UPDATE: Asha Degree

Crime Junkie

02/26/25

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38m

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When nine-year-old Asha Degree vanished on Valentine’s Day in 2000, it devastated her family and small town of Shelby, North Carolina. After years of little to no new information, the case has broken wide open and authorities may be closer than ever to solving what they are now saying is a murder.

Ashley and Brit originally covered Asha’s case for Crime Junkie in 2019, but with all the new information that’s come out in February 2025, Ashley asked investigative journalist and North Carolina native Delia D’Ambra to join her to dive into the case with a fresh perspective.

Listen to Ashley and Brit’s original episode, MISSING: Asha Degree, wherever you get your podcasts!

Head over to our Crime Junkie YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wGw9jAZJXY

Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: crimejunkiepodcast.com/update-asha-degree/

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Instagram: @crimejunkiepodcast | @audiochuck
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Crime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat.

Instagram: @ashleyflowers | @britprawat
Twitter: @Ash_Flowers | @britprawat
TikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkie
Facebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF

Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!

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Previous Episode

WANTED: Justice for Rhys Pocan & MMIW Part 2

February 24, 2025

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50m

In 2021, we set out to cover the case of Rhys Pocan, a 35-year-old Indigenous woman who was murdered in Wisconsin in the ‘80s. But while we were in the field, we uncovered a disturbing pattern of murders with similarities to Rhys’ that were just too blatant to ignore. So, we spent the next three years working with local and federal law enforcement to try and get to the bottom of it.

Before you listen, make sure you’ve listened to WANTED: Justice for Rhys Pocan & MMIW Part 1!

In Part 2, we look into cases of two other female dismemberment victims in Wisconsin with striking similarities to Rhys Pocan’s. Rhys’ own cousin Rae Tourtillot’s remains were found just two years before Rhys’ disappearance. And Julia Baez’s remains were found buried in plastic bags the year after. But without a statewide task force, investigators are slow to put things together.

If you have any information about any of the cases below, please contact Det. Nathan Hatch at the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office at 920-459-3135, or email him at nathan.hatch@sheboygancounty.com. You can also reach out to us at crimejunkie@audiochuck.com. Other Wisconsin cases to note:

Jane Doe, 1982, Caledonia, Columbia County
Helen Sebastian, 1983, Racine, Racine County
Eric Hansen, 1983, Petrifying Springs Park, Kenosha County,
Jane Doe, 1984, Westby, Vernon County
Terry Dolowy, 1985, LaCrosse, Vernon County
Rae Tourtillott, 1987, Menominee Reservation
Rhys Pocan, 1989, Sheboygan County
Susan Poupart, 1990, Price County
Julia Baez, 1990, Brockway, Jackson County
Doris Mcleod, 1991, Goose Lake Wildlife Preserve, Dane County
Jane Doe, 2002, Houlton, St. Croix County

Charlee Pocan Russ has started a GoFundMe to raise money for solving her mother’s murder. If you would like to donate or learn more, please visit this link.

And keep an eye on The Deck feed for Susan Poupart (7 of Spades, Wisconsin), or listen right now in the Fan Club!

You can learn more about The Good segment and even submit a story of your own by visiting The Good page on our website!

Head over to our Crime Junkie YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWIrL-kjbt0

Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: crimejunkiepodcast.com/wanted-justice-for-rhys-pocan-mmiw-part-2/

Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit crimejunkie.app/library/ to view the current membership options and policies.

Don’t miss out on all things Crime Junkie!

Instagram: @crimejunkiepodcast | @audiochuck
Twitter: @CrimeJunkiePod | @audiochuck
TikTok: @crimejunkiepodcast
Facebook: /CrimeJunkiePodcast | /audiochuckllc

Crime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat.

Instagram: @ashleyflowers | @britprawat
Twitter: @Ash_Flowers | @britprawat
TikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkie
Facebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF

Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes upda...

Next Episode

MURDERED: Helen Betty Osborne

March 3, 2025

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47m

The discovery of 19-year-old Helen Betty Osborne’s body should have outraged the residents of The Pas, Manitoba. Yet, the truth of what happened to her, and who killed her, would remain an open secret for years. But, like all secrets, what happened that night eventually came to light – and upended over a decade of sinister silence.

There is a memorial fund in Betty’s name through the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. The goal of the scholarship is to provide financial support to full-time post-secondary Indigenous students living in Manitoba. These students are recognized for their commitment to dismantling “the barriers of racism, sexism, violence, and indifference in society including those impacted by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People genocide and/or Survivors of gender-based violence.”

If you would like to join audiochuck in making a donation to the fund, please click here, and direct your donation to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
If you have any questions, please contact The Winnipeg Foundation at 204-944-8474, email them at hbomfscholarship@wpgfdn.org.

Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: crimejunkiepodcast.com/murdered-helen-betty-osborne/

Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit crimejunkie.app/library/ to view the current membership options and policies.

Don’t miss out on all things Crime Junkie!