Vehicle similar to the car sought in the decades-old missing child case was towed away during the search

CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A vehicle resembling a car possibly linked to the decades-old Asha Degree case was towed from a property in Cleveland County, according to local media.

According to WSOCThe FBI said agents executed several search warrants in Cleveland County this week, but declined to provide details on ongoing cases.

FBI, SBI and Cleveland County officials conduct search of Shelby property

WSOC reports that a green car was seen towed from Cherryville Road, where police and dogs have been searching since Tuesday, September 10. The vehicle resembles a car the FBI has been looking for in connection with the disappearance of 9-year-old Degree.

According to the FBIDegree disappeared from her bedroom sometime between 2:30 and 6:30 a.m. on February 14, 2000. Authorities said there were no signs of a forced entry. Investigators received two separate reports from people who saw a young girl walking on Highway 18 in the opposite direction of the Degrees' home around 4 a.m. One person told authorities they went back to check on the girl, but she went off the road and disappeared into the woods.

The FBI said a re-investigation of the case in 2015 uncovered another possible lead. Degree may have been seen “entering a dark green 1970s Lincoln Continental Mark IV or Ford Thunderbird that had rust around the wheel wells.” The possible lead was released in 2016 along with pictures of the vehicle models.

WSOC reports that authorities searched two locations in Cleveland County Tuesday evening for information on the case. One of those locations was a home in the 600 block of Cherryville Road, just a few miles from where Degree disappeared, according to the report.