Remains of Missing 9-Year-Old Found in Utah, Mother Arrested

The body of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard was discovered in Utah, confirming the worst fears in a case that gripped authorities and communities for nearly three months, officials with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday. Melodee disappeared during an October road trip with her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, from their home in Lompoc, California, and Ashlee was taken into custody early that morning in connection with the investigation.

Investigators believe Melodee died before her disappearance was reported on October 14, when school staff at the Lompoc Unified School District notified authorities of her extended absence from an independent study program she had enrolled in that August. The girl had last been seen on surveillance video on October 9 near the Utah-Colorado border, traveling with her mother in a rented white Chevrolet Malibu. The pair had embarked on an impromptu cross-country journey starting October 7, heading east through several states and reaching as far as Nebraska before Ashlee returned alone to California on October 10.

During the trip, Ashlee switched the vehicle's California license plates for ones from New York and back again, and both she...