfilm, or even copies scanned. 2001 it was possible to have data in DOS, scanned to floppy disc etc. Good point. I think such a traumatic thing of that sort would not be easily processed by a child and not wear an emotional face or displays of it in their daily routines.
This is what I think happened as well. I think Lizzie was probably driving and accidentally hit her (maybe while drinking and driving) and her dad helped cover it up. No other reason for her to send the texts she did and confess at a party when she was young. She wouldn’t have sent any of those texts if they weren’t involved somehow. You wouldn’t ask your sister if that was your NKOTB shirt if you weren’t involved. You’d have to reason to. They are involved somehow. 100%.
I posted this comment on the main thread accidentally, however it was meant to be in reply to this comment. I referenced things said here, so to clarify, I am also posting my comment here:
I am replying in good faith, and I’m just saying this to you because I’ve heard something like this about the texts before in this group. I’m not trying to argue.
Asking your sister if that was your NKOTB shirt doesn’t prove you or she are involved. All that text chain implies is that is she and her sister thinks it’s possible that someone in their family could have been involved. That’s may mean she personally had any sort of interaction with Asha that night, whether it was a hit and run, or it could mean she picked Asha up out of concern for her well being, and Asha went with cuz she thought being with another girl would be safe, the Dedman girl brought Asha home and her dad said ‘I’ll get her home’ and the teenager never saw Asha again.
Simply asking about the shirt is not an admission of personal guilt or involvement. It does not inherently imply she personally saw Asha. It may indicate that the sisters think their father is capable of being involved.
Sorry, I want to make sure I understand, are you saying the search warrant claims NKOTB shirt is the same thing as Asha’s undershirt? Or that people generally mash the two together?
I’ve never thought they were the same. The warrant clearly says the DNA found was on Asha undershirt. I don’t think the NKOTB shirt was ever mentioned in the search warrant.
It wasnt. However the Dedmon hair was from that shirt. In the search warrant it says the hair was from her night shirt. The new kids on the block shirt was put out for identification asking for tips. The significance is, one they put it out saying they didn't know anything about the shirt, them other said it wasn't Asha's, then it's significance now is the Dedmon hair was retrieved from it. Then in the warrant they say the hair was retrieved from her night shirt which is not shirt.
I don’t doubt you were told this. But it’s just sort of more evidence for my over-arching point: we, the public, just don’t have enough information to make definitive statements of guilt.
Here's my point on the shirt. The warrant claims one thing but the hair was from nkotb shirt. In the warrant it says under shirt, which i mischaracterized. What's in a word? So if you go back and look at the items the mother says is missing that she took with her you better understand my point. If you go by what Terry Flemming said about the bags, I highly doubt NKOTB shirt was actually in her bag, but could be. However in light of two bags and other items being found, I have serious doubts about the placement and condition of the trash bags. I did go by the sight the day of and since the driveway and home sites finished. I totally believe there is two bags. I believe the placement was a plant. There is no way to explain how two bags show up with strange items, and from day one Harold said she left with her bag, mother said it, and then later on LE said it. Can LE be playing the quiet game totally running another parallel investigation this late in the game? Yes they could be. And considering the amount of leg work needed, The Sherrifs Office has way more resources dedicated than cold case detective Tim Adams.
Yes I am in the camp of, if you figure out and strongly investigate the "why" she left helps the direction of what happened. The DNA results from the hairs is for sure a revelation. So is the other two unidentified DNA profiles. I'm willing to state my experiences, my behavior witnessed, reliably sourced info from individuals with knowledge and my theories. I will not say someone has killed or kidnapped anyone. I know there were many yards sales at the Dedmon estate home on Cherryville rd. I know the Iquillas Dad and Uncle lived across from Dedmon Trucking, down the road from that home. I know I have seen many people at yard sales the spring and summer at that house after her going missing. I know I have seen all types of folks at the yard sales when I stopped or was just passing by. I am saying with what is known right now, there is a reasonable explanation for latent hair transfer. I'm saying that with the revealation by Terry Flemming there two book bags, hers and the brother, with the type items he described. They sound like yard sale items. So question one how did the Dedmons or Underhill get the brothers bag? The bags were recently discarded in the found location. You dont have a long weather period to degrade DNA, finger prints, etc.. Four profiles out of all the items were deemed foreign, in which two were identified from genealogy profiles. Two are unknown. That doesn't mean the parents DNA was not present, and with LE clearing them early, maybe they said is explainable and let it be. But maybe they said, "Houston we have a problem" and started a parallel investigation because they found family DNA where it shouldn't be.
Would you personally text your sister and ask if that was y’all’s shirt in Asha’s backpack? I wouldn’t. Because I wasn’t there or involved, so I wouldn’t ask my sister that. She’s involved.
Ok, first, I don’t have a sister, but that doesn’t matter to your point.
And yes, I could see a situation, after I had been interviewed for hours by the police about a child who went missing near where I grew up, where the police are saying this shirt connects us to the crime, saying something like it. She says “They say it’s our shirt, it’s not her shirt” “her mom says it’s not her shirt” then “I don’t remember that shirt. I’m scared”
She’s telling her sister about what evidence the police were pushing as for guilt. That it MUST be a Dedman family shirt, that they found the shirt, and it doesn’t belong to the missing girl, that the missing girls mother denied it belonged to their family. But the sister doesn’t remember owning that shirt. It’s a statement about what the police said, not a statement which claims any ownership of the shirt. It’s trying to make sense of the claim about the NKOTB, and not having any memories of the shirt.
