The tragic discovery of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard’s body in a remote Utah area has ended a two-month search, with her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, arrested and charged with murder. Authorities announced the arrest on Tuesday, revealing that the girl was killed during a cross-country road trip, with evidence suggesting a calculated and cold-blooded crime.
Melodee was first reported missing in early October by the Lompoc Unified School District in California after she had not been seen since August. When investigators visited her home, her mother could not provide a clear explanation for her daughter’s whereabouts, prompting a deeper inquiry. The search quickly escalated into a multi-state investigation involving local sheriff’s offices and federal agencies like the FBI and ATF.
The break in the case came on December 6 when a couple taking photographs in Wayne County, Utah, stumbled upon a decomposed body. Sheriff Bill Brown of Santa Barbara County confirmed that the body had gunshot wounds to the head, and subsequent DNA analysis identified it as Melodee’s. This discovery was crucial in piecing together the events leading to her death.
Investigators traced the mother and daughter’s movements through surveillance footage from a rental car lot, which showed both wearing wigs—a tactic believed to be used to avoid detection. The pair had rented a white Chevrolet Malibu and embarked on a trip through several states, including Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. At one point, the car’s license plate was switched to a New York plate, further complicating the search.
Authorities believe that Melodee was murdered shortly after a stop near the Utah-Colorado border on October 9. Evidence collected from the Buzzard home, a storage locker, and the rental car included an expended cartridge case and live ammunition, which were linked to the crime scene in Utah. Sheriff Brown described the crime as involving ‘calculated, cold-blooded, and criminally sophisticated premeditation.’
Ashlee Buzzard was taken into custody on Tuesday morning and is being held without bail on suspicion of first-degree murder. Prior to this, she had been arrested in November on an unrelated false imprisonment charge, which was later dismissed due to insufficient evidence. Her lack of cooperation during the missing person investigation raised suspicions early on.
The community in Vandenberg Village, where the Buzzards lived, has been shaken by the events, with neighbors and family members expressing shock and seeking answers. Melodee’s half-sister, Corinna Meza, highlighted the girl’s isolated upbringing, noting that her father had died when she was a baby and she was rarely seen even by relatives.
As the investigation continues, authorities are searching for the murder weapon and further evidence to build the case against Ashlee Buzzard. The tragedy underscores the challenges in missing persons cases and the devastating impact of familial violence, with law enforcement emphasizing the rarity and severity of maternal filicide.
