There’s a tragic end to the search for a missing Central Coast girl, whose disappearance attracted national attention.
Melodee Buzzard's body has been found in Utah, and her mother has been arrested for first-degree murder. It’s a heartbreaking end to the search for the Vandenberg Village girl.
Authorities were alerted to the nine-year-old's disappearance in October. Lompoc School District officials called the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office after the girl repeatedly missed school without an explanation.
Detectives questioned the girl's mother, Ashlee Buzzard, but said she she was uncooperative, and refused to provide information on the girl's whereabouts.
Investigators then discovered that Buzzard had rented a car, and taken her daughter on a road trip to Nebraska. When the car was being rented, surveillance video captured the mother and daughter wearing wigs, as if to avoid identification. And, detectives say during the trip, Ashlee Buzzard changed the rental car's license plates in an effort to avoid the car being tracked.
Melodee Buzzard was last seen alive during the return portion of the road trip. She was captured on surveillance video October 9 near the Colorado-Utah border.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown says some sightseers spotted the little girl’s body off of a road in the remote area southeast of Salt Lake City. It was near the highway between Cedar City, Utah and Grand Junction, Colorado. She had been shot to death. This week, DNA evidence confirmed the girl’s identity.
Detectives arrested Ashlee Buzzard Tuesday morning. She's being held without the possibility of bail.
The sheriff says while the gun hasn’t been found, a bullet found in the rental car used on the road trip, and a cartridge found at Buzzard's home matched evidence from the murder scene.
Investigators believe Ashley Buzzard acted alone, but they have no answers as to why the murder occurred.
"We were hoping against hope that she would be safely found," said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown. "This outcome is deeply tragic," said the Sheriff.
