Melodee Buzzard, 9, was shot in head by mother Ashlee, cops say

The agonizing months-long search for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard has come to a heartbreaking conclusion, as the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said that her mother acted alone in the death of her daughter — shooting her child in the head.

The California girl’s body was discovered in Utah in early December, two months after she vanished during an impromptu mother-daughter road trip.

4

The chilling saga began in mid October, when the Lompoc Unified School District staff noticed that Melodee Buzzard, who was homeschooled, had been absent for a prolonged period of time.Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office

“Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend,” Santa Barbara County’s Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said on Tuesday.

Brown noted with disgust that the murder was premeditated, ruthless, calculated and heartless, saying that Melodee died from gunshot wounds to the head.

4

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said that her mother acted alone in the death of her daughterKSBY

“Melodee was last seen on video surveillance with Ashley on the Colorado side of the Colorado Utah border on Thursday, October 9,” officials said on Tuesday. “And detectives now believe that Melody was murdered shortly after that stop.”

4

Illustration of the route from Green River, Utah, to Lompoc, California, taken by Melodee Buzzard and her mother on October 9-10, 2025.Santa Barbara County Sheriffâs Office

Her mother was arrested Tuesday for murder and taken into custody without incident, booked for first degree murder where she is being held without bail.

Authorities confirmed that DNA testing was used to positively identify the remains, which were uncovered earlier this month in Utah — an area detectives said the mother and daughter traveled through during a bizarre, multi-state road trip in October.

The chilling saga began in mid October, when the Lompoc Unified School District staff noticed that the homeschooled girl had been absent for a prolonged period of time.

4

Melodee was last seen on camera with her mother on Oct. 9 near the Colorado-Utah border after the pair took a sudden road trip from their home in Lompoc, California.Santa Barbara County Sheriffâs Office

Detectives pieced together a timeline showing the mother and daughter departing on a sudden road trip on October 7. Surveillance footage captured at a Lompoc car rental agency that day showed both mother and daughter appearing to wear wigs — a detail that immediately raised concerns about efforts to evade detection.

During the trip, which spanned many states, investigators say the license plate on the rental car was temporarily switched to a different plate, further fueling suspicions of a cover-up.

https://nypost.com/2025/12/23/us-news/melodee-buzzard-9-was-shot-in-head-by-mother-ashlee-cops-say/