Mother of missing Melodee Buzzard released from custody with GPS monitor
The mother of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges unrelated to her daughter's disappearance – for allegedly falsely imprisoning a man.
Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was released from custody with a GPS monitor after being jailed since her Nov. 7 arrest by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department for false imprisonment.
The victim said he had been helping in the search for Melodee when Ashlee held him against his will.
"Although this arrest occurred during the course of the missing person investigation, it is not directly related to Melodee's disappearance," the sheriff's department wrote earlier in a news release.
Melodee's whereabouts remain unknown, with investigators saying that her mother, Ashlee, is not cooperating with the missing person investigation.
The Lompoc Unified School District first reported Melodee missing on Oct. 14. They said she had not been seen since August, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
The tale of the child's disappearance begins with Oct. 7 surveillance video, showing Melodee wearing a wig at a rental car lot with her mother, Ashlee, who was also wearing a wig. The two left their Lompoc, Calif. home in a rented 2024 white Chevy Malibu with the license plate 9MNG101, according to detectives.
Investigators believe Ashlee changed wigs throughout the road trip through Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Nebraska. At one point, the Malibu was observed with a New York license plate, HCG9677.
The last time Melodee was seen, according to the sheriff's department, was on Oct. 9 as security camera video caught the pair driving across the Colorado-Utah border in a 2024 white Chevrolet Malibu.
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.
Ashlee Buzzard is to appear in court for pretrial services on Nov. 13, with a hearing set for Nov. 19 and 20
