Video footage taken by Vandenberg Village neighbors in California show the moment authorities took accused child killer Ashlee Buzzard into custody.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a man and woman who had been taking pictures found 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard’s body in Wayne County, Utah, near East State Route 24, on December 6. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office then notified the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators were waiting on DNA results to confirm the child’s identity, due to decomposition. Authorities said it appeared as if Melodee had been deceased for months.
Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown said during a Tuesday press conference that the body had been found with “gunshot wounds to the head.”
Authorities took Buzzard into custody at around 8 a.m. Tuesday, after prying open the door at her home off of Mars Avenue, according to KSBY.
“It was just heartbreaking and devastating for the whole family,” Melodee’s aunt, Lizabeth Meza, told KSBY. “She (Melodee) had a sweet personality, just so charismatic and happy.”
Investigators found an expended cartridge case inside Buzzard’s home during an October 30 search. They also found “a live round of similar ammunition” inside a vehicle she had rented.
“Our investigators and those of our allied agencies worked simultaneously on multiple fronts, some maintaining around-the-clock surveillance of Ashley Buzzard, while others focused on the painstaking collection, analysis and verification of physical, digital and forensic evidence,” Brown said Tuesday.
“Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend. This level of criminal activity is particularly shocking given the calculated, cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it.”
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office previously said Buzzard rented a car in Lompoc, and embarked on a cross-country trip on October 7.
Security footage placed both Ashlee Buzzard and Melodee at the car rental business while wearing wigs that same day.
According to the sheriff’s office, Melodee was last seen on October 9, between the Colorado–Utah border, on a return route.
“Somewhere along that route is where we know Ashlee was no longer with Melodee,” Raquel Zick, Public Information Officer with SBCSO, said.
Investigators said they now believe that Melodee died shortly after the October 9 stop. So far, the motive is unknown and authorities do not have the murder weapon.
Melodee had been reported missing on October 14 after Lompoc Unified School District employees said she failed to pick assignments for an independent study program. Her mother remained uncooperative when questioned and offered no valid explanation for her daughter’s disappearance.
Ashlee Buzzard is believed to have acted alone. She remains behind bars without bail on a first-degree murder charge.
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[Feature Photo: Santa Barbara County police]