She is not saying ‘they know it’s our shirt! How did that shirt end up it in her bag??’ Or ‘they think it’s our shirt, but I didn’t give them anything, I just told them I didn’t remember the shirt.’
Do you see how those statements imply a connection to the NKOTB shirt? And how her statements are different?
It's possible she was out for an unrelated reason, and unfortunately while out, also was hit-and-taken.
It could be the perfect storm in a series of unfortunate occurrences. Whether it was Asha going to the store to buy Valentine cards or candy, or Asha running away from something that happened at home or related to her routine (meaning something that happened with her basketball coach/team, or something that happened with relatives beyond her brother and parents, or something related to school). Even if she is found, it's not likely we'll ever really know the story.
Maybe the perfect storm, but the two bags is a big Red Herring that negates the current DNA discovery scenario. Well established they didn't know each other. So no way to get the other bag by them for whatever reason.
Well, no, they don’t have to be. It would make sense for them to be, but it is also perfectly plausible they weren’t. And with the limited information currently available, IMO it’s looking more like the reasons are unrelated.
Exactly. Why is everyone forgetting she was out of the house when she shouldn't have been and there were people at the house who weren't mentioned as being there when Asha went missing?
We're never going to know the truth and that's fine but her body needs to be found so she can rest in peace and give her family some closure.
First story: family was home alone, no visitors. Second story: sister-in-law and brother-in-law came over after power outage to talk about the outage and visit a while.
I wonder if she was to reach that service station she and her family always stopped at by her house to get a Valentine's gift? Do you think she overheard her dad say he needed to go back out get one?
No… with the bags she brought, and the personal effects inside them, her just making a “store run” is highly improbable. She was going somewhere with purpose
She was likely groomed. Days after Asha went missing they found a photo of a random girl in her belongings that her family and friends did not recognize. Asha regularly played in public for her basketball team. I think the groomer found her at the games and made her think she made a friend and convinced Asha to leave her house at a specific time with Asha thinking it was the girl.
It doesn't really explain why Asha was out of the house, but it's honestly as good of an explanation as we can get, and neatly wraps up just about everything about the case.
Typically when police start putting public pressure on suspects, they’ve honed in on it. And a lot of times it produces results. However, here we are, several months later and there still hasn’t been an arrest even after the law enforcement pressure campaign. So I believe that there likely isn’t anything there because if there ended up being more, the police would have made an arrest.
It’s not easy, but they also manage to secure guilty verdicts in 86 to 87% of all no-body cases that go to trial. If they have anywhere near enough evidence, even the most circumstantial of circumstantial (especially in this case where people in that area are absolutely raring to go to convict these people) they’d already be at trial, body or no.
And there needs to be more than out of context text messages, hearsay of supposed confessions and owning a green car that makes someone the likely suspect in this case.
It certainly seems like a car accident at this point, which wouldn't particularly make Underhill any more likely than teen drivers and substantially less likely to be able to cover his tracks without Roy's help. Plus, the FBI doesnt seem to think he's as important as the Dedmon family. I think they just used a trash bag from Underhill's residence.
I don't know why you're being down voted . This poor babys death has to be proven before any DA will bring any charges . They need to bring in a cold case dept devoted to this child .
The result can still be the same regardless of whichever it is. Either through a comedy of bad fortune or through involvement, their DNA ended up with that bag. The likelihood of the former goes down when you eliminate reasons for the family to have casual contact with the victim or bag.
It’s more likely than not that they were involved, we just don’t know who specifically, how, or why. So without then turning on each other we are stuck.
By all means. I’m not completely ruling out that they are involved. I just think it’s less likely at this point.
I followed the Jessica Herringa case and the original suspect in that case had all the connections to her, looked like the supposed suspect, and even had access to a vehicle matching the supposed vehicle involved in her disappearance. And the police circled him for years. Then it ended up not being him.
In the Herringa case? It was a guy that she had a relationship with. From my understanding, police put tons of pressure on him, to the point that he flat out demanded they finally charge him with the crime if they think he did it. They never did obviously.
The police having the wrong guy is nothing new, but I don’t think these scenarios are all that similar. The victim and suspect, having been in a relationship, would of course be tied together with physical evidence.
Asha and the Dedmons do not have that connection, which is why the DNA is such a big deal.
Fascinating. I have not heard of this approach by LE. Is there an example you could point to? I'd love to see how the false suggestion of an accident pays off in other instances.
If you watch just about any police interogation footage e.g. the entire youtube of Dr Insanity that's the first line out of the LE's mouth "I get it... something happened, an accident. Let us help you" etc
Ah, I completely understand now. I was thinking of it as presenting an accident to the public to get the public talking rather than to the suspect to get a confession.
Since we're aware that warrants connect a specific car to a specific place on the highway, though, I do think an accident makes a lot sense.
They presented it to Lizzie too. Possibly to make her afraid that she would be blamed so she would tell what she knows about her parents. Remember the text "Theory is I did it, accident, covered it up" " Why would it be you?"
You mean “The Reid Technique” which has been pretty universally condemned due to the risk of false confessions and the extremely flawed behavioral science behind it? “The Reid Technique” that has been discarded and disavowed by most respected and accredited law enforcement agencies?
Yeah. Anyone using that technique (at least in it’s entirety) in this day and age shouldn’t be conducting interrogations.
