Asia Larose Brown and her 2-year old-son Ashton were found dead on Feb. 23, 2015.
The burned out car found with two bodies covered with a tarp and sitting south of South Buffalo Creek off the dead end of the 3000 block of Thurston Ave. Police are calling the deaths of Asia Larose Brown, 22, and her 2-year-old son Ashton Paul Brown, of 1208 E. Orchard St. homicides. Police responded about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 23 to reports of the remains of two people being found in a burned car on Thurston Avenue. The two were last seen Feb. 20 and reported missing by Asia Brown’s co-worker.
The burned out car found with two bodies covered with a tarp and sitting south of South Buffalo Creek off the dead end of the 3000 block of Thurston Ave. Police are calling the deaths of Asia Larose Brown, 22, and her 2-year-old son Ashton Paul Brown, of 1208 E. Orchard St. homicides. Police responded about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 23 to reports of the remains of two people being found in a burned car on Thurston Avenue. The two were last seen Feb. 20 and reported missing by Asia Brown’s co-worker.
The burned out car found with two bodies covered with a tarp and sitting south of South Buffalo Creek off the dead end of the 3000 block of Thurston Ave. Police are calling the deaths of Asia Larose Brown, 22, and her 2-year-old son Ashton Paul Brown, of 1208 E. Orchard St. homicides. Police responded about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 23 to reports of the remains of two people being found in a burned car on Thurston Avenue. The two were last seen Feb. 20 and reported missing by Asia Brown’s co-worker.
Investigators and CSI at the scene of the homicides on the 3000 block of Thurston Ave., Tuesday, February 24, 2015, in Greensboro, N.C. Police responded to reports of the remains of two people being found in a burned car on Thurston Avenue. Investigators believe the remains are those of Asia Larose Brown, 22, and her 2-year-old son Ashton Paul Brown, of 1208 E. Orchard St. Asia Brown was reported missing by Asia Brown’s co-worker.
Investigators and CSI at the scene of the homicide on the 3000 block of Thurston Ave., Tuesday, February 24, 2015, in Greensboro, N.C. Police responded to reports of the remains of two people being found in a burned car on Thurston Avenue. Investigators believe the remains are those of Asia Larose Brown, 22, and her 2-year-old son Ashton Paul Brown, of 1208 E. Orchard St. The two were last seen Friday and reported missing by Asia Brown’s co-worker.
A map of where the bodies of Asia and Ashton Brown were found on Thurston Avenue near South Buffalo Creek
GREENSBORO — The last turn onto Thurston Avenue would have been short.
The dead end road, near an industrial park and undeveloped area just off South Buffalo Creek, was dark and otherwise quiet. Especially at night.
How did 22-year-old Asia Brown and 2-year-old son Ashton end up in the trunk of her 2005 Buick LaCrosse? And why?
Investigators have more questions than answers seven years later.
“There’s no new information,” said Ron Glenn, a Greensboro police spokesman.
Mother and son’s bodies were later found so badly burned in the car she had just purchased, that the coroner’s office, having done thousands and thousands of autopsies, couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead when the car was set on fire. “Homicidal violence of undetermined means” is what is written as the cause of death on the N.C. Medical Examiner’s autopsy reports.
Police think somebody must know what happened to Brown and Ashton, the child who loved everything Mickey Mouse. Or they may know who did it.
The Crime Stoppers reward, which can be claimed anonymously, has just been raised to $15,000.
When Gov. Roy Cooper announced in February 2018 that his office was giving a $10,000 reward for information, police expected it would bring people forward.
It didn’t.
“I talked to Crime Stoppers, and we haven’t gotten a lot since the reward was announced,” Lt. Jack Steinberg said at the time.
Two city employees working in the area happened upon the bodies the day after Brown was reported missing in the wooded remote area just off Thurston Avenue — a difficult area to access.
At one point, the city’s whole homicide division was working the case.
Brown’s family has said little about the crime. Maybe it was the horror of it all or the fact that no one has ever been arrested for the brutal deaths.
Police searched Brown’s phone, which was left in the car. Investigators also closely examined her text messages and social media accounts.
Brown was posting on social media the morning of Feb. 20, 2015. They would be her last posts.
After seven years, Greensboro police say the tragedy hasn’t been classified as a cold case. Still, there’s been little in the way of information to move the investigation forward.
Lead detective Mike Matthews could not be reached for comment, but he acknowledged early on the difficulty of trying to solve the case.
“This is probably the most challenging case since I’ve been in homicide,” Matthews said in 2016. “It’s been one challenge after another.”
Petite and with a long hairstyle, Brown was last seen about 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 20 — a Friday — at an AutoZone store on Randleman Road.
It’s unclear if Ashton was with her at the time.
What’s even more unclear: Brown’s whereabouts after she left the store.
Police estimate the crime took place sometime between that Friday and Sunday.
The car was found by the city workers on Monday.
“Did she stop somewhere to let someone keep Ashton?” Matthews asked at the time. “That’s going to be very important to this investigation. We would love that information.”
Police have not excluded the possibility that this was a random crime.
Where the car was found is hidden from the road. The license plate was discovered not far away from the charred vehicle.
Burned so badly, officials weren’t able to use bone X-rays and dental records to positively identify the remains because of the extensive heat damage, according to autopsy reports. Police needed to collect DNA from Brown’s parents to confirm her identity and DNA from Ashton’s father to confirm his.
“This is one of the few cases I’ve worked in my 10 years where we’ve had to use DNA to do a positive ID,” Matthews said in 2015. “Although we believed from the beginning it was them.”
Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 336-373-7049 and follow @nmclaughlinNR on Twitter.