Search intensifies for missing 9-year-old California girl
The search for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard intensifies after she went missing last month during a road trip with her mother, Ashley, who police allege held a man captive and switched license plates on a rental car.
Ashlee Buzzard allegedly told a man that she left her missing 9-year-old daughter with a Utah couple that she had met at a zoo.
The man who accused Buzzard of holding him captive inside her home told NewsNation that she left her missing 9-year-old daughter, Melodee Buzzard, with a couple in Utah that she had met at a zoo.
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, an investigation into Melodee's whereabouts was opened on Oct. 14 after a school administrator reported a "prolonged" period of time when she wasn't seen at the school. Buzzard couldn't give deputies a verifiable explanation for her daughter's location.
Tyler Brewer, who said he's a court officer, said Buzzard told him information that she "appeared to regret disclosing," pulled out a box cutter and locked the doors to her home, ABC News reported. He said Buzzard "became visibly distressed after sharing information she appeared to regret disclosing" when she allegedly pulled out the box cutter and refused to let him leave.
Buzzard was charged with felony false imprisonment from the alleged Nov. 6 incident, but a judge dismissed that charge during a Nov. 20 court hearing.
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California mom Ashlee Buzzard has been uncooperative with investigators looking for her missing 9-year-old daughter, Melodee Buzzard. (KKFX/FBI)
Brewer, who visited Buzzard's home several times, said he wasn't sure if the information she gave him regarding Melodee's location was true. He said Buzzard began fake-crying when she was asked if Melodee was killed or trafficked.
"I don’t want to believe that she could have hurt Melodee at all, because I think that she does love Melodee in her own way, but the fact that she won’t give me a clear yes or no answer makes me extremely uncomfortable," Brewer said.
According to Brewer, Buzzard's cross-country trip she took with Melodee was done "at the instructions of individuals that she barely even knows."
Buzzard told Brewer that Melodee needed to be temporarily relocated because she was scheduled for an outpatient surgery, he told the outlet.
Melodee Buzzard, 9, remains missing after traveling with her mother Ashlee through multiple states before the car was returned to a rental agency. (KKFX)
"In her mind, it’s something that Melodee needs to be away from her for at least a month or two, an effort for Ashlee to do the surgeries, the medical care, and get back on her feet so she could take care of Melodee," Brewer said.
Investigators previously released surveillance video from a rental car location in Lompoc, California, showing Ashlee and Melodee Buzzard apparently both wearing wigs.
According to authorities, Buzzard left California with her 9-year-old daughter on Oct. 7 and traveled as far as Nebraska in a Chevrolet Malibu bearing a California license plate, with the return trip including Kansas.
Ashlee Buzzard, left, the mother of Melodee Buzzard, right, is seen in a surveillance image taken at a rental car business in Lompoc, Calif., on Oct. 7, 2025. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office)
On Oct. 8, the Malibu was seen with a New York license plate. Detectives said the New York plate doesn't belong to Buzzard, and they think it was used as a "false or switched plate to avoid detection." When the car was returned to the rental car agency in California, the original license plate was allegedly placed back on the car.
Detectives believe the Malibu traveled through several areas between California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada on or around Oct. 9.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office released a new image of Melodee Buzzard "captured at a local car rental business on October 7." (Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office )
"Somewhere along that route is where we know Ashlee was no longer with Melodee," Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Raquel Zick told KUTV.
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Investigators say Ashlee and Melodee Buzzard were on a road trip when the girl disappeared. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office)
Melodee is described by officials as 4-feet to 4-feet, 6-inches tall, 60 to 100 pounds, with brown curly hair and brown eyes.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Buzzard's attorney for comment.
Fox News Digital's Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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