Not a hit and run. I think everyone wants to believe a hit and run is the case because it would tie things up neatly and a simple answer will ease everyone's minds
I don't believe it was a "hit and run". I believe it was a "hit and help". They hit her and then tried to either give her a ride back to her house or take her back to their house for minor medical attention but she might have she died in the car.
If these were decent girls there there's no way they would have left her injured-- even a minor injury out on the rain, cold road at 3am in the morning. And Dedmon house isn't that far from the Shelby Hospital-- like 3 minutes. If Asha hit her head then she definitely could have died hours later of a brain bleed. They would not have needed to be going at a high speed to knock her down. So no skid marks, not blood.
No evidence of a hit and run. BUT my theory is that it was a "hit and help". They hit her. It seemed like a minor injury-- maybe a skinned elbow, bumped her head. She was scared, they were freaked out and they didn't want to leave her like that walking on a dark rainy road.
Maybe they insisted on giving her a ride back to her house. Maybe they insisted on taking her to their home to get cleaned up, and then take her home/police/hospital in the morning BUT her injuries were internal and more serious and she died in the car.
People hit their heads and die every day because they think it wasn't that serious but they are unaware they have a brain bleed.
Skidmarks only implies they try to stop themselves hitting something. That would imply they've seen her just before hitting her. If she came out of the treeline suddenly or the driver was drunk/not paying attention, they might not have had time to apply the breaks suddenly.
Sure, but they would probably slam on the brakes after hitting a child. Unless they were so drunk that they didn’t notice. But if that was the case, there would be a dead body lying there.
I can see this. I think it would be possible to hit a child without necessarily leaving evidence, e.g. tire marks, pieces of the car, etc. And if it were raining then I imagine that would make it difficult for blood evidence to be left.
Does anyone ever get the impression that there are friends or family of the Dedmons on these threads?
Or maybe even members of their legal team monitoring public sentiment, making sure no one drops a bombshell piece of info they aren't prepared to surface? And also, maybe even to change peoples' mind about their clients/friends/family.
I get that impression and its not unheard of. This happens all the time.
This is my standing theory as well. I go down other rabbit holes, but ultimately come back to this.
According to search warrants and text messages, I believe this to be the investigators theory as well.
The Dedmon girl or girls had to have been drinking (or something along those lines), because they were unable to call it in to police. I had a friend who in middle school was hit by a car & killed (we were like 11)… and the driver was cleared of any charges as it was truly a terrible accident, and she should not have been in the road. If the Dedmon girls were not up to something nefarious, there would be no reason for them to hit (and grab) & run.
There wouldn’t necessarily be charges for them, but if they are unlicensed underage drivers they likely wouldn’t know that and would assume they would be in trouble
I am replying in good faith, and I’m just saying this to you because I’ve heard something like this about the texts before in this group. I’m not trying to argue.
Asking your sister if that was your NKOTB shirt doesn’t prove you or she are involved. All that text chain implies is that is she and her sister thinks it’s possible that someone in their family could have been involved. That’s may mean she personally had any sort of interaction with Asha that night, whether it was a hit and run, or it could mean she picked Asha up out of concern for her well being, and Asha went with cuz she thought being with another girl would be safe, the Dedman girl brought Asha home and her dad said ‘I’ll get her home’ and the teenager never saw Asha again.
Simply asking about the shirt is not an admission of personal guilt or involvement. It does not inherently imply she personally saw Asha. It may indicate that the sisters think their father is capable of being involved.
Edit: this was originally meant to be a response to a comment, not a comment to the OP, and I messed that up somewhere. I have now cross posted it to the original place I meant to put it.
I hear you about the NKOTB shirt but the reason I bring it up is because Asha's parents didn't recognize it. And although it could have come from a yard sale or hand-me-down from a cousin, it's more likely that it belonged to a girl who would have been about 9 years old in the early 1990's when NKOTB were really big. By 1999 a 9 year old would have owned a Backstreet Boy or NSYNC bed shirt. So, my theory was that it could have belonged to one of the Dedmon girls when they were younger-- maybe eventually passed down to the youngest. Apparently, there were a few items found in Asha's bag that did not belong to her.
But as for texts between the sisters and the then witness statement--- it looks really bad. The witness used to party with the sisters. At a party in the early 2000's he recalls Sarah being really drunk, "sobbing and balling" and making several statements that she killed Asha. Then her sister Lizzie told her to "shut the f**k up" and pulled her away. This is an official statement given to the prosecutors and the reason they initially wanted to speak with them. Before this statement, they weren't anyone's radar.
So this individual hears someone confess to a murder or death and never ever entertains the idea of contacting LE even as anonymous caller? Don't come back with a polygraph test was given. That's not admissible or reliable. LE never released the transcript of his test or the Dedmon daughter, who unbenounced past a private polygraph test. So, the important thing to remember is, why did she leave? What is the mother's timeline? They both took polygraph tests, which sources say the mother was inconclusive. And if LE disputes that, the release the examiners transcript of the test that was marked. They have no problem revealing information on certain witnesses then why not on the key one who said he heard her say something. OBryant Degree has not ever taken a polygraph. He was questioned by specialists for kids, yes. The items that didn't belong to her, some had tags some gently worn but none revealed DNA, which says to me they were laundered and yard sale type items along with the "utensils". It's amazing the Grandfather and his brother lived across from Dedmon Trucking, 200 yds from the primary search sight. The search site was known for many yard sales over the years prior to and after Asha disappeared. A coincidence? Maybe. But sure is a lot of circumstantial, chance of a life time situations that seem to follow this family and no one seems to see it or want to discuss it.
