Sheriff’s Detectives arrested Ashlee Buzzard for felony false imprisonment; Missing daughter’s location remains unknown
VANDENBERG VILLAGE, Calif. (KEYT) – Ashlee Buzzard, the mother of still-missing nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard, was arrested Friday morning on charges unrelated to the search.
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, detectives learned that the 40-year-old had prevented a person from leaving a location against their will, which qualifies as false imprisonment.
Detectives arrested Ashlee on a felony charge of false imprisonment and she will be booked on the charge at the Northern Branch Jail with bail set at $100,000 shared the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
The search for Ashlee's daighter is still ongoing and anyone who has seen Melodee or has had contact with her 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.
Your News Channel covered the latest updates in the search for missing Melodee including a three-day trip from California to Utah in a rental car beginning on Oct. 7 of this year as well as sightings of the pair wearing and changing wigs and license plates during the trip.
"We are the oasis in the middle of nowhere. Right? You're coming from so far either way," shared Green River, Utah resident Rilee Pinneo when interviewed about spotting the 9-year-old and her mother during the three-day excursion. "It's just super like, suspicious, like. Why are you making her wear wigs? Why are you wearing wigs?"
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 on Oct. 17.
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.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office shared that Ashlee was, "uncooperative with investigators" and information about her whereabouts in the last year have come to light during a joint investigation alongside the FBI and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
