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

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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
 
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Tresir said:
Did they court order them to produce the kids in Daybell? I can't remember the exact procedure. I know they extradited Lori from Hawaii and she was in jail but Chad was free until they actually found the remains.
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Yes.
Chad was not their legal guardian, so he wouldn't have been ordered to produce them.

abcnews.go.com

Mother does not bring 2 missing Idaho children to police by deadline

Lori Vallow had to physically produce her two missing children by Thursday.
abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com
The mother of two missing children failed to bring the kids to authorities in Idaho by the court-ordered deadline on Thursday.

abc7.com

Lori Vallow, mom of 2 missing Idaho children, arrested in Hawaii

The mother of two Idaho children missing since September was arrested Thursday in Hawaii.
abc7.com abc7.com
Vallow failed to comply with a court order to produce her children before authorities on Jan. 30 in Madison County, authorities have said.
 
Tresir said:
Yeah but they originally wrongly reported it not realising/knowing she was being home schooled for some reason. The school didn't report her on the 7th Oct did they?
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The school knew about the home schooling but they didn't "check in" as they should have with the school. Yes, they were the ones who called it in.

I can only guess that the school called as they had had no contact (didn't mean no one else had seen her) and LE probably went out for a welfare check, then didn't see her and were not satisfied with the mom's not clear answer as to her whereabouts and that's how it all came to be.
 
Tresir said:
Did they court order them to produce the kids in Daybell? I can't remember the exact procedure. I know they extradited Lori from Hawaii and she was in jail but Chad was free until they actually found the remains.
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It took some time before they exercised that way of doing things. If I recall, they had to look into the laws to see if they could find a charge that would apply to someone failing to produce their children. It is anyone's guess whether CA has a law they can use to do the same.
 
Short interview with Grandma plus short video of a younger Melodee.

The grandma says something a little worrying ie that the last time she visited the house it was a mess with rotting food laying around and she was worried her daughter was feeding it to her granddaughter. WTH ??????

(NB click on the "watch on youtube" to view.)

 
Tresir said:
Ok thanks. No court order to produce her yet then.

I wonder if she is getting social security benefits for her, like Lori was?
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I can’t imagine why she wouldn’t be because I know Social Security has a benefit program for children who have lost their parent.
 
Kimster said:
I can’t imagine why she wouldn’t be because I know Social Security has a benefit program for children who have lost their parent.
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Has she lost a parent? Sorry I must not be up to date on this.

ETA forgive my memory brainfart. I do remember reading this now, from upthread.

"Melodee’s father, Rolando Rubiell “Pinoy” Meza, died in 2016 in a motorcycle crash in Santa Maria, leaving Melodee in her mother’s care."
 
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www.ksby.com

CPS, sheriff's deputies making repeated visits to missing Vandenberg Village girl's home

Authorities are not giving up making contact with Ashlee Buzzard, the mother of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard.
www.ksby.com www.ksby.com

CPS, sheriff's deputies making repeated visits to missing Vandenberg Village girl's home​

Tuesday marks one week since Melodee Buzzard was first reported missing. Authorities are not giving up making contact with Ashlee Buzzard, the 9-year-old’s mother. CPS and sheriff’s deputies have been to her door in Vandenberg Village repeatedly this week, but Ashlee has not answered the door.

Private investigator Bill Garcia says during his career, he hasn’t seen CPS arriving at a parent or guardian’s home very often as part of a missing person investigation.

“I've only seen that occur maybe two or three times in my 34 years, so that's not, that's not that common, but every county has a little bit different twist on how they handle things,” Garcia said.

“There's a number of reasons why child welfare may report to a home to assess safety of children and a number of reasons why law enforcement may also be present. Again, there's typically collaboration on cases when necessary, but I can't say any specific reason,” said Amy Krueger, Santa Barbara County's Assistant Director of Adult and Children Services.

The search for Melodee now extends to Nebraska and was sparked on Oct. 14 when school administrators reported her prolonged absence from an independent studies program.

Investigators say while the home has been searched, Ashlee has been uncooperative.

With the FBI now assisting, Garcia says that allows authorities to gain faster access to cell phone data, vehicle tracking and interstate records.

“It allows the FBI to come in and do forensics on the electronics that I mentioned earlier and they have a much quicker turnaround than local law enforcement, who doesn't deal with that quite as quickly or as often,” Garcia said.


Authorities are continuing to treat this as an urgent case. Anyone with any information that could help locate Melodee Buzzard is asked to contact law enforcement right away.
 
I'm not so sure the FBI could do much without warrants or can they? I just don't see that there is enough cause but maybe I'm wrong.

I suspect LE is constantly going to try to make contact at the home so they can establish cause and a record of attempts to ascertain from the mother the child's whereabouts which would them help with a case, warrants, etc. if they can show repeatedly and for a length of time she has not given up Melodee's whereabouts. It was some time before Lori was served in the Daybell case with something they could then arrest her on when she disobeyed a court order.

