VANDENBERG VILLAGE, Calif. (Court TV/Scripps News San Luis Obispo) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined local police in California in what is now a multi-state search for a missing 9-year-old girl.
Melodee Buzzard was first reported missing on Oct. 14 after a school administrator with the Lompoc Unified School District alerted authorities to her absence from an independent studies program.
Police are searching for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office)
Police served a search warrant at Buzzard’s home, but said that it did not yield answers as to where she is. The last confirmed sighting of Melodee was in August, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. No recent photos of Melodee have been made available, as family members who spoke to Scripps News San Luis Obispo said that her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, has not allowed them to see Melodee for years.
“We’re all looking for answers, but you know, we’re showing up today so that way, you know, [Ashlee] knows we care, we’re here for Melodee, and hopefully [Ashlee] will come out and tell us where she’s at,” said Corinna Meza, Melodee’s half sister. Their father died in a crash when Melodee was a baby.
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Investigators have said that Ashlee may have driven Melodee in a rented white Chevrolet Malibu with license plate 9MNG101 as far as Nebraska; Ashlee no longer has possession of the vehicle.
“At this point in the investigation, Ashlee Buzzard remains uncooperative and has not provided detectives with any information about Melodee’s current location or condition. The primary goal of this investigation is to verify the location and welfare of Melodee Buzzard and ensure that she is safe,” the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office stated in a press release.
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Lori Miranda, Ashlee’s mother, says she first learned her granddaughter was missing when law enforcement called asking if she knew where the child was. Miranda told officers that she hadn’t spoken to her daughter in more than two years.
Miranda told Scripps News San Luis Obispo that her daughter had a history of mental problems and that police had called her previously to get Melodee from the home.
