On October 14, 2025, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation into the disappearance of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard after a school administrator reported her extended absence. Deputies responded to her home in Lompoc, where her 35-year-old mother, Ashlee Buzzard, was present but provided no verifiable explanation for Melodee’s whereabouts. The FBI has indicated that Melodee may have been with her mother on a road trip as far as the state of Nebraska before vanishing.
On October 30, 2025, detectives from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with the FBI, executed multiple search warrants at the home of Ashlee and Melodee Buzzard, a storage locker, and the rental car that Melodee was last seen in. To ensure the thoroughness of the search, detectives escorted Ashlee to an alternate location that would not interfere with the investigation. The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office is assisting in the search for the missing child.
Police have shared new surveillance images of Melodee, which show her possibly wearing a disguise. The photos, released by the sheriff’s office, depict Melodee in a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and what appears to be a wig that is darker and straighter than her natural hair. Investigators believe the wig may have been used to alter her appearance, and Ashlee is known to wear wigs. The critical timeline for the investigation has been narrowed to between October 7 and October 10, 2025.
On October 10, 2025, Ashlee was seen returning to her Lompoc residence driving the same rental vehicle she departed with on October 7 — but Melodee was not in the car. Investigators suspect that Melodee may have been with her mother during the three-day road trip that included the state of Nebraska and Kansas before vanishing. Authorities are now focused on determining where Melodee was during the three-day road trip and where she may be now. The sheriff’s office emphasized that in cases like this, every detail matters, and collaboration with federal partners is essential to bringing resolution to the case.