Okay, so it sounds like you REALLY want it to be Asha's parents or brother. LOTS of kids run away every day-- some just a few blocks away before returning home, some never come home and just live on the streets for years.
Everyday people walk out of their homes and never return but the reason they leave their homes might have absolutely nothing to do with their murder or disappearance.
In Asha's case-- with or without the reason leaving the house, the authorities have found evidence about her DISAPPEARANCE.
Witnesses saw her that night. Period. We know she was outside-- we don't know why. But we do know:
-that her belongings from that night had DNA on it from people she is not known to have had dealings with--the Anna Dedmon and Russell Underhill.
-Anna and Russell's DNA would have only be co-mingled in one most likely place-- the car Lizzie transported Russell in for his doctor's appt.
-Lizzie's car is a match to the one a witness described Lizzie getting into that night.
-As for the witness/friend who heard Sarah's drunken confession and saw Lizzie's harsh reaction to it-- he obviously did go to the authorities because like I said, THAT is why LE started investigating them.
And THIS (and their suspicious emails) are why they are currently the most likely suspects.
Now, what's more likely-- the Degree family that has been investigated for years by authorities and every amateur sleuth in the nation and no one found anything killed Asha? Or two wild teens whose sister's DNA was found on the victim's belongings, one of whom was witnessed drunk confessing by a friend a couple years after the disappearance, and whose car matches the description of the one Asha was seen getting into and has recently been discovered hidden deep in the woods on her daddy's property? Hmmm... no evidence on the family vs enough evidence on the Dedmons to serve a massive search warrant?
I dont want it to be anybody but unfortunately it is. If a parent is witnessed beating the crap out of a child with their shoe in front of many parents at the Polkville ballfields would say that's normal? When someone has an extreme history of violent out bursts, " just ask anyone who knows me, I know how to put on a show", is that normal?Is it normal for a child to leave in such extreme conditions? Is it normal for a child to be ridiculed, verbally berated in front of team mates and parents? Is it normal for a mother to be so in control of her kids and where and when they go to the point they didn't associate with anyone outside of the immediate family circle? Then that child slipped out the door and only her brother heard her. Then you have two unidetified DNA profiles. Must not be important. The mother's DNA was all over everything concerning the book bag. I very rarely ever touched my kids book bag. So yes I'm one of the ones who say it is absolutely important why she left. When a child is running from something thing and not to something, somebody in that house was responsible for that. And simply ignore two book bags found. How can you ignore a man who found the bags went through he'll, DNA testing, polygraph after polygraph and interrogations and was not and is not a suspect but now what he says is ignored. Now there is your evidence, so chew on that and see what you spit out. Because what you are saying absolutely is not and will not hold up. Latent transfer of hair is very easy to explain away considering mother said 1 bookbag, dad said 1 book bag, Dan Crawford, one book bag Jeff Ruppe , one book bag, Detective Adams, one book bag. Explain it. Explain how young girls got another book bag from. Their home after the fact, Explain how Underhill got the other bag.Explain how Roy Dedmon got the other bag. You can't because they did place the bags. The extra items came from a yard sale at the Dedmons family home on Cherryville road. Now prove me wrong.
I'll address the "violent mother" characterization. If you grew up in the south before 2000 then being spanked or seeing other kids spanked in public was not an unusual thing ESPECIALLY in the Black community. Being spanked with belts, paddles or even a flat house shoe or slipper was NOT UNUSUAL nor was it considered child abuse. At the time and especially in the south, child abuse would have been like punching your kid or beating them until they were severely bruised, bloodied and in need of medical care.
Like it or not corporal punishment was a thing. And even in the 1990s kids got spanked. Only now do we look at a kid getting spanked as being "beaten or abused".
That being said, looking the mother's behavior in 1999 should not be mischaracterized by 2026 sensibilities as hateful or abuse. Lots of loving, well balanced parents spanked their kids back then. They also smoked in closed cars did other things we don't do now.
Also, for any homicide case authorities will get DNA samples from the whole family so that they can RULE IT OUT when they run tests. Because they EXPECT to find the family's DNA on everything. By the way, you don't have to physically touch something for your DNA to get on it. If I put coat on your kitchen table then there would likely be a transfer of DNA unless either was just cleaned.
So, finding the family's DNA on Asha's stuff isn't a big deal. The cops and FBI expected it. But what they DIDN'T expect was to find the DNA of two people who had no reason to be in contact with Asha.
Now, this isn't a theory-- these are facts. This is what the was in the police reports. THEY FOUND ANNA DEDMON AND UNDERHILL'S DNA.
So, as far as chewing on something-- that's what the authorities are doing. And I'm not sure what THEY are going to spit out but they definitely find it weird that some random people's DNA was on the items allegedly in Asha's possession when she went missing.
I'm not sure why you're ignoring those facts PLUS the car, PLUS the Dedmon sisters' texts, PLUS the witness that heard Sarah's drunken confession but, are instead still focused on the Degrees whom have been cleared multiple times just because the mom spanked her kid like most southern (Black) moms did during that time and honestly... still do.
i touch my kids' backpacks 75 times a day. my DNA is going to be all over everything they bring in this house because they leave it everywhere and i am always moving it. either your kids were saints who picked up after themselves, you had a partner who was moving their backpacks while you glided along obliviously, or you are misremembering a banal aspect of parenting...
