CA MELODEE BUZZARD: Missing from Vandenberg Village, CA - 9 Oct 2025 - Age 9 *Found Deceased*

https://ktla.com/news/california/california-authorities-launch-search-for-girl-who-hasnt-been-seen-in-at-least-1-year/

California authorities launch search for girl who hasn’t been seen in at least 1 year​

Authorities in Santa Barbara County launched a search for a 9-year-old girl who has not been seen in a year, and who has not been seen in a photograph in two.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office began searching for Melodee Buzzard on Tuesday after a school administrator reported she hadn’t been at school in quite some time.

Deputies attempted to contact Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, at their home in Lompoc, but the elementary school student was not there, and “no clear explanation was provided for her whereabouts.”

Although the missing persons case is only one-day-old, detectives have been unable to confirm a single recent sighting in about a year. The most recent photograph they were able to locate was taken at least two years ago, officials said.

The Sheriff’s Office is urging anyone with information about Melodee, potential sightings or contact in the past year, to come forward.

“Even small details may be critical in helping investigators ensure her safety,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in a news release.


Media - MELODEE BUZZARD: Missing from Vandenberg Village, CA - 2024 - Age 9

 

[Guess Who]

I don't think so. We don't have anything like that here that I can think of. Maybe the DMV but she'd need the NY DMV office lol.

I guess maybe at a salvage yard if some old beater came in with plates or something from a wreck still had plates but she doesn't dress like she is going to work at a salvage yard. They are typically male employees with maybe one female office person IF there is a real office. For a female to work the yard, they'd have to know about cars, parts and getting parts off, etc.

She either stole it imo off of a car OR she had one from a car she used to own and she formerly lived in NY.

That's doubtful since the child's dad died how long ago and was apparently from the area as is his family so she hasn't lived in NY at least in the last ten years most likely. And probably never has.

She stole them or had someone else steal them for her.

NY by the way requires two plates.

She even could have gotten it from any parking lot where she stopped or stayed. I've had mine stolen from work before.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Oh and so does CA. 29 states require a front plate as well. 19 don't. So they must be talking the continental 48 states. (looked it up)

So she had TWO plates or stole TWO plates. Most likely. If she took them off someone's car, she'd need the time to remove front and back without getting caught then.

 

[GrandmaBear]

You know, a car rental agency could have a car with NY plates on it. She wasn't issued such as she would not have had CA plates to put back on it though. I wonder if she could have taken them from there however...

 

[RoundPeg]

I doubt she would have any legit reason to have NY plates. Most people that transport cars just put them on trailers. That way, they can drop them off and drive away.

As far as new cars, there are lots of larger dealerships with several locations. If you request a courtesy move to test drive it, an employee usually delivers it and drives something back to the other lot or just waits on you to look at it.

 

[Guess Who]

Since the tags did not bring to that car, there is no legit way she acquired them.

 

[GrandmaBear]

So to reply to your reply @Tresir I looked it up earlier and a car rental agency can license anywhere it said and many try to do it in states without as many restrictions or lower costs so that was interesting If LE wasn't sure she had NY plates and put CA back on, I'd guess he just got given a rental car with NY plates...

 

[GrandmaBear]

Since the tags did not bring to that car, there is no legit way she acquired them.

Acquiring is not illegal if she did not steal them, the illegal act is putting them on the wrong vehicle.

 

[Guess Who]

Acquiring is not illegal if she did not steal them, the illegal act is putting them on the wrong vehicle.

Yes it is.

 

[Guess Who]

It's definitely illegal to acquire them if she did not have the permission of the owner of the plates. Otherwise, the owner of the plates can be charged for allowing her to use them on a car that didn't beling to the owner of the plates.

 

[GrandmaBear]

It's definitely illegal to acquire them if she did not have the permission of the owner of the plates. Otherwise, the owner of the plates can be charged for allowing her to use them on a car that didn't beling to the owner of the plates.

