Body of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard found 2 months after disappearance, mom Ashlee in custody
The body of 9‑year‑old Melodee Buzzard has been recovered, and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, was taken into custody on Tuesday—more than two months after the girl vanished on a spur‑of‑the‑moment road trip with her mom.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s officials confirmed that the mother was booked into jail that afternoon, and they said they would release “major developments” about the case at 5 p.m. ET. NBC News and local reporters had already reported that the child’s remains were found in a wooded area north of Santa Barbara.
Melodee was last seen on surveillance footage on Oct. 9 near the Colorado‑Utah border. The family had left their home in Lompoc, California, and driven all the way to Nebraska, a journey that never finished. Since that day, the Buzzard family has not seen the girl again and has described Ashlee as “extremely mentally unstable.”
Investigators say the mother has not been forthcoming with information. On Oct. 7, Ashlee and Melodee reportedly wore wigs and rented a Chevrolet Malibu from a Santa Barbara rental agency. Alarmingly, the next day the vehicle was found on the road with New York plates, and when it was returned to California on Oct. 10 the original plates had been reinserted—but Melodee was nowhere to be seen.
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