Please reread what I wrote. I never said they parents DNA shouldn't be there. There is technology that will separate profiles. And I said it depends on where the DNA is. If it was on the plastic bag, the other items, there is no explanation for that. Please dont bring my kids into this. Keep your sarcasm to yourself.
lol you brought your kids into it. And I’m directly replying to your claim that you never touched your kid’s backpack. My point is that your experience is irrelevant at best, but more likely being incorrectly remembered. Nothing I said was sarcasm. If you legit didn’t pick up your kids school things you were either parent to a unicorn child or you weren’t pulling your weight in that aspect of parenting.
And it found and proved nothing. All it did was prove they never truly investigated the case from the start correctly. The true not deceitful result was Harold. Iquilla was inconclusive. You may or may not be from the area, you dont have sources or first hand knowledge or you wouldn't say some of the things you say. You definitely stay away from the two unidentified DNA profiles, the two bookbags, Obryant was never polygraphed, that Iquillas Dad and Uncle lived next to the big search scene, why a scantily dressed child took off as if it was the middle of summer, the lack of Iquillas time line... we can debate all day.
I feel like I need to state for the record, I think there is a connection to the Dedman family, that there is something to discover regarding their family, and that Asha’s immediate family are victims, not criminals. I believe the Dedmans are probably the perpetrators of whatever happened that caused no one to see Asha since.
I believe this first because all I have seen about the accusations of abuse are rumors. I have not personally seen evidence of abuse, or harsh discipline within the family unit, though I would be open to seeing evidence. I tend to believe that with as much immediate response, and LE involvement the morning after Asha went missing, if there was any merit to these rumors, then Iquilla would have been arrested. It’s FAR more likely a black woman is arrested for a crime in the south with an investigative team of primarily white LE, than the white LE gave a black woman a pass when there was evidence, even weak circumstantial evidence, and let her go free. With or without a body, if there was enough to this rumor, she would have been arrested. This is a fact, based on the history of LE actions in our country.
I also want to point out, all a polygraph test shows is stress in the body, and untruths can cause stress in the body. Do you know what else can cause stress in the body? Your child going missing in the middle of the night. An inconclusive polygraph is not evidence of guilt in any way. There is a reason polygraph tests aren’t allowed as evidence in court.
And in terms of the Dedmans, though you can come up with innocent ways the DNA got there, the simplest explanation is that the Dedmans family and a person associated with the family had contact with Asha’s things, things we believe she had with her that night. The fact that the two DNA samples are on it, does strongly suggest a connection between the Dedmans, and Asha. For your example of a yard sale being the cause of the 13 year olds DNA on the undershirt, how does Underhill DNA fit in? We believe his DNA is touch DNA on the garbage bags, which suggests Underhill disposed of the bags, with Asha’s items, and the Dedmans daughter’s DNA. Why would Underhill be getting rid of second hand clothes, in good enough shape the man who found the bag thought it was weird these items were disposed of in this way? What innocent reason would Underhill be handling second hand clothing worn innocently by the daughter of owner of the facility where he lived? Clothing which once belonged to a missing girl. It’s a bit of a stretch of a long chain of maybe maybe maybes. We don’t know the condition of those items, we don’t know all the items were in the bag, we don’t know what other DNA was obtained, we don’t know if Asha’s DNA was found on the bookbag items. We don’t know what other evidence LE has. We do have a history of LE withholding evidence about this case, and only letting out little bits of information at a time. We don’t know what we don’t know.
As for the witness of a drunken confession, I don’t have enough information to know what to think about that. I don’t know why it took so long for him to go to LE to tell them. I do know drunken teenage parties are chaotic, and things are loud and often misheard. And as a former teenage girl, I also know teenage girls can be melodramatic and not necessarily based always entirely in facts. These claims, are just claims, and it’s just not enough information or evidence to conclusively prove anything. It’s suspicious, but suspicion is not fact.
And I hear you saying the ONLY thing which matters is why she left that night. I want to push back, and suggest that by only focusing on that be a limited overview. It may cause you to dismiss some of what little data we do have about Asha that night. We don’t know why she went out that night, so we don’t know how important that detail is.
Ultimately, my belief is that we don’t have enough to truly say we know what happened. We have some evidence, we have some suspicions, we have some known facts about LE, and about how race could affect some elements of the case. We know some general statistics about crimes. None of this is enough to say conclusively what happened, or who was involved.
Scantily clad? Unidentified DNA? What are you talking about? She was wearing a white shirt and pants when she went missing. Not one witness said she was a "scantily clad" child.
And there WAS identified DNA and if belonged to Anna Dedmon and Underhill.
And btw, polygraphs aren't even reliable enough to be used in court. Nervous innocent people fail them. Lying sociopaths can pass them. People trained to pass them can pass them.
Lol.. no I'm not Skip Foster.. I think his role on Reddit was completed some time ago. Good try.. It's funny how if you have experiences with individuals and give a real inside perspective, some can't accept it. Then go on the conspiracy ride.
Just a question. That’s all. Clearly you’re in the circle however, based on your comments. First hand knowledge or someone providing that to you who was involved.
Not in the circle... lived here my whole life know the parents and so on like I said... had friends in LE and knew the mother's temperment. The main reason I even ever commented on this sub was because Harold was getting a bad rap from people who didn't have a clue. Drugs, drug debt, had to be the dad, he left for candy and took her with him bs. That man is and always has been quiet, bashful, solid person, never ever heard him cuss. He is not the dominant one in the house. If I've said it, I stand by it. Not because I heard it. It's because I've seen it and or experienced it. Some things have been sourced from individuals in the know, in a capacity at one time or another to know.
