A California mother has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder after her nine-year-old daughter was found dead in a rural area of Utah, following a search that began when the child was reported missing in October.
Ashlee Buzzard was taken into custody on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, in Santa Barbara County, California, in connection with the death of her daughter Melodee Buzzard. Sheriff Bill Brown announced the arrest following extensive forensic analysis that linked the mother to the crime scene.
The girl was shot in the head, and her decomposed body was discovered on December 6 in Wayne County, Utah, by a man and woman who were taking photographs in the remote area. The discovery came after Melodee was last seen alive on October 9 near the Colorado-Utah border during what authorities described as a cross-country road trip with her mother.
The FBI crime lab established a DNA link between the remains found in Utah and the familial DNA of Ashlee Buzzard, providing crucial evidence in the investigation. Forensic examination also revealed that a shell casing recovered from the Buzzard home matched evidence found at the scene in Utah. Similar live rounds were discovered in Ashlee’s car, though the murder weapon has not been recovered.
The investigation began on October 14 when a school administrator in Lompoc, California, reported Melodee’s extended absence to authorities. Investigators determined that Ashlee and Melodee left their Lompoc home on October 7 for a three-day road trip to the Nebraska area. Ashlee returned home on October 10 without her daughter.
During the trip, authorities say Ashlee wore wigs and swapped license plates, actions that investigators view as deliberate attempts to avoid detection. Sheriff Brown addressed these efforts at a news conference, stating that cold-blooded premeditation went into the crime.
Ashlee Buzzard is not cooperating with authorities, officials confirmed. Investigators believe she appears to have acted alone in the crime. Despite extensive evidence collection, a motive has not been determined.
The case has drawn attention to the rare phenomenon of maternal filicide. At the news conference, Brown acknowledged the difficulty in comprehending such crimes, noting the unusual nature of mothers killing their children.
Ashlee Buzzard has been booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on first-degree murder charges. She is being held on no bail status, and no court date has been set for her initial appearance.
The timeline of events reveals a pattern that raised suspicions early in the investigation. The family left their California home on October 7, with Melodee last seen alive on October 9 near the state border. Ashlee had returned home alone on October 10, yet the child’s absence was not officially reported to law enforcement until October 14 when school officials intervened.
The discovery of Melodee’s body came on December 6 in Wayne County, Utah. The FBI crime lab had to rely on forensic evidence and DNA analysis to confirm the child’s identity due to the advanced state of decomposition.
Law enforcement officials have described the evidence against Ashlee Buzzard as significant. The matching of ballistic evidence from multiple locations—the family home, the defendant’s vehicle, and the Utah crime scene—provided investigators with a forensic trail linking the mother to her daughter’s death.
The geographic scope of the case spans multiple states. The journey from Lompoc, California, to the Nebraska area and ultimately to the Utah location where Melodee’s body was found required coordination between law enforcement agencies in California, Utah, Nebraska, and Colorado.
The use of disguises and false license plates during the trip suggests a level of planning that investigators found particularly troubling. These actions, combined with the ballistic evidence and the defendant’s refusal to cooperate with authorities, form the basis of what prosecutors will likely argue was a premeditated crime.
The case highlights the critical role school officials can play in identifying children at risk. The administrator’s report of extended absence triggered the investigation that ultimately led to the discovery of Melodee’s death and her mother’s arrest.
As the case moves forward through the criminal justice system, prosecutors will face the challenge of presenting evidence of motive to a jury. Without the murder weapon and with the defendant’s refusal to cooperate, establishing why this alleged crime occurred may prove difficult, even as the forensic evidence appears to answer questions about what happened and who was responsible.
The investigation involved multiple agencies working across state lines, including local sheriff’s offices in California and Utah, as well as the FBI crime lab, which provided crucial DNA analysis. The collaborative effort demonstrates the complexity of modern criminal investigations that span multiple jurisdictions and require sophisticated forensic techniques to solve.
