"Footage captured at a car rental business on Oct. 7 shows Melodee wearing a hooded sweatshirt and what appears to be a wig. Detectives say the wig is darker and straighter than her natural hair. "Investigators believe the wig may have been used to alter her appearance," the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "Detectives also note that Ashlee is known to wear wigs.""
"Melodee was first reported missing from her home near Lompoc on Oct. 14, after a school official in Santa Barbara County noticed that Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, had not checked in again after registering for a study program. Detectives soon announced that Ashlee Buzzard was being "uncooperative" in the investigation, as the FBI joined the search. On Oct. 15, investigators executed a warrant on Ashlee Buzzard's Lompoc-area home but did not find Melodee, and they noted that Ashlee remained uncooperative."
"Ashlee Buzzard is in the midst of several civil cases with creditors who allege Buzzard had unpaid debts, court records previously reviewed by SFGATE reveal. A photo shared by authorities of Melodee was taken in 2023. A Google Street View image of her address, taken in 2023, also appears to show Melodee on the residential home's doorstep."
Melodee Buzzard, 9, left Lompoc with her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, on Oct. 7 in a rented Chevrolet Malibu (plate 9MNG101) and the trip reached Nebraska. Surveillance on Oct. 7 shows Melodee wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a darker, straighter wig investigators believe may have been used to alter her appearance. Melodee was reported missing on Oct. 14 after a Santa Barbara County school official noticed she and her mother did not check in for a study program, and detectives say Ashlee was uncooperative. Investigators executed a warrant at the Lompoc-area home on Oct. 15 without finding Melodee; Ashlee returned to the Vandenberg Village home on Oct. 10 without the child.
Read at SFGATE
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