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

 

[GrandmaBear]

Does anyone know if the mother has/had a social media presence? I mean Ashlee's mom.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I wonder if they have any Native blood. I only wonder as the last name makes me think of that. It's also a thought as reservations are under their own tribal law.

I have no reason other than the name.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

I wonder if they have any Native blood. I only wonder as the last name makes me think of that. It's also a thought as reservations are under their own tribal law.

I have no reason other than the name.

Her race on her missing persons report is listed as Filipino.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Her race on her missing persons report is listed as Filipino.

Thank you. It was just a thought Were both parents Filipino I wonder. His name sounds more likely than hers. However, I don't know much about such.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Missing girl's sister reveals fight for custody before 9-year-old vanished

THE half-sister of a missing nine-year-old girl has laid bare the family’s pain and claims they fought for custody as her mom allegedly struggled with mental health problems. Melodee Buzzard …

www.the-sun.com

Missing Melodee Buzzard’s sister reveals desperate fight for custody of girl, 9, before she vanished on trip with mom​

THE half-sister of a missing nine-year-old girl has laid bare the family’s pain and claims they fought for custody as her mom allegedly struggled with mental health problems.


Now, Melodee’s half-sister, Corinna Meza, 31, has given an exclusive interview to The U.S. Sun about the search and family history with Ashlee.

She said, “It is being said that Melodee could be anywhere from here to Nebraska. It’s very heartbreaking.

“Nebraska is not close by, it’s like, where do we look, where do we go to try and find her?

“There are allegations or assumptions that she could have possibly been sold to a man.

“I do fear that she could possibly be with a stranger.

“It worries me because who is that person? Does Melodee know this person? Is she scared? All these things run through my mind.”

She explained, “Our whole family did try to get custody of Melodee.”

Corinna claims her uncle, Marvin Meza, became Melodee’s legal guardian for a short period back in 2020, but she was then placed with a friend of Ashlee’s before returning to her mother.

“My family was never told why she was taken from Ashelee’s care,” she said.

Corinna spoke to her uncle last week and claims he is “devastated” and desperately wants answers.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Marvin and local authorities for comment.

“I do hope that they do arrest her [Ashlee] soon because she has not opened up to anybody about the whereabouts of Melodee or if she’s okay,” Corinna said.

“So I do hope that they do bring her in for questioning, and I do hope, due to her mental health, that they do have a professional who can help her. And can get us the answers that we need.”

Corinna is the daughter of Melodee’s later father, Rubiell Meza, who died in 2016 in a motorcycle accident aged 40, when the little girl was just six months old.

She explained that Ashlee and Rubiell were not together when he died, but were still dating when she was born, sharing sweet photographs with The U.S. Sun of Melodee as a baby.

 

[Tresir]

Mum breaks cover. Six unmarked cop cars follow her.

Eerie picture of missing 9-year-old girl uncovered on web

The disappearance of a missing girl, 9, has taken a bizarre twist as her mother was spotted emerging from her home after refusing to answer the door for CPS or police.

www.dailymail.co.uk

California mom breaks cover while attempting to rent a vehicle as deadline to reveal whereabouts of missing 9-year-old looms​

127 comments​

+10

View gallery
23:05, 22 Oct 2025, updated 10:16, 23 Oct 2025By RUTH STYLES IN LOMPOC, CALIFORNIA and MARJORIE HERNANDEZ, US WEST COAST NEWS EDITOR
The 'uncooperative' mom of missing California girl Melodee Buzzard has been seen for the first time since police launched an investigation into her daughter's disappearance.
In a bizarre sequence of events, Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was seen repeatedly attempting to rent a car in Santa Maria – a town approximately 20 miles from her modest three-bedroom home in Lompoc, California.
Exclusive Daily Mail photos show how the mom of the 9-year-old was picked up by a friend in a black Lincoln sedan early on Wednesday morning and driven first to a branch of Budget and then an airport Avis location.
Buzzard, who is being pursued by the courts over a string of unpaid credit card debts, was denied a rental at both and eventually returned home.