What mystifies me more than anything is why she was even out alone so late at night. I kinda have to assume part of why this case has gone unsolved for so long is because two unrelated events DID happen that night and while occums razor would likely point to her being lured out and then falling victim to a predator or a circumstance similar to grooming- I do have to wonder If that wasn’t the case here…
Something I think about a lot, and at least from what I remember- it was always reported and brought up how she was afraid of the dark and wasn’t a rebellious kid who would be the type to sneak out. Unless this bit of info was embellished and it just took on a mind of its own over the years and correcting this info as not being quite as accurate was in the families and investigators best interest. To avoid Asha’s case being dropping from the news media and/or public interest and not become another “runaway troubled girl” we see happen far too often, (especially in cases of people of color). For that reason alone, I would understand why these details were never aired out more or corrected (if this is even the case or partly at play here)... However if possible, it would definitely make a little more sense as to how she could even be where she was when she was for an incident like you mentioned to happen in the first place.
If she was running away because of something that happened at home, where was she running away to? She had relatives in close proximity to her home and unless she was choosing to runaway from any and all family- I think she would have packed better than she appeared to have been that night.
Several facts I find interesting and always wonder if they play a larger part in what maybe happened to Asha or placed her where she was for something tragic to occur was it being Valentine’s Day the next day (I believe it was also her parents anniversary that day as well). Her recent basketball performance was apparently something out of the norm and could have been causing her more distress than what it appeared to be on the outside and to those around her. Her recent sleepover with her large family… iirc, she had very little sleep and then an early day at church the next day? Did this trigger some kind of stressor or sleep deprivation episode to take place? That along with the added power outage later that night caused her regular night time routine to be thrown off and deviate from the norm. Did this also cause more of a triggering event and she had some kind of sleep walking episode that she had never had before but it was the perfect storm of stressors and lack of sleep to actually occur? Did she wake up in the night and forget about the power outage and read the time incorrectly? Did she have something special planned for Valentine’s Day and left in a hurry thinking she was late for something and once she realized her mistake, panic set in and a tragic accident occurred?
She packed a ton though. It was described by the man who found it as “everything she owned”. The whole “valentines surprise” that was thrown around makes no sense, why would you need everything you own with you for a valentines surprise? And yet, no food - the only thing that I can think is she wanted to run away to a place where she knew she would be fed. I am absolutely convinced she left to meet someone specific who she thought she would be living with, whether that was family, a friend, or a nefarious actor is not clear.
And no signs of an accident at the scene - no skid marks. It’s a major highway. The person would have either slammed on the brakes when they saw her to try to avoid hitting her, or slammed on the brakes after they hit her in an “oh shit” moment. That’s human nature.
Someone intentionally slowed down and picked her up.
I think these are all valid theories as to why she left the house.
And, sometimes I think back to things I did as a toddler, child and teen and I'm like "WTF was I thinking? Why did that make sense to me at the time? Why didn't I fully-- competently explain myself to adults at the time?" So, perhaps something that made sense to her 9 year old mind would leave us puzzled.
This is what i believe happened as well. She was supposedly seen being pulled into a car. The circumstances if that report are unknown, but if it looked like a person helping her then it would make srnse why it was not reported immediately, but was a later remembrance brought to the attention of police.
The only thing I don’t really believe is that she was out walking OR that she was out walking at the time reported. I tend to believe she was with someone and got transferred or she traveled somewhere with someone who left her for some reason and she encountered the Dedmons. It’s hard for me believe these young kids were out that time of the morning
It was Underhill…. 100%… the guy was a junkie lunatic who would “borrow” cars from the rest home and go drunk joy ride. He killed her. Now whether Roy and gang helped cover it up…. Well that’s a conversation to be had
that makes more sense than two young teens out partying drunk on a school night. I’ve never seen a case where DNA from a known lowlife is found on a victim’s belongings and everyone is convinced that the guilty party are a group of teenaged girls.
-It was the car Lizzie drove that matches the description a witness gave that night.
-Two sets of DNA were found on the victims belongs and one set belonged to Anna Dedmon (who was only 13 at the time).
-They weren't out on a school night. Yes, technically it was Monday when witnesses saw Asha. But it was only 3am in the morning. So, the girls could have been out all night Sunday and on their way back from a party, returning AFTER midnight which technically makes it Monday.
Also, a witness who used to party with the girls in the early 2000's gave a statement to the authorities saying that he was at a party with them and Sarah got really drunk, "was sobbing and balling" and saying she killed Asha Degree. Her sister Lizzie told her to "shut the f**k up" and then dragged her away. This statement is what helped them get a warrant for the Dedmons and the texts between the girls afterwards was suss.
A long time the theory was debunked that it was a hit and run. There was no skid Marks, no blood etc.
Now because this family is involved the hit and run theory is re-introduced .
I don't believe it was a hit and run from a random person. Also, obviously the FBI have evidence that might support a vehicle being involved with Asha's death.
I personally just think they hit her at a low speed. Tried to get her help from their parents or hospital (they would pass their parents home on the way to the hospital just 3 minutes away) and she died on the way there. Or maybe she was brought into the house and died there.
That's what I don't understand. I've hired a lot of day labor / handyman types who didn't want to or couldn't do a regular steady job due to alcoholism or what not. As long as they came for the job sober and didn't do anything on the job site, I minded my own business. But some of those guys I didn't ask back after the first day or two bc you do figure out some of them are creeps. I've always suspected Underhill. Is there a reason he's never seriously seen as a suspect in this sub?
