(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) — Ashlee Buzzard, the mom of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, has been taken into custody in connection with the investigation into her missing daughter, sources told ABC News.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that Melodee’s body was found in early December in Utah in an area where Melodee and Ashlee Buzzard traveled in October. Law enforcement believes Melodee was killed, and that she was likely dead in October, before she was known to be missing, sources said.
Ashlee Buzzard was taken into custody following DNA results from the recovered remains, sources said.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has not yet commented and only said it will share “major developments” in Melodee’s case at a news conference on Tuesday.
The investigation into Melodee’s disappearance was sparked on Oct. 14 when a school district administrator reported her “extended absence” to authorities, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities determined Melodee and Ashlee Buzzard left their Lompoc, California, home on Oct. 7 for a three-day road trip that took them to the Nebraska area, the sheriff’s office said.
Melodee was last seen alive on Oct. 9 near the Colorado-Utah border, according to authorities.
Ashlee Buzzard returned home to Lompoc on Oct. 10 with the car she and Melodee had rented on Oct. 7 — but Melodee was not with her, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities have claimed Ashlee Buzzard wore wigs and swapped license plates during the trip, and they said Ashlee Buzzard didn’t cooperate with the search for Melodee.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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