I'm thinking at the outset they may have had a warrant to search the home as at that point, things pointed to her being missing for what was it, a year?
 
SheWhoMustNotBeNamed said:
www.ksby.com

CPS, sheriff's deputies making repeated visits to missing Vandenberg Village girl's home

Authorities are not giving up making contact with Ashlee Buzzard, the mother of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard.
www.ksby.com www.ksby.com

CPS, sheriff's deputies making repeated visits to missing Vandenberg Village girl's home​

Tuesday marks one week since Melodee Buzzard was first reported missing. Authorities are not giving up making contact with Ashlee Buzzard, the 9-year-old’s mother. CPS and sheriff’s deputies have been to her door in Vandenberg Village repeatedly this week, but Ashlee has not answered the door.

Private investigator Bill Garcia says during his career, he hasn’t seen CPS arriving at a parent or guardian’s home very often as part of a missing person investigation.

“I've only seen that occur maybe two or three times in my 34 years, so that's not, that's not that common, but every county has a little bit different twist on how they handle things,” Garcia said.

“There's a number of reasons why child welfare may report to a home to assess safety of children and a number of reasons why law enforcement may also be present. Again, there's typically collaboration on cases when necessary, but I can't say any specific reason,” said Amy Krueger, Santa Barbara County's Assistant Director of Adult and Children Services.

The search for Melodee now extends to Nebraska and was sparked on Oct. 14 when school administrators reported her prolonged absence from an independent studies program.

Investigators say while the home has been searched, Ashlee has been uncooperative.

With the FBI now assisting, Garcia says that allows authorities to gain faster access to cell phone data, vehicle tracking and interstate records.

“It allows the FBI to come in and do forensics on the electronics that I mentioned earlier and they have a much quicker turnaround than local law enforcement, who doesn't deal with that quite as quickly or as often,” Garcia said.


Authorities are continuing to treat this as an urgent case. Anyone with any information that could help locate Melodee Buzzard is asked to contact law enforcement right away.
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It's astounding to me that this woman won't say anything. What did she do when they searched her home? Stand there with her hand on her hips and her mouth pursed?
 
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At first they said no clear explanation or something like that. Now she is just not answering the door so I imagine saying nothing at all. Doubtful the in between was much different.

But yeah, she seems silent as compared to Lori who gave them fake stories that never checked out.

Lol yeah, the hands on hips and lips pursed I can imagine too.
 

Mother of missing California girl traveled with her out of state, returned without her​

The mother of a 9-year-old girl who was reported missing earlier this month after she had not been seen in more than a year traveled with her daughter out of state days before the investigation was launched but returned home without her.

On Wednesday, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office released new details about the disappearance of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, who was reported missing earlier this month after school administrators noticed they hadn’t heard from her in over a year.


The Sheriff’s Office says Ashlee Buzzard rented a car and took her daughter on a road trip, potentially going as far east as Nebraska. But days later, only Ashlee returned to their home in Vandenberg Village in northern Santa Barbara County.

The rental vehicle they were traveling in, which has since been returned, was identified as a white Chevrolet Malibu with the license plate number 9MNG101.

The investigation into her disappearance was formally launched on Oct. 14, and detectives served a search warrant at their home and surrounding areas the following day. The FBI was also looped into the investigation last week, officials said.

Throughout the search and quest for answers, detectives say Ashlee Buzzard has not cooperated with the investigation as her daughter remains an “at-risk” missing person.


That photo, the most recent known image of her, was taken around two years ago, and Melodee’s appearance may have changed in the years since, officials said.

“We are hopeful that Melodee might be with someone – perhaps an extended family member or friend – who may not be aware of the circumstances of her disappearance,” Brown said in a news release Wednesday.
 
So did the car go to Nebraska or just travelled the amount of miles that could have reached Nebraska? Do they have traffic cam data or GPS data from the hire car? Does the family have friends or extended family in Nebraska?

Hopefully now the FBI are involved, perhaps they can find more info.
 
I remember a case a while ago where a woman was mentally ill and left her child on the side of the road because she thought that was the best care for her for whatever reason. I am hoping this one left Melodee alive somewhere, we just need to find out where!!!!
 
Tresir said:
So did the car go to Nebraska or just travelled the amount of miles that could have reached Nebraska? Do they have traffic cam data or GPS data from the hire car? Does the family have friends or extended family in Nebraska?

Hopefully now the FBI are involved, perhaps they can find more info.
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I'd say they know she was in Nebraska. They can't just match up miles imo, that could be to various places. It was said she has relatives in OH but her mom knew of no one in Nebraska. Additionally they seem to know Melodee was with her on the way but not on the way back. Miles wouldn't tell them that so they have more than that imo.

Interesting they say the investigation did not launch until the 14th, I thought it launched a week earlier.

Maybe if they knew she had dropped her somewhere on that trip, although they don't know where, that would have been enough for a warrant as it sounds like it was after that that they searched the home.
 
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