🚨 SHOCKING TWIST: Missing 9-Year-Old Melodee Buzzard Vanishes After Mom’s Secret Cross-Country Trip – Both Spotted in WIGS, Fake Plates, Now Hunt Spans FOUR STATES! 😱
What kind of mother disguises her little girl in a dark wig, swaps license plates to dodge cops, and returns home ALONE after a wild 3-day dash to Nebraska? New surveillance pics and video just dropped show Melodee and mom Ashlee Buzzard looking totally different – straight black hair, hoods up – right before they hit the road. Cops say the search is exploding across California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and beyond… Is Melodee still out there, scared and hidden? Or something way worse? This story has everyone on edge – you won’t believe the bizarre details pouring in!
Full bombshell breakdown here – don’t miss it:
The desperate search for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard entered its fourth week on November 7, 2025, with authorities expanding their efforts across at least four states after releasing chilling new surveillance footage and photos showing the missing girl and her mother apparently wearing wigs to alter their appearances. Detectives from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, backed by the FBI, say the case has taken a sinister turn, involving fake license plates, a cross-country dash to Nebraska, and a mother who has stonewalled investigators from day one.
Melodee, described as a vulnerable child standing about 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighing around 60 pounds with naturally curly brown hair and brown eyes, was last confirmed seen on October 9, 2025, near the Colorado-Utah border. But the trail starts earlier, on October 7, when surveillance cameras at a Lompoc car rental agency captured what authorities believe is Melodee and her 35-year-old mother, Ashlee Buzzard, both disguised.
“In the footage, Melodee is wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and what appears to be a wig that is darker and straighter than her natural hair,” Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Raquel Zick told reporters. “Investigators believe the wig may have been used to alter her appearance.” Ashlee, known to frequently wear wigs herself, appeared similarly transformed in the video, which was released publicly on November 6.
The pair rented a white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu with California plate 9MNG101 and embarked on what detectives call a “three-day road trip” that took them as far east as Nebraska, with a return leg through Kansas. But when Ashlee pulled back into Lompoc on October 10, Melodee was nowhere in sight.
Adding to the mystery, tracking data revealed the rental car’s original plates were swapped out for bogus New York tags – HCG9677 – sometime on or before October 8. “It appears the license plate was switched to avoid detection,” Zick said. “We don’t have any other plausible reason.” The California plates were mysteriously back on the vehicle when it was returned.
The disappearance came to light on October 14, when a school administrator in the Lompoc Unified School District reported Melodee’s “prolonged absence” from an independent study program. Deputies arrived at the family’s home on Mars Avenue in Vandenberg Village for a welfare check, only to find Ashlee alone – and uncooperative.
“No verifiable explanation for her whereabouts was provided,” the Sheriff’s Office stated in early releases. Since then, Ashlee has refused to assist, prompting multiple search warrants. On October 30, FBI agents and detectives escorted her from the property for an extended search of the home, a storage locker, and the rental car itself. No arrests have been made, and the case remains classified as a missing person investigation, with Melodee labeled “at-risk” due to her age and the prolonged absence.
Family members on Melodee’s paternal side have been vocal, painting a troubling picture of Ashlee’s behavior. Melodee’s father died in a 2016 motorcycle crash when she was just a baby, and relatives say Ashlee cut off contact years ago.
“She hasn’t let us see her for a few years,” aunt Bridgett Truitt told local media. “And all of us have tried. But we never stopped thinking about her or loving her or praying for her.” Another aunt, Vicky Shade, described Ashlee as “mentally unstable” and claimed attempts to gain custody or visitation rights failed.
The most recent confirmed sighting before October came in August 2025, but the road trip has blown the case wide open. Detectives have mapped the Malibu’s route, collaborating with agencies in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and Southern California. They’ve released a detailed map urging residents to check personal surveillance footage from October 9 stops in places like Green River and Panguitch, Utah; northwest Arizona; Primm, Nevada; and Rancho Cucamonga, California.
One potential lead: A sighting in a small Utah town, though details remain scarce. “We think somebody might have taken notice of a child wearing a wig, or a child wearing a wig with a hood pulled up,” Zick said. “It’s not something that you see every day.”
Ashlee’s actions during the trip raise red flags. Detectives believe she swapped wigs mid-journey, donning one similar to Melodee’s to further confuse potential witnesses. Debt collectors have also struggled to serve her in recent court cases, suggesting she’s been evasive long before Melodee’s vanishing.
Sheriff Bill Brown vowed persistence: “Our detectives are following every lead in this case. We continue to seek information from the public that could help us find Melodee. We remain determined to bring her home safely.”
The FBI has joined fully, issuing posters and pleading for tips. “We are hopeful that Melodee might be with someone – perhaps an extended family member or friend – who may not be aware of the circumstances,” officials said.
As of November 7, no new arrests or major breakthroughs, but the multi-state dragnet is in full swing. Anyone with information – even dashcam footage from the route – is urged to call the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at (805) 681-4150 or submit anonymous tips online.
This perplexing case, blending elements of parental abduction fears and outright evasion, has gripped the nation. With disguises, fake plates, and a mother returning solo, questions swirl: Where did Melodee go between October 9 and 10? Is she safe with someone Ashlee trusted? Or did the road trip end in tragedy?
Investigators aren’t ruling anything out, and the public scrutiny on Ashlee intensifies by the day. As one family member put it, “I am horrified for my little niece. I can’t imagine what she’s gone through. This does not sound good.”
The search continues – and America watches, hoping for a miracle.