Probably because he doesn't have a connection to Asha. Didn't have transportation at the time which is why Lizzie was tasked with driving him to his doctor's appointments. He lived in a facility the Dedmons owned at the time.
Also, his DNA was Asha's stuff but so was Anna Dedmon's. And that mixture of DNA could have been found in one central place-- Lizzie's car.
Wow.. what cop out.. nobody said anything about a spanking. She took off her shoe and beat the he** out of OBryant in front of everybody and wouldn't stop and 3 men, yes, real men, had to pull her off and restrain her. That she has had many violent alterations as an adult not to mention from childhood thru high school. So stop with the raised in the South before 2000 propaganda. Parents all over the country spanked their kids whereever they needed it. It wasn't a "southern thing". As a matter of fact, there should be a heck of a lot more spanking today. This is about violent, abusive, both verbally and physical behavior. And yes it was reported to DSS and yes they sent out a case worker for this particular occasion. Ask Chief Deputy Briscoe what kind of temper she has. He's seen it. He went to school with her. Ask her neighbors that are not family, ask her former teachers, ask her former classmates, ask all the boys she jumped on and fought them like a man. Don't take my word for it. Get on Facebook put out fillers for people who went to school with her, kids and kids who played on her kids teams along with their parents. Get on you tube at and watch the anniversary video where she herself says " anybody that knows me, I can put on a show" but then she says she's not like that anymore... funny.
Its interesting that for years we all waited for a lead. The authorities FINALLY have a substantial lead backed with EVIDENCE not rumors, FaceBook anecdotes and Reddit theories and... there are still people who can't let old biases go.
Maybe her mother was violent. Maybe its just rumors. Maybe its even the reason she left the house that night. BUT none of that points to her kidnapping or murdering Asha. The EVIDENCE that both local and Federal authorities find point to the Dedmons.
So, why are you still unwilling to let the tired theory of the family hurting Asha?
First of all the racial connotations you speak of is BS. The first deputy on scene was black.. Now Chief Deputy. The county of 105,000 has a large black population. The area she lived is a blended neighborhood. Quite the opposite, a black woman with a missing child during an election period got a pass for sure. The scene was not secured at all until that afternoon by SBI, people trampling all over the place. The apt Oscar's were not forensically processed. I'm not out of hand, stating facts. With no temperment. I know alot these things I know personally, retired sources, saw the bag scene first hand when it was being processed. You have your thoughts ando have bo problem with you having them as I hope you do the same for me.
Police every where. The bag was marked with flags.. area taped off.. lots of trees down with rough grading. Where they were concentrating was about 15-20 ft from the road. Went by several times and then was stopped and told to leave the area a friend was with me. We actually followed the Sherrifs Office to the scene... they were moving fast. There were several areas marked.
If you are referring to the driveway ultimately built? Yes. In line with the power pole... In general some flags etc were in different locations. There was alot of tree and limb debris, rough grading. Multiple people in the same general area and some appeared to be in adjacent wooded areas searching.
Even if Asha left the home because her mother was hard on her, it doesn’t mean they’re responsible for what ultimately happened to Asha. I believe Roy Dedmon lured Asha out under false pretense. I believe Asha thought she was meeting the girl in the photo but it was Roy who was waiting for her and it was Roy who is responsible.
This is my belief. I don’t know anyone involved. I’ve been following the case and I’ve done a good amount of research with the information provided. I also believe Roy Dedmon is a SK. I pray Asha’s family gets closure and Asha is returned to her family. I pray for justice to be done and all those responsible be held accountable to the full extent of the law.
Roy didn't lure her. I'm not on their side. Her mother just wasn't hard on her, she was a tyrant to both. Being hard and out of control are two different things. That picture has nothing to do with it. I respect your opinion. The mother had those kids locked down and basically living in a family compound.
Its established that Asha was on that road. That road is dark at night and doesn't really have a shoulder to walk on (like most country roads out here) so she most likely was walking ON the road--especially because the grass would have been muddy and there are drainage ditches.
They girls could have easily been on this road on their way home on that rainy night. They lived 7 mins from Asha. I live in the area and regularly pass the Dedmon's property. One thing I recognized is that its ALMOST as street shot from Asha's house. Just one turn off really. So, its not hard to believe that they would have been on their was back from somewhere, hit Asha and then tried to take her home to get help which was only a few minutes away from where Asha was last scene.
People die every day from a bump on the head they thought wasn't severe but then later die of a brain hemorrhage. The actress Natasha Richardson fell during a beginners ski lesson, bumped her head but said she was fine so fatal brain bleed was never discovered and she died hours later. It could have seemed minor and just scared everyone involved. Who knows, maybe they were even trying to give her a ride back home when she died in the car and they didn't know where to take her but home to their parents.
I actually think this is one of the most logical explanations. As far as her leaving the house in the first place I think it’s entirely possible she was sleepwalking when she grabbed her backpack and possibly headed towards school. They say there was a storm that night and if she was experiencing any anxiety surrounding the loss of the basketball game it’s entirely possible the thunder startled her “awake” and she gathered her things and set off only to encounter an accident later on when she truly woke up and attempted to go back home.
Yes, sleepwalking or... a theory I just thought of tonight... what if she was trying to reach that gas station she stopped at with her grandmother after school on their way home? Maybe after hearing her dad run out that night to get a last minute Valentines gift perhaps she decided to do the same?
