Buzzard Family Faces Heartbreak: Tragic Discovery of Melodee

Officials have identified the body found in rural Wayne County, Utah, as 9‑year‑old Melodee Buzzard; her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, was arrested in Lompoc on a first‑degree murder charge after investigators linked evidence from the Utah scene to the family home.

What Happened in the Buzzard case

Melodee Elani Buzzard, reported missing from the Lompoc area in October, was found deceased on Dec. 6 in a remote area near Utah State Route 24; the remains showed gunshot wounds to the head. A couple taking photographs discovered the body and alerted Wayne County authorities, who in turn notified Santa Barbara County investigators.

Ashlee Buzzard, Melodee’s mother, was arrested at her home on the 500 block of Mars Avenue in Vanderberg Village on the morning of Dec. 23. She was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in Melodee’s murder. In a statement obtained by SFGate, the county’s sheriff, Bill Brown, said the case is “particularly shocking,” because of the alleged “calculated, cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it and the ruthlessness that went into actually committing the crime.”

Background on the Buzzard family

Melodee was a 9‑year‑old child from Santa Barbara County. Authorities say Ashlee Buzzard traveled in a rental car across several states in October and was captured on surveillance with Melodee on Oct. 9 near the Colorado‑Utah border; detectives believe the child was killed shortly after that stop. Investigators have not publicly established a motive and have described the case as a maternal filicide.

Detectives connected the evidence found at the Utah crime scene to a cartridge case found at Ashlee Buzzard’s home. On Monday, Dec. 22, an FBI crime lab found the remains discovered in Utah matched the DNA to Ashlee Buzzard. Melodee was reported missing on Oct. 14, and tragically, her remains were found nearly two months later on Dec. 6.

Unanswered Question in the Buzzard Case

The law enforcement agencies involved include the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office (Utah), and federal partners, including the FBI. Buzzard is charged with first-degree murder in Melodee’s death. Key unknowns include the motive, the location of the weapon, and the full sequence of events between Oct. 9 and Dec.6.

A young girl’s life was cut brutally and tragically short, and it begs the question: How could a person, especially a mother, kill her own child? Of course, any crime, any death, regardless of who the victims or the perpetrator is, is sad in and of itself. However, in general, it’s hard to imagine that parents would commit a brutal act of violence against their children.

In a statement from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Bill Brown said, “The loss of Melodee Buzzard is heartbreaking. We hoped against hope that she would be found alive. This outcome is devastating.”

Melodee’s paternal grandmother, Lilly Denes, spoke publicly about the case obtained by The Independent. She said, “When I met her nine or 10 years ago, she was not like this. I don’t know what happened. . “When my son brought her to the house, she was really quiet and just looking at me from head to toe. I told my son, “Mijo, Is this lady, is this girl okay? … She’s just staring.”

Denes added that her son, Rubiell Meza, who died in a motorcycle accident when Melodee was still an infant, replied, “‘Mom, because she’s shy.’” The case is moving through the Santa Barbara County Court system with ongoing discovery and hearings. Ashlee remains in custody without bail. She faces a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.