SHELBY, N.C. – It’s been 18 years since then 9-year-old Asha Degree went missing from her home.

The community hasn't forgotten and a large sign is a painful reminder to drivers along Cherryville Highway. The FBI hasn't stopped investigating the case, including bringing in a special team last year.

Since then, they've conducted more than 300 interviews. The Cleveland County Sheriff's office has several detectives still working the case and one of its lieutenants remembers the day the child went missing.

"There was a lot of law enforcement present. There was a lot of community support. There was a lot of organized searches,” Lt. Jogn mcintyre said.​

52-year-old Donald Ferguson was arrested in South Carolina Wednesday for killing 7-year-old Shalonda Poole in Greensboro in 1990. Investigators are looking into whether Ferguson had anything to do with Degree's disappearance on Valentine's Day in 2000.

"We want to bring closure to the Degree family, whether it's to bring back Asha back home, or to bring closure like what has happened with the Greensboro incident," Sheriff Alan Norman said.

A walk will be held this weekend near the area where the young girl went missing. It’s planned for 2 p.m. Saturday in front of her home on Oakcrest Street.