Sheriff’s detectives turn to the public to locate missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard
VANDENBERG VILLAGE, Calif. (KEYT) – Sheriff's detectives have shared new details in their search for missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard.
On Friday, Oct. 17, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office shared that detectives confirmed Melodee was last seen in August of this year.
"Lompoc Unified School District deserves credit for recognizing that something wasn’t right, reaching out, and continuing to assist with this investigation," stated Lieutenant Chris Gotschall from the Sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division Friday. "This important update helps narrow a significant gap in the timeline of when she was last known to be seen and because of that, we’re closer to understanding what happened to Melodee."
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, Melodee's mother, Ashlee Buzzard, has been, "uncooperative with investigators" and detectives have not received any verified information about the 9-year-old's whereabouts outside of the local school district.
On Oct. 14, a school administrator reported that Melodee had been missing from school for some time and when deputies arrived at Melodee's mother's home in the 500 block of Mars Avenue in Vandenberg Village, the 9-year-old was not there and, "no clear explanation was provided for her whereabouts" stated a press release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office Wednesday.
Detectives had not been able to verify any recent sighting of Melodee earlier this week and the last verified contact with her was almost a year ago when deputies began to locate her and even the most recent photograph, the one used for this article, is about two years old detailed the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office told ABC's Alex Stone that Melodee was home schooled and had not checked in with the local school district.
It is not clear at this time if she is in any danger added the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Anyone who has seen Melodee or has had contact with her in the last year is asked to contact Sheriff's detectives at 805-681-4150.
You can share information about Melodee while remaining anonymous by calling 805-681-4171 or visiting here.