A car containing social workers screeched up to the house moments after she arrived, according to neighbors, but Buzzard once again refused to answer the door.
Buzzard has repeatedly refused to answer questions about Melodee's whereabouts and has spent most of the past week holed up in her cream-painted cottage ignoring visits from Child Protective Services [CPS] and her daughter's extended family.
Adding to her troubles, a neighbor told the Daily Mail that Buzzard was handed a notice on Monday that gave her 72 hours to produce Melodee or reveal her whereabouts – or face arrest.
And in a sign that the clock is ticking down, Buzzard was shadowed by a fleet of six unmarked cop cars on her fruitless trip – one of which subsequently parked up on her quiet residential street while another was stationed nearby.

Continued at link.

 

[GrandmaBear]

There seem to be either a lot of assumptions here or they are not naming a source. How do they know she is paying her rent? How do they know she was given a 72 hour demand to produce the child? Among other things.

Seems odd she could rent a car a bit ago and now can't. Hopefully she was trying to do so so that she could go get the child she has been asked to produce but she also could have been intending to flee.

She is groomed and seems dressed nicely enough.

Her remark to the relative of why are you here now seems to hint at where were you when I could have used your help or something like that?

I'm hoping that she was worried about losing the child and that she is alive. She was seen so very recently.

Also how do they know the Lincoln was a friend and not a car service or Uber? They don't cite sources for most of these things.

One final thing is I don't know where they ever got that Melodee was with on the Nebraska trip. They must not have been watching too closely then as she would have had to leave the home with her (or picked up elsewhere) and been at the rental agency with her most likely. Or maybe they just couldn't intervene then?

 

[Tresir]

I didn't copy everything from the link. Did you read the whole article? I am wondering (hoping) if the girl went on a vacation, maybe mum needs a hire car to now pick her up. Ever hopeful. The 72 hours from Monday is up now so we should see action today IMO.

 

[Tresir]

How unusual is this? An FBI "MOST WANTED" poster for a 9 year old. Issue date 7th October. The file name includes "kidnap"

File name

://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/melodee-buzzard

Link

FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation

Official site of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Investigative priorities, news, the Most Wanted list, and how to submit a tip.

www.fbi.gov

 

[GrandmaBear]

I didn't copy everything from the link. Did you read the whole article? I am wondering (hoping) if the girl went on a vacation, maybe mum needs a hire car to now pick her up. Ever hopeful. The 72 hours from Monday is up now so we should see action today IMO.

Yeah, I read the links.

I'm hoping too. Unlike Daybell, this girl was seen very recently.

 

[GrandmaBear]

How unusual is this? An FBI "MOST WANTED" poster for a 9 year old. Issue date 7th October. The file name includes "kidnap"

File name

-MELODEE BUZZARD | Federal Bureau of Investigation-

Link

FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation

Official site of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Investigative priorities, news, the Most Wanted list, and how to submit a tip.

www.fbi.gov

the heading is kidnapped/missing. pretty sure custodial mom can't kidnap her. once she is ordered to produce her and doesn't, then it could be considered that i imagine.

 

[Tresir]

the heading is kidnapped/missing. pretty sure custodial mom can't kidnap her. once she is ordered to produce her and doesn't, then it could be considered that i imagine.

Have you ever seen that before (ie a fbi wanted/kidnap poster) with a missing child case? I don't think I have.

 

[Kimster]

Mum breaks cover. Six unmarked cop cars follow her.

Eerie picture of missing 9-year-old girl uncovered on web

The disappearance of a missing girl, 9, has taken a bizarre twist as her mother was spotted emerging from her home after refusing to answer the door for CPS or police.

www.dailymail.co.uk

California mom breaks cover while attempting to rent a vehicle as deadline to reveal whereabouts of missing 9-year-old looms​

127 comments​

+10

View gallery
23:05, 22 Oct 2025, updated 10:16, 23 Oct 2025By RUTH STYLES IN LOMPOC, CALIFORNIA and MARJORIE HERNANDEZ, US WEST COAST NEWS EDITOR
The 'uncooperative' mom of missing California girl Melodee Buzzard has been seen for the first time since police launched an investigation into her daughter's disappearance.
In a bizarre sequence of events, Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was seen repeatedly attempting to rent a car in Santa Maria – a town approximately 20 miles from her modest three-bedroom home in Lompoc, California.
Exclusive Daily Mail photos show how the mom of the 9-year-old was picked up by a friend in a black Lincoln sedan early on Wednesday morning and driven first to a branch of Budget and then an airport Avis location.
Buzzard, who is being pursued by the courts over a string of unpaid credit card debts, was denied a rental at both and eventually returned home.

