What to Know
- Nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard was last seen in October on a road trip out of state with her mother.
- The sheriff’s department began investigating the case Oct. 14 after a school administrator reported Melodee had not been seen at school for several days.
- Detectives said Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, left California Oct. 7 in a white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu and traveled as far as Nebraska.
- Investigators scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference Tuesday to provide an update on the search.
The body of a 9-year-old Lompoc girl who has been missing since October was found earlier this month in a remote part of Utah with gunshot wounds to the head, authorities said while naming her mother as the suspect.
Melodee Buzzard’s decomposed body was found in Wayne County, Utah on Dec. 8, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said during a news conference on Tuesday.
A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation had also told NBC News that the girl’s body was found out of state.
When the body was discovered, the immediate identification was not possible, but it was clear that the deceased was a female with gunshot wounds to the head, Brown said.
More than week after the body was discovered, the FBI crime lab was able to confirm based on a DNA analysis that the remains indeed were those of Melodee.
Ashlee Buzzard, Melodee’s mother, was arrested for first-degree murder and being held without bail Tuesday afternoon.
“We have recovered a significant amount of evidence that clearly indicates that this heinous crime was committed by Ashlee Buzzard, Melodee’s mother, and the very person upon whom she relied upon and trusted the most in this world, Brown said.
Sheriff Brown said while the alleged murder weapon was not found, investigators seized a single cartridge case that matched cartridge cases found at the Utah crime scene at Ashlee Buzzard’s home.
Investigators believe Ashlee Buzzard, 40, acted alone. Her motive was not immediately clear.
Video shared with NBC News affiliate KSBY showed Buzzard being taken into custody as neighbors told KSBY that they saw deputies escort Ashlee Buzzard from her home in Vandenberg Village early Tuesday morning.
The sheriff’s department began investigating the case Oct. 14 after a school administrator reported Melodee had not been seen at school for several days. Detectives said Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, left California Oct. 7 in a white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu with license plate license plate 9MNG101. They traveled as far as Nebraska before the return trip, authorities said.
Melodee was last seen on the return trip to California Oct. 9 on security camera video near the Colorado-Utah border, investigators said.
Beginning Oct. 8, the Malibu was seen with New York license plate HCG967, the sheriff’s department said. It was not immediately clear when the different plate was installed or whether other plates were used during the trip.
On or around Oct. 9, the Malibu is believed to have traveled through Green River and Panguitch, Utah; northwest Arizona; Primm, Nevada; and Rancho Cucamonga.
Detectives also shared security camera images that they said show Ashlee Buzzard and her daughter at a rental car business in Lompoc at the start of the trip on Oct. 7. They appear to be wearing wigs, the agency said.
Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was arrested in November in an unrelated crime, the sheriff’s department said. She was arrested on suspicion of felony false imprisonment, authorities said.
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