More than two weeks after 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard vanished from her home in Lompoc, California, investigators say they are now piecing together a clearer — and increasingly troubling — timeline of her disappearance.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance footage Friday showing Melodee at a car rental business on Oct. 7, wearing a dark wig and gray hooded sweatshirt. The video, captured one week before she was reported missing, appears to show the little girl disguised, possibly to conceal her identity.
Detectives say the wig may have been used “to alter her appearance.” According to investigators, Ashlee rented a white Chevrolet Malibu with the license plate 9MNG101 that day. The pair then left California on what police describe as a three-day road trip to Nebraska.
But when Ashlee returned home on Oct. 10, Melodee was not in the car.
The sheriff’s office says the investigation began on Oct. 14, when the Lompoc Unified School District reported Melodee’s “extended absence.” When deputies later reached Ashlee, she allegedly offered “no verifiable explanation” for her daughter’s whereabouts.
Now, investigators are focused on retracing those missing three days — and determining where Melodee was, and where she might be now.
“Our detectives are following every lead in this case,” Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said in a statement. “We remain determined to bring her home safely.”
The case has only grown more alarming with each new detail. The sheriff’s office previously described Melodee as an “at-risk” child who hadn’t been seen publicly in nearly a year. Though her mother claimed to homeschool her, the California Department of Education told ABC News that there is no record of Ashlee filing the required annual affidavit to do so.
Melodee was first flagged as missing when she failed to pick up learning materials for her independent study program this fall. School officials reported the absence in August, but the case did not escalate until October, when investigators confirmed that no one — not teachers, doctors, or extended relatives — had seen or heard from the child in months.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Melodee’s relatives have accused Ashlee of cutting off contact with the family and struggling with untreated mental illness.
“Ashlee is mentally unstable,” said Melodee’s aunt, Vicky Shade. “My mom tried to get custody or at least visitation rights because [Ashlee] wasn’t letting our side of the family see her.”
Melodee’s father, Rubiell Meza, died in a motorcycle crash shortly after her birth. Since then, Shade said, the family’s efforts to stay connected have been blocked.
Melodee is described as 4 feet 6 inches tall, about 60 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
The FBI has joined the search alongside local investigators, who are urging anyone with information to come forward. Tips can be submitted by calling (805) 681-4150, the anonymous line at (805) 681-4171, or online through the sheriff’s office website.
