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Asha Degree, Missing 9 Year-Old from 25 Years Ago


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Crazy story. Has yet to hit Dallas media. Why?  Because this gal is a middle school Spanish teacher. That teaches (or rather taught) my son:

¡Ay Dios Mio!

Spoiler

CRIME

'The theory is I did it': New text messages revealed in Asha Degree search warrants

The warrants uncovered text messages that could point to a suspect in the disappearance of Asha Degree 25 years ago. 
Author: Hank Lee
Published: 5:27 PM EST February 18, 2025
Updated: 11:56 PM EST February 18, 2025

SHELBY, N.C. — New search warrants were released Tuesday in the search for Asha Degree, the 9-year-old Shelby, North Carolina, girl who went missing on Valentine's Day night 25 years ago. 

The warrants show that law enforcement took the cellphone of Lizzie Foster, the daughter of a Cleveland County man whose property was searched by federal agents last September. Foster was 16 at the time of Degree's disappearance, according to the warrants. 

In September, a search warrant revealed that investigators believed Degree was a "victim of homicide"and that her body was "concealed." The FBI, along with state and local investigators, searched a Cleveland County property for several days searching for evidence at a property on Cherryville Road in Shelby. That's where investigators recovered a car similar in make and model to one sought during the initial search for Degree in 2000. 

Witnesses told investigators that Degree was last seen walking along North Carolina Highway 18 on Feb. 14, 2000, before being pulled into a car similar to the one recovered from the Cherryville Road home. A hair sample found in a bag in Burke County in 2001 pointed detectives to the family on Cherryville Road. 

David Teddy, the attorney for Roy Lee Dedmon — the owner of the property that was searched — said the investigation would reveal a now-deceased person was responsible for what happened to Degree. Lizzie Foster, the person whose phone was seized by police, is the daughter of Roy Lee Dedmon. 

“I think there will be info that sadly will link a person to the circumstances of Asha’s disappearance who is no longer living," Teddy speculated at the time. 

The warrants revealed that the vehicle seized from Cherryville Road, a 1964 AMC Rambler, was registered to Roy Lee Dedmon. His daughter, Sarah Gwen Caple, told detectives that the car was given to her by Dedmon when she was 16. 

On Sept. 18, 2024, a man went to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office and spoke with detectives about the case. He told detectives that when he was in his 20s in the mid-2000s, he occasionally frequented bars and parties with Sarah and Lizzie Dedmon. Mellentine recalled one party when Lizzie was "sobbing and balling" and made several statements that she "killed Asha Degree." 

Mellentine claimed that Lizzie's sister heard her comments and got angry, tell her to "shut the f*** up" while grabbing her head. Mellentine said the behavior caught him off guard because Sarah was always "calm and nice" in their interactions. 

Investigators obtained search warrants for Lizzie Foster's phone. The results came back on Oct. 27, including several "messages of interest" linked to the case from Foster, her sisters, Annalee Dedmon and Sarah Caple.

"This is a nightmare," Caple texted to Lizzie Foster. "I'm like shaking and can't walk now, either." 

There's also a text message from Foster's ex-husband, who said he was "sorry" for what their family was going through. Annalee Demond also told her sister Lizzie, "you don't need to be talking to anyone," urging her to break off any communication about the case without an attorney present. 

"I'm just so worried," Foster texted her ex-husband. "So so worried. 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." 

She later told him, "There is no way this is going to be okay."

Foster again texted Caple on Sept. 12, saying investigators believed she could be the suspect. 

"I just talked to David Teddy," she wrote. "The theory is I did it. Accident. Covered it up." 

Foster later texted her ex-husband that she "caused this." Further text messages reveal a scramble between the parties over what to do in light of the September 2024 developments.

After denying to take a polygraph test in September 2024, Foster agreed to take one this month, according to the search warrants. She was found to be deceptive.

No charges have been filed in this case at this time.

 

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