A car containing social workers screeched up to the house moments after she arrived, according to neighbors, but Buzzard once again refused to answer the door.
Buzzard has repeatedly refused to answer questions about Melodee's whereabouts and has spent most of the past week holed up in her cream-painted cottage ignoring visits from Child Protective Services [CPS] and her daughter's extended family.
Adding to her troubles, a neighbor told the Daily Mail that Buzzard was handed a notice on Monday that gave her 72 hours to produce Melodee or reveal her whereabouts – or face arrest.
And in a sign that the clock is ticking down, Buzzard was shadowed by a fleet of six unmarked cop cars on her fruitless trip – one of which subsequently parked up on her quiet residential street while another was stationed nearby.

Continued at link.

She looks angry in these pictures. What does she have to be angry about? Where is her daughter? It’s not a hard question to answer!!!!!

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

How unusual is this? An FBI "MOST WANTED" poster for a 9 year old. Issue date 7th October. The file name includes "kidnap"

File name

://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/melodee-buzzard

Link

FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation

Official site of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Investigative priorities, news, the Most Wanted list, and how to submit a tip.

www.fbi.gov

Not unusual at all...

Kidnappings & Missing Persons | Federal Bureau of Investigation

Select the images to display more information.

www.fbi.gov

Stefanie Damron who has a thread here: STEFANIE DAMRON | Federal Bureau of Investigation
Dulce Alavez who has a thread here: DULCE MARIA ALAVEZ | Federal Bureau of Investigation
Lina Khil: LINA SARDAR KHIL | Federal Bureau of Investigation

All the same. And many more.

 

[Tresir]

Not unusual at all...

Kidnappings & Missing Persons | Federal Bureau of Investigation

Select the images to display more information.

www.fbi.gov

Stefanie Damron who has a thread here: STEFANIE DAMRON | Federal Bureau of Investigation
Dulce Alavez who has a thread here: DULCE MARIA ALAVEZ | Federal Bureau of Investigation
Lina Khil: LINA SARDAR KHIL | Federal Bureau of Investigation

All the same. And many more.

Yeah I have seem them but they don't mention "kidnap" on them, so I just wondered what is different about this case for them to specify that.

So is it just a generic heading and doesnt necessarily mean they have been kidnapped then?

These are the headings they seem to have -

• Most Wanted
• Ten Most Wanted
• Fugitives
• Terrorism
• Kidnappings / Missing Persons
• Seeking Information
• Bank Robbers
• ECAP
• ViCAP

​

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Yeah I have seem them but they don't mention "kidnap" on them, so I just wondered what is different about this case for them to specify that.

What do you mean they don't mention kidnap? It's the category of the section of the website: https://www. fbi.gov/wanted/ kidnap
Every single case on that main page says "kidnap" in it.

(links are funky cause I broke them up.)
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/stefanie-damron
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/dulce-maria-alavez
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/lina-sardar-khil
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/sebastian-wayne-drake-rogers

 

[Tresir]

What do you mean they don't mention kidnap? It's the category of the section of the website: https://www. fbi.gov/wanted/ kidnap
Every single case on that main page says "kidnap" in it.

(links are funky cause I broke them up.)
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/stefanie-damron
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/dulce-maria-alavez
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/lina-sardar-khil
https://www.fbi. gov/wanted/ kidnap/sebastian-wayne-drake-rogers

Kidnap is not mentioned anywhere in the poster itself. It's just in the file name. That's why i am querying if she is considered kidnapped or is just missing.

 

[Guess Who]

Kidnap is not mentioned anywhere in the poster itself. It's just in the file name. That's why i am querying if she is considered kidnapped or is just missing.

Which is exactly how all if them are. It's not mentioned anywhere in hers , either.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Kidnap is not mentioned anywhere in the poster itself. It's just in the file name. That's why i am querying if she is considered kidnapped or is just missing.

I admit I only skimmed it but the only place I saw it was on the kidnapping/missing tab. I don't think she can be considered kidnapped at this point.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Kidnap is not mentioned anywhere in the poster itself. It's just in the file name. That's why i am querying if she is considered kidnapped or is just missing.

They don't specify that. On any of the posters. The category is called "Kidnappings & Missing Persons". All together. Even for suspected kidnappings like Dulce, Asha Degree, and known abductions and family abductions.