Right, IF she did not have permission of the owner. If they are hers or she was given them, there is no illegal act in acquiring them. It is the use on the wrong vehicle that is illegal.

 

[Tresir]

One of our differences I guess country to country. Maybe it varies in some other states but I doubt it. I don't see any reason new from factory to dealership anyone would want them driven if avoidable. It keeps them new with no mileage on them at all.

There is a saying here that when you drive a new car off the lot, it immediately drops a lot in value. Meaning you put a mile on it, and the value goes down immensely. The same I'm sure would hold true if the dealer had miles on it before it even arrived.

That's one reason people buy the new delivery miles only cars. They know they are new and they are usually cheaper so you don't have that loss immediately. Its very common here.

 

[Tresir]

Right, IF she did not have permission of the owner. If they are hers or she was given them, there is no illegal act in acquiring them. It is the use on the wrong vehicle that is illegal.

What if the vehicle was only for CA and neighbouring states use so the rental agency gave her the plates to use? We don't know it was illegal use at all. If it was wouldn't she have been charged?

 

[Tresir]

I guess if she hired the car and told them she was driving a long way would she need a different plate to drive and be insured in other states? I don't know your laws there. Here we are licensed and taxed for the whole of the UK and can drive abroad too with the same plates and tax.

 

[Guess Who]

What if the vehicle was only for CA and neighbouring states use so the rental agency gave her the plates to use? We don't know it was illegal use at all. If it was wouldn't she have been charged?

That's not how it works here. A vehicle can only have one set of legal plates for the state the vehicle is registered to. There is no legal way she had those my tags on it. If so, she wouldn't have changed them back to the legal, registered tags.

 

[Guess Who]

I guess if she hired the car and told them she was driving a long way would she need a different plate to drive and be insured in other states? I don't know your laws there. Here we are licensed and taxed for the whole of the UK and can drive abroad too with the same plates and tax.

No

 

[Guess Who]

Small Utah town becomes unexpected focal point in search for missing California girl

The small town of Green River, Utah, became an unexpected focal point in the search for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, a California girl who’s been missing for abo

kutv.com

GREEN RIVER, Utah (KUTV) — The small town of Green River, Utah, became an unexpected focal point in the search for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, a California girl who’s been missing for about a month.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Green River is one of five key locations where Melodee was last seen, and federal investigators have been combing through surveillance footage and tips from the area.
Residents said the case has shaken their normally quiet community of fewer than 1,000 people, which sits just off Interstate 70 — a main route between Colorado and Utah.

• 
  

  topics:​

• Melodee Buzzard
• Green River
• Missing girl
• Santa Barbara
• Investigation
• Utah
• Surveillance
• Interstate 70

GREEN RIVER, Utah (KUTV) — The small town of Green River, Utah, became an unexpected focal point in the search for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, a California girl who’s been missing for about a month.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Green River is one of five key locations where Melodee was last seen, and federal investigators have been combing through surveillance footage and tips from the area.
Residents said the case has shaken their normally quiet community of fewer than 1,000 people, which sits just off Interstate 70 — a main route between Colorado and Utah.

MORE | Missing Girl Last Seen In Utah:​

• Residents in small Southern Utah towns talk about interactions with mom of missing girl
• 9-year-old from California missing nearly one month, last seen along Utah/Colorado border
• Mystery deepens in search for missing 9-year-old after shocking license plate twist