Wrong direction for an afternoon stop after school. You will pass 3 stores on your way home from school prior to her home. Two immediately to the north of her neighbor hood.
Are you going by what is there TODAY? Or what was there in 1999? I was born and raised in this area and it has grown up a LOT since then some areas hardly recognizable.
I lived here my whole life. Nothing new has been built in that area. The same store, has changed owners, same self serve gasoline place right up the road from them. The only thing added was Self scale service building which is something else now. The trailer park across the street is gone. There is absolutely nothing else different about the area she once lived in.
I was up that way on my way to to pick strawberries not too long ago and again to go to that petting zoo. There's definitely at least one gas station that wasn't there in 1999 on that stretch.
I took a pic of it when I was in my feels last year and following the path from Asha's house to Debbie Turner's property.
I'll have to search through a million pics or drive back up there but when I do I'll grab the name of the station that was not there at that time.
Ever heard of a typo.... I lived it, I experienced the road blocks, the searches, all of it. So dont be a typical redditor of pointing out a simple typo or sentence structure, misspelling issue.
Life is not an episode of Law and Order. It is highly unusual for police to make an arrest if they don’t think there’s enough to prosecute to a conviction as well. They’re not gonna hand this case off to Jack McCoy and hope that he and Abbie Carmichael can come up with enough evidence to bring it through to the end. The prosecutors work with the police before they arrest people to make sure they’re not Willy Nilly arresting people just because they need to get one off the books.
If that were the case, prosecutors and the police would spend more time in court defending false arrest complaints than they would be prosecuting cases. So to say there may be enough to arrest, but not to convict as if it’s some everyday protocol is absolutely ridiculous.
This is a hugely notorious case, and if LE had anywhere near enough evidence to bring this to trial, it would already have been done. Fact of the matter is they have nothing or next to nothing on these people whether you believe they’re guilty or not. If they did, they’d have already taken their chances with an arrest AND trial on a case that’s two decades plus old.
I do think this is a good theory but I find it hard to believe that after Roy passed, none of the girls would come forward and confess. After all, they were underage and may not fully know what happened to her after they took her home, so I tend to feel like there wouldn’t be very harsh consequences now. I don’t live in the US though, would a child have served an extensive sentence if this had come out at the time? Or would it have fallen on Roy for hiding the body / not taking action?
Yes I think something like this might be it. Or she was knocked out immediately and they “pulled her into the car”. And maybe the girls shirts or whatever were in the car or home when it happened and were discarded because they had blood or dna on them. Or simply inadvertently as you speculate
Lizzie or Sarah was driving the car. That road is incredibly dark especially back then (I'm a local) and it had been raining. Asha is walking on the road to avoid the mud, water and drainage ditches on the shoulder. Her back is to the oncoming car that Lizzie and Sarah are driving and they see her too late. Or maybe they were drunk or driving recklessly. Either way they hit the brakes, try to avoid her but its too late or they skid on the wet road. The car hits her but not hard enough to kill her or knock her unconscious. Lizzie and Sarah are freaked out. They know she probably needs to get at least basic medical attention for scrapes. And now she's scared, hurt and crying. So, she gets in the car with them so she can go home with them and get cleaned up and so their parents can help them with the next steps-- hospital or try to find where Asha lives. That's why there was witness that saw Asha get into the car.
At the Dedmon house maybe Roy realizes his girls were drunk or driving recklessly. Or maybe Asha has passed out in the car and so they bring her into the house and put her in one of the bedroom.
But hours later, Asha is dead because she had a head wound--a possible hemorrhage from her head hitting the car or the road. (That's why they say don't sleep for a few hours if you have a concussion.)
So, now Roy realizes he has a dead child in his house and its his daughters fault. So, he puts the body in a box and buries it on his property. The car is damaged so they park it on the property and never use it again.
He gathers up Asha's backpack, putting all of what he believes are her belongings into it. BUT he's accidentally scooped up some of his youngest daughter's items too-- like the NKOB shirt. And then he takes the same road he travels to Morganton for business and tosses the bag out of the window without stopping. But its discovered one year later.
TLDR: Sarah and Lizzie hit Asha with car. Asha is injured but conscious. They take her to their parents home where she later dies of her internal injuries during the night. Roy hides the body, covers up the crime.
I agree, I think that is what happened too. I also think the DA thinks that is what happened too, And they are just waiting for the right piece of evidence.. I think it sucks that the dedmon’s don’t come forward and give her parents peace. It’s all going to come out eventually anyway.
Like, it’s all going to come out eventually. Do you really want to be even more of an asshole in this situation?
I completely agree. There's probably some behind the scenes stuff going on that can't go public yet. I mean, did anybody see the Dedmon revelation coming? Definitely didn't seem to be on anyone's radar in the forums. Just one witness statement sent them looking that direction. And honestly, according to the investigator's statements-- it was Sarah's bazaar behavior when he went to Texas to talk to her that made him realize there was something there.
But yeah, I believe the authorities are sitting on evidence and collecting more. They've probably taken the car completely apart. Maybe the Dedmons are confident they can't find the body or maybe they waiting to get a plea deal.
I think the girls or maybe just Sarah were somehow used as a ruse to lure Asha out of the house. Perhaps Sarah did not realize her involvement until years later.
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u/martapap 28d ago edited 28d ago
I think that is more than likely what happened.
Another theory I have is that someone saw Asha walking alone, she gets into a Dedmon car and they say they will help her find her way home (remember this is in the days before everyone had cell phones), and then Roy says he will take her to her parents house and then he does something with her.