Missing California Central Coast girl found shot to death in rural Utah: ‘Ruthless act’
Melodee Buzzard, the missing 9-year-old girl from Lompoc, was found shot to death in rural Utah in what the Santa Barbara County sheriff called a “ruthless act” that ultimately led to the arrest of her mother Ashlee Buzzard on suspicion of murder.
Just before 8 a.m. Tuesday, Buzzard, 40, was handcuffed and arrested at her home in the 500 block of Mars Avenue in Vandenberg Village, the agency said during a Tuesday news conference.
She was taken into custody without incident and booked at the Santa Barbara County Southern Branch Jail, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
At the news conference, Santa Barbara Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said Melodee’s remains were found in Caineville in Wayne County, Utah, about 100 miles south of Provo and just outside the eastern entrance to Capitol Reef National Park.
The girl reportedly was shot in the head at least one time, Brown said.
The Sheriff’s Office recovered “a significant amount of evidence” that clearly indicated “this heinous crime was committed by Ashley Buzzard,” Brown said during the news conference.
“This is an extraordinarily tragic case involving the murder of a child by the very person she relied upon and trusted the most,” Brown added in a news release. “While maternal filicide is rare and difficult to comprehend, the evidence in this case clearly indicates a calculated, deliberate, and ruthless act.”
Melodee Buzzard had been missing since October
Law enforcement had been looking for Melodee since Oct. 14 after a Lompoc Unified School District administrator reported that the girl was continuously absent.
Melodee was enrolled at the school district in August after she and her mother began the process to register her at Mission Valley Independent School.
The school launched mandatory truancy procedures once Melodee failed to attend classes or pick up assignments.
Meanwhile, Ashlee Buzzard remained “uncooperative” during the investigation and did not provide any information about her daughter’s location or condition, authorities said.
Detectives honed in on a four-day multi-state road trip that began on Oct. 7, when Buzzard rented a car and took her daughter to Nebraska, The Tribune previously reported, apparently stopping in Kansas on the way back.
Deputies said Buzzard switched license plates on the rental car, backed into gas stations and swapped wigs with her daughter to avoid recognition during the trip.
Video surveillance showed that Melodee was last seen near the Colorado-Utah border on Oct. 9.
“Investigators now believe Melodee was murdered shortly after that point,” the Sheriff’s Office said in its release.
When Buzzard returned to her Lompoc residence, Melodee was no longer with her.
On Oct. 30, during the investigation into Melodee’s disappearance, sheriff’s deputies and the FBI searched Buzzard’s home and found an expended cartridge case. They also found a live round of similar ammunition in her vehicle.
Then, more than a month later on Dec. 6, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a decomposing body found in a remote area of the county.
“The decedent was determined to be female and had died from gunshot wounds to the head,” the release said.
The cartridge cases recovered in Utah were then compared to the cases found at Buzzard’s Lompoc residence and “determined to be linked,” the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office said.
On Monday, an FBI analysis confirmed that the remains found in Utah bore a familial DNA match to Ashlee Buzzard, leading to her arrest the next day, according to the agency.
“The loss of Melodee Buzzard is heartbreaking,” Brown said in the news release. “We hoped against hope that she would be found alive. The outcome is devastating.”
“This investigation does not end here,” Brown added. “We remain committed to working closely with prosecutors to ensure justice is pursued with integrity, care and compassion. Melodee deserved a far better life, and she will never be forgotten.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Missing California Central Coast girl found shot to death in rural Utah: ‘Ruthless act’."
