Last week, cops executed search warrants at multiple properties including an address in Shelby, an assisted living facility in Vale, and a home in Charlotte.

The locations are owned and lived in by members of the Dedmon family, with the warrants requested after DNA samples linked Asha with a woman called AnnaLee Dedmon Ramirez, who was 13 at the time, and a man called Russell Underhill.

Those samples were obtained from Asha’s backpack, which was found wrapped in two sealed black plastic bags, a year after the little girl vanished.

According to the documents a hair sample taken from a shirt appeared in the bag appeared to match Dedmon Ramirez’s DNA.

At the time of her passing, officials said there were two other Dedmon sisters who were aged 15 and 16.

Investigators now believe that Asha was a victim of homicide.

They haven’t gone into further detail into who they believe was responsible for Asha’s death or how she was killed.

The fact that AnnaLee was only 13 at the time has convinced investigators that an adult must have been involved in the crime too.

It is unclear if AnnaLee and her sisters knew Asha and it remains a mystery why the youngster ended up leaving her home in the first place.

Cops say AnnaLee’s father Roy Dedmon and her mother Connie Dedmon ‘would have been necessary in the execution and/or concealment of the crime’.

Roy Dedmon’s home, which is located just a few miles from Degree’s last known location, was searched last week by law enforcement.

Several items were seized from the address including an older green vehicle that resembled a car previously flagged in connection with Asha’s disappearance.

Authorities believe that Asha had entered a 1970’s-era green vehicle on the night she disappeared, similar to one that was seen being towed last week.

In 2016 the FBI said they had been looking for a 70s era green Ford Thunderbird or Lincoln Mark IV. The vehicle last week was an AMC Rambler.

A variety of computers, laptops, cellphones and records were also recovered from the home, as well as a human tooth – according to search documents.

Another property searched included an assisted living home which is owned by Roy and Connie Dedmon.

Russell Underhill, the second DNA match, had lived in at least two facilities owned by the couple at the time Degree disappeared, according to officials. He died in 2004.

The connection between Underhill and the family remains unclear but investigators say he ‘knew and associated with Roy Dedmon’.

While AnnaLee Dedmon Ramirez’s home in Charlotte was also raided by officials, they reported seizing a Blackberry phone.

Investigators have since discovered that Roy Dedmon had used his daughters to ‘transport patients in an unreliable vehicle’ to and from Broughton Hospital in nearby Morganton.

Investigators say that at the time of Asha disappearing, Highway 18 was the ‘most logical route to travel’.

They say that Roy Dedmon would send his daughter, who was 16 or 17 at the time, and not AnnaLee.

At a press conference last week, attorney David R. Teddy, who is representing Roy Dedmon, denied any connection between his client with the disappearance of Asha.

The attorney confirmed that the properties belong to Dedmon, who is in his 80s,  and asked the local community to jump to any conclusions.

Teddy seemed to allude to Underhill saying that he might be the one who knows what happened to the young girl.

Authorities have reportedly interviewed the elder Dedmon and have not made any arrests in connection with the case.

Degree’s parents Iquilla and Harold told WBTV last year that they still believe their daughter, who would be 32, is still alive.

Iquilla told the outlet: ‘I never thought it would be 23 years. She was a happy kid, she was quiet, she liked everybody.’

The last time they saw their daughter was when she went to sleep on the night of February 13.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/