Sheriff to announce ‘major developments’ in search of missing Lompoc girl

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department plans to announce “major developments” Tuesday in the search for a missing 9-year-old Lompoc girl who disappeared in October.

In a post on X, the sheriff’s department said it will provide details at a 2 p.m. news conference. Details about the announcement were not immediately available.

The sheriff’s department began investigating the case Oct. 14 after a school administrator reported Melodee had not been seen at school for several days. Detectives said Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, left California Oct. 7 in a white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu with license plate license plate 9MNG101. They traveled as far as Nebraska before the return trip, authorities said.

Melodee was last seen on the return trip to California Oct. 9 on security camera video near the Colorado-Utah border, investigators said.

Beginning Oct. 8, the Malibu was seen with New York license plate HCG967, the sheriff’s department said. It was not immediately clear when the different plate was installed or whether other plates were used during the trip.

On or around Oct. 9, the Malibu is believed to have traveled through Green River and Panguitch, Utah; northwest Arizona; Primm, Nevada; and Rancho Cucamonga.

Detectives also shared security camera images that they said show Ashlee Buzzard and her daughter at a rental car business in Lompoc at the start of the trip on Oct. 7. They appear to be wearing wigs, the agency said.

Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was arrested in November in an unrelated crime, the sheriff’s department said. She was arrested on suspicion of felony false imprisonment, authorities said.