CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — Documents released this week in the Asha Degree case revealed new details but still left unanswered questions.
Asha Degree went missing in February 2000 in Cleveland County and community members remain committed to solving the case of her disappearance. The case had little movement in the last two years until multiple agencies began searching properties in Cleveland County concerning the investigation.
Hundreds of pages of warrants were released from the case on Monday, providing new investigation details.
Willie Key, Asha Degree's great-uncle, spoke with WCNC Charlotte about the case and says he's had unanswered questions for 24 years.
"That stayed with me all the time ... Would we ever find out the real truth?" Key said. "Why did it happen?"
Two suspects are listed in the search warrants, Roy Dedmon and Connie Dedmon.
Key says his family has no association with the Dedmons, which is also stated in the search warrants.
"I've been out here all my life and I didn't even know the Dedmons lived there," Key said.
DNA testing from some of Asha Degree's belongings found in 2001 shows two matches to AnnaLee Dedmon, who was 13 when Asha disappeared, and Russel Underhill, a man who died in 2004 but lived at assisted living facilities owned by the Dedmons.
While the documents link AnnaLee Dedmon and Underhill's DNA to Asha Degree, they are not named as suspects.
"Perhaps they already have their primary person and know who it is," M. Quentin Williams, a former FBI agent and federal prosecutor said.
Williams says he has no answer on why names were only just now released relating to the case but says there might have been advances in DNA testing.