![\"Ashlee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/251120-ashlee-buzzard-ew-630p-3e2754.jpg\")
Ashlee Buzzard appears in court on Nov. 19.KSBY<\/p>\nAshlee Buzzard was arraigned Friday on a charge of first-degree murder with special allegation after the body of her 9-year-old daughter, Melodee, was found in a rural area of Utah more than two months after she went missing. <\/p>\n
An attorney for Buzzard, 40, of Lompoc, California, said she pleaded not guilty. She was ordered to be held without bail. <\/p>\n
The prosecution said they are seeking life in prison without parole. <\/p>\n
Lilly Denes, Melodee\u2019s paternal grandmother, told reporters outside the courthouse that she was outraged by Buzzard\u2019s not guilty plea. <\/p>\n
A man and woman discovered Melodee\u2019s body on Dec. 6 while taking pictures in Wayne County, Utah, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at a Tuesday news conference. He said it was clear that she “died from gunshot wounds to the head.”<\/p>\n
Brown said an FBI analysis of DNA confirmed the body was Melodee\u2019s.<\/p>\n
“Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend,” Brown said. “This level of criminal activity is particularly shocking given the calculated, cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it.” <\/p>\n
Ashlee Buzzard appears in court on Nov. 19.KSBY<\/p>\n
He said investigators have uncovered a “significant amount of evidence” that indicates Buzzard killed her daughter. <\/p>\n
Detectives searched Buzzard\u2019s home, a rental car and a rented storage locker and found an expended cartridge case and a live round of similar ammunition, officials said. The murder weapon has not yet been located, officials said. <\/p>\n
The sheriff’s office previously said that Buzzard had been uncooperative during their search<\/a> for Melodee, who was seen on security video Oct. 7 wearing a wig<\/a> at a car rental business where Buzzard picked up a Chevrolet Malibu. <\/p>\n