Ashlee Buzzard, 40, faces murder charges after authorities discovered the remains of her 9-year-old daughter, Melodee Buzzard, in Utah. The announcement came Tuesday after investigators linked bullet cartridges found near the child’s body to those at Buzzard’s home.
On December 6, a couple taking photos along State Route 24 in Utah reported finding the remains. Officers could not immediately identify the child, but they determined that gunshot wounds to the head caused her death. The FBI confirmed the identity through a DNA match to Buzzard.
During their investigation, authorities also found similar ammunition in a car rented by Buzzard. They arrested her and held her without bail at the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Barbara. At the time, no court date or attorney had been assigned to her.
Melodee’s prolonged absence was first reported by her school on October 14. Deputies visited Buzzard’s home in Lompoc, but Buzzard refused to reveal her daughter’s whereabouts. Detectives later traced Buzzard’s movements. She had left California on October 7 with her daughter, driving a rented white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu. They traveled through several states, including Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, before heading back through Kansas. Surveillance footage from October 9 showed Melodee at the Colorado-Utah line wearing a wig and a hooded sweatshirt.
Throughout the trip, Buzzard and her daughter altered their appearances. Surveillance video showed Melodee wearing a wig that was darker and straighter than her natural hair. Buzzard also wore a long, curly wig. To avoid detection, Buzzard switched the rental car’s license plates.
Buzzard returned to California alone on October 10. She did not have her daughter with her, prompting further investigation. Sheriff Bill Brown called the crime “calculated and cold-blooded,” but authorities have not determined the motive. “Melodee deserved a far better life than she had,” Brown said.
The authorities have not recovered the weapon used in the murder, and the investigation continues.
Melodee’s grandmother, Lilly Denes, described her granddaughter as a loving, well-behaved child who always smiled. Denes recalled a phone conversation with a detective, who told her that Melodee was now with her father, who had passed away when she was just six months old. “I knew he was telling me that the baby is dead,” Denes said.
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