“Somewhere along that route is where we know Ashlee was no longer with Melodee,” said Raquel Zick, Public Information Officer with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation. "We have a confirmed sighting of Melodee and Ashlee on October 9th, which is going to be on the return trip — and that would’ve been on the Colorado side of the Colorado–Utah border."
That was the last time Melodee was seen before her mother took what investigators described as an unusual route back to California, passing through several areas not originally part of the trip.
“Through this whole process, we’ve been kind of honing down a timeline as well as a search area, which we now have down to one day and just these handful of states that we are trying to find where Melodee was,” Zick said.
Zick declined to elaborate on all the investigative tools used but confirmed that the route extended as far east as Nebraska and, on the return trip, “dipped into Kansas” before crossing back through Utah.
“We’re the oasis in the middle of nowhere. You’re coming from so far from either way,” said Rilee Pinneo, a longtime Green River resident and expecting mother. “It’s just super suspicious — like why are you making her wear wigs, why are you wearing wigs, why are you changing your license plate — but then you come back and you’re not willing to talk about it or your daughter or anything.”
Pinneo said Green River’s gas stations are often busy stops for travelers passing through.
“A lot of people definitely stop at the Love’s because they’ve got two gas stations right there,” she said. “Easy get in and get out, right back on the highway.”
An employee at the Love’s Travel Stop confirmed that the FBI requested surveillance footage in connection with a case involving a missing California girl, but investigators did not provide a name. The employee said such a request was unusual and had never happened before.
That timeline aligns with information released by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, which identified Green River as a possible location where Melodee and her mother were seen about a month ago.
“I’m sure if they noticed a little girl, she would be brought in right away, taken care of,” Pinneo added. “She would definitely be looked after.”
Other nearby businesses said they have not been contacted by the FBI about surveillance footage.
Authorities have not released details about why Green River is a focus in the investigation, but police said they continue to follow leads across multiple states. The young girl was last confirmed to be seen near the Colorado and Utah border.
“It’s not your run-of-the-mill missing persons case,” Zick said, noting that the investigation remains complex and multi-state.
Zick added that the Sheriff’s Office is continuing to receive a large number of tips and is working through each one.
Anyone with information about Melodee Buzzard’s whereabouts is urged to contact local law enforcement or the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

 

[GrandmaBear]

What if the vehicle was only for CA and neighbouring states use so the rental agency gave her the plates to use? We don't know it was illegal use at all. If it was wouldn't she have been charged?

I think a rental agency can have any plate stay on for all states from what I read. Just as I can drive my car registered in my state to any state in this country. I can also take it to Mexico, Canada, etc.

I'm thinking more along the lines of she may have taken it off a car at the rental agency/stole it.

As far as charging her for it, they probably want her to cooperate OR hope she will lead them to Melodee so they wouldn't probably bother to charge at this point. She'd then have a lawyer and any chance of that would be over. Also if they don't have video of her changing the plate, well she could claim not to be the one who did it--unbelievable I know but she could try...

 

[GrandmaBear]

I guess if she hired the car and told them she was driving a long way would she need a different plate to drive and be insured in other states? I don't know your laws there. Here we are licensed and taxed for the whole of the UK and can drive abroad too with the same plates and tax.

No. It carries into every state. I insure and register here and can drive my car in any state and if an accident, that insurance I have is in force anywhere.

 

[GrandmaBear]

So I read the above a few times and tried to hone in. I think they are being very strategic about what they release to the public. Jmo.

Anyhow they are looking at/honing in on five key locations and Green River is one of them. Love's Travel Stop was asked for video, other businesses were not. I'd guess they have GPS info and celatl phone data by now. Although it can take months for full retrieval of things like texts, searches and other deleted things, they probably have the basic info as to where she stopped and for how long.

IF you hit the link in that article that talks about residents talking, it says another person believes she saw Ashlee at her gas station mart in Panguitch, UT. No mention of Melodee.

Nothing is said re Green River as to whether Melodee was with her either, nor in Panguitch.

Of interest in that other link is that Panguitch employee said the FBI told her they had tracked her phone to that area so they are using her phone for info...

 

[GrandmaBear]

Google says Green River to Panguitch is 200 miles, 3 hours. Panguitch is further west so she was there AFTER Green River IF the employee's sighting is true. Here, I will link that one.

Residents in small Southern Utah towns talk about interactions with mom of missing girl

A gas station and mini mart employee believes she saw Ashlee Buzzard stop at her store in October. The FBI is currently retracing the steps of Buzzard and her m

kutv.com