The mother of a Central Coast girl who’s been missing for more than a month entered a not guilty plea in court to an unrelated criminal charge.
Ashlee Buzzard was charged with false imprisonment stemming from a November 6 incident at her Vandenberg Village home.
A man who had befriended Buzzard had offered to help find her daughter. In a statement, Tyler Brewer said Buzzard became upset about what she'd told him. According to Brewer, she initially refused to let him leave her home and brandished a box cutter.
Investigators say Brewer was eventually allowed to leave. After entering her plea on Wednesday, Buzzard was released but ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device.
A search has been underway for Buzzard’s nine-year-old daughter, Melodee, who was last seen during a road trip to Nebraska a month ago.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s detectives say the mother has been uncooperative with their efforts to find the missing girl.
