A rental car carrying a missing 9-year-old Santa Barbara County girl likely had its license plates swapped to avoid detection during a road trip to the Midwest and back to California, investigators said Monday.
The new details were provided in a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department update on the search for Melodee Buzzard The sheriff’s department began investigating the case Oct. 14 after a school administrator reported the Melodee had not been seen at school for several days.
Detectives said Melodee and mother Aslee 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, adding that they are still working to fill in road trip timeline gaps with help from authorities in those states, Arizona, Nevada and California.
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.
“The New York plate seen on the car does not belong to the vehicle or to Ashlee,” the department said in a Monday statement. “Investigators believe it was used as a false or switched plate to avoid detection. When the vehicle was returned to the rental agency in Lompoc, California, the assigned California plate was on the vehicle.”
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 Monday 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.
Detectives asked anyone who has seen Melodee or has information about the case to contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department at 805-681-4150. Anonymous tips can be provided at 805-681-4171 or submitted here.