2 Cleveland County properties involved in search possibly connected to Asha Degree

CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — Queen City News is learning exclusive new details of yet another search of property in Cleveland County earlier this week that may be connected to the disappearance of a 24-year-old cold case of missing 9-year-old Asha Degree.

SBI agents seen around a home on Hawthorne Lane are one more piece in a puzzle that could reveal what happened to Degree.

For 24 years, her family has never known.

“It’s got to be a terrible situation for a family not to know what happened to this child,” said Stuart Kaplan, a former FBI agent and current criminal defense attorney.

“I would surmise that there has been some evidence that was collected back in 2000. It may have been known to them even in 2016. And now they are retesting it,” said Kaplan.

For days this week, the FBI, SBI and the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office swarmed multiple properties covering numerous acres that are all connected.

Authorities won’t say why they were there.

Property records show the land is all owned by two people: Roy Lee and Connie Dedmon.

From one of those houses, neighbors say a green car was towed away Wednesday that resembles a picture of a car investigators released in 2016 that they were looking for in connection to Degree’s disappearance.

“There is probable cause to believe that the fruits of these crimes may be located at any one of these properties,” said Kaplan.

On Thursday, QCN obtained a photo from a neighbor from Tuesday showing ​SBI agents surrounding a home on Hawthorne Lane in Shelby.

A neighbor says agents were there for about six hours Tuesday afternoon going inside the home.

Property records show the house on Hawthorne Lane is also owned by Connie Dedmon.

“I think in an effort to bring this family some closure that is why you see these agents, these detectives even 24 years later,” said Kaplan.

QCN checked around Thursday at the Cleveland County Courthouse working to get ahold of the search warrants, but they are not yet publicly available.

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