Family of Melodee Buzzard asks for help finding the missing girl

As the authorities release new surveillance video of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, the girl's paternal aunt pleaded with the public to help bring her niece home. 

"We don't know if she's safe, we don't know where she's at," aunt Lizabeth Meza said. 

Melodee was first reported missing by staff from the Lompoc Unified School District on Oct. 14. They said she had not been seen since August, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies released surveillance video from Oct. 7 showing Melodee Buzzard wearing a wig at a rental car lot with her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, who was also wearing a wig. Detectives said Ashlee then left California with Melodee in a rented 2024 white Chevy Malibu with the license plate 9MNG101. 

Investigators believe Ashlee swapped wigs throughout the road trip, including one similar to the one her daughter was wearing in the security camera video. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said that a day into the long drive, the Malibu was observed with a New York license plate, HCG9677.

They believe the pair traveled as far as Nebraska before driving back to California. 

Detectives also found another security camera video that shows the pair driving through the Colorado-Utah border on Oct. 9 in a 2024 white Chevrolet Malibu. This is the last time Melodee was seen, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff. 

Investigators believe the same Malibu passed through the following regions:

• Green River, Utah
• Panguitch, Utah
• Northwest Arizona
• Primm, Nevada
• Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff released a map detailing the route Ashlee and Melodee Buzzard took from Utah to their home in Lompoc, Calif., which is 60 miles northwest of Santa Barbara.

The Chevy Malibu had the original California license plates when it was returned to the rental car dealer, according to the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office. 

"This whole situation has been like playing a game of Jumanji," Meza said. "Every day you roll the dice and it's a whole different story."

Deputies said Ashlee has been uncooperative with their investigation. 

Meza hopes Melodee will be located and returned to her family. 

"She should be playing outside with kids," Meza said. "She should be interacting with her cousins and her aunts, and her grandma, and her sister, not hiding somewhere in a wig. I mean, it's heartbreaking."

Since the child's disappearance, deputies have served several search warrants at the family's home, a storage locker and a rental car. The FBI has also been assisting deputies. 

Detectives urged anyone with information on Melodee's disappearance to call the Sheriff's Office at (805) 681-4150. Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact the tip line at (805) 681-4171 or visit the Sheriff's website at sbsheriff.org/home/anonymous-tip/.

Video or image files can be sent to the FBI through their website, http://www.fbi.gov/missingmelodeebuzzard