Ashlee Buzzard, the mother of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, has been arrested on charges unrelated to her daughter’s disappearance.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's officials took Buzzard into custody on Friday at her Lompoc, California home.
The sheriff’s office said in a press release that her arrest on a felony charge of false imprisonment is unrelated to their missing person investigation.
Officials say detectives recently learned that Buzzard had prevented a victim from leaving a location against their will. They added that no other information about that incident is being released at this time.
Meanwhile, the search continues for her daughter Melodee, who was reported missing on October 14 when the Lompoc Unified School District reported her prolonged absence.
Deputies who went to the family’s home in Lompoc said they spoke with her mother, but “no verifiable explanation for [Melodee’s] whereabouts was provided,” according to the sheriff’s office. Buzzard has not cooperated with the investigation, they added.
Earlier this week, the sheriff’s office announced that they'd narrowed their investigation to the timeframe between October 9 and October 10, while the pair were on a multi-state road trip to Nebraska.
Surveillance images show Melodee, in what appeared to be a wig, alongside her mother at a Lompoc rental car company on October 7. The last confirmed sighting of Melodee came two days later, on October 9, near the Colorado-Utah border.
But when her mother returned home on October 10, Melodee was nowhere to be found.
Investigators also announced this week that they believe Buzzard removed the California plate 9MNG101 from the white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu rental car and replaced it with a New York plate HCG9677 either on or before October 8 in order “to avoid detection.”
When she returned the car, the California plate was back in place. It is unknown when the plate was installed or whether additional plates were used at other times during travel.
The sheriff’s office said they remain focused on finding Melodee.
They shared a map of the vehicle’s stops along Buzzard’s route back to California, which they believe took her through Green River, Utah; Panguitch, Utah; northwest Arizona; Primm, Nevada; and Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Zeroing in on that crucial 24-hour window between October 9 and October 10, authorities urged anyone in those communities to check surveillance and report relevant information.
Local authorities, assisted by the FBI, also searched a storage locker and a rental car believed to have been used on the multi-state road trip shortly before the child vanished. It is unclear if anything was found.
Melodee is described as 4 feet 6 inches tall, weighing about 60 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Authorities have provided two phone numbers and a web address for anyone with information about Melodee’s whereabout: a Detectives Line: (805) 681-4150; an anonymous tips line: (805) 681-4171; and an online tips address: www.sbsheriff.org/home/anonymous-tip/.
