A 9-year-old Southern California girl who was reported missing earlier this year was found dead in Utah, and her mother has been arrested on suspicion of murder, authorities announced Tuesday. The body of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard was found in Wayne County, Utah, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office announced, and her mother, 40-year-old Ashlee Buzzard, was taken into custody Tuesday morning.Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said Melodee’s body was found in a rural area outside of Cainville in Wayne County. Melodee’s whereabouts had been unknown for months, with investigators saying that her mother was not cooperating with the missing person investigation.”Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend. But this level of criminal activity is particularly shocking given the calculated, cold-blooded, and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it and the ruthlessness that went into actually committing the crime, ” Brown said at Tuesday’s news conference. Melodee was first reported missing by the Lompoc Unified School District on Oct. 14. They stated that she had not been seen since August. Authorities previously reported that surveillance video uncovered by investigators showed Melodee wearing a wig at a rental car lot with her mother, Ashlee, who was also wearing a wig. The two left their Lompoc, California, home in a rented 2024 white Chevy Malibu.Investigators believe Ashlee changed wigs throughout the road trip through Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Nebraska. At one point, the Malibu was observed with a New York license plate.The last time Melodee was seen, according to the sheriff’s office, was on Oct. 9, as security camera video caught the pair driving across the Colorado-Utah border.Since the child’s disappearance, deputies served several search warrants at the family’s home, a storage locker, and a rental car. The FBI has also been assisting deputies. Brown said investigators have “recovered a significant amount of evidence that clearly indicates the crime was committed by Ashlee Buzzard, Melodee’s mother.”Ashlee was arrested earlier on an unrelated charge in early November for false imprisonment. A man who said he had been helping in the search for Melodee claimed he was held by Ashlee against his will. A judge later dismissed the felony false imprisonment charge against her.Ashlee Buzzard is currently being held without bail, and the investigation remains ongoing.
