SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. — Ashlee Buzzard was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly killing her 9-year-old daughter Melodee Buzzard, who was shot in the head and found dead in a rural area of Utah, the Santa Barbara County, California, sheriff announced.
Sheriff Bill Brown said “cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness … went into planning” the crime and “ruthlessness … went into actually committing the crime.”
Ashlee Buzzard’s arrest comes more than two months after the little girl was reported missing. Authorities said they believe Melodee was killed shortly after she was last seen alive on Oct. 9, near the Colorado-Utah border, during a road trip with her mom.
Investigators “have recovered a significant amount of evidence” against Ashlee Buzzard, Brown said at a news conference.
On Dec. 6, the sheriff’s office in Wayne County, Utah, was contacted by a man and woman who found a decomposed body while taking photos in a rural area, authorities said.
On Monday, the FBI crime lab made a DNA link between the remains in Utah to familial DNA of Ashlee Buzzard, authorities said.
The examination of a spent shell casing found in the Buzzard home matched what was found at the scene in Utah, and live similar rounds were found in Ashlee Buzzard’s car, officials said. A murder weapon has not been recovered, authorities said.
The sheriff said Ashlee Buzzard made deliberate efforts to prevent detectives from finding Melodee.
A motive hasn’t been determined, authorities said.
“Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend,” Brown said.
The investigation into Melodee’s disappearance was sparked on Oct. 14 when a school district administrator reported her “extended absence” to authorities, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities determined Melodee and Ashlee Buzzard left their Lompoc, California, home on Oct. 7 for a three-day road trip that took them to the Nebraska area, the sheriff’s office said. Melodee was last seen alive on Oct. 9 near the Colorado-Utah border, according to authorities. Ashlee Buzzard returned home to Lompoc on Oct. 10 with the car she and Melodee had rented on Oct. 7 — but Melodee was not with her, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities claimed Ashlee Buzzard wore wigs and swapped license plates during the trip.
Authorities said on Tuesday that Ashlee Buzzard is still not cooperating. It appears she acted alone, officials added.
“Today we stand together in grief, but also with resolve. Melodee deserved a far better life than she had,” the sheriff said at the news conference. “May God bless the innocent soul of Melodee Buzzard who we will never forget.”
Ashlee Buzzard has been booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail for first-degree murder on no bail status. She does not have a court date set.
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