New images released by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office on Friday shows a girl who is believed to be missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard wearing a wig at a car rental business prior to leaving the state with her mother.
The security camera images are the first new pictures of Melodee seen in more than two years, and adds another details to law enforcement’s timeline in the days leading up to her being reported as an at-risk missing person.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, rented a car and departed on a cross-country on Oct. 7, a week before Melodee was reported missing after school administrators noted her “prolonged absence.”
Photos taken from inside a local car rental business shows the girl, who is assumed to be Melodee, wearing a gray sweatshirt with her hood up, covering a head-full of straight, black hair. Investigators believe the girl is wearing a wig, potentially to conceal her identity, as previous images show Melodee with brown, curly hair.
Ashlee Buzzard, officials added, has been known to regularly wear wigs.
The rental vehicle, a white Chevrolet Malibu with the license plate number 9MNG101, has been tracked to as far east as Nebraska, with the return trip including the state of Kansas.
Investigators say Ashlee returned to the family’s home on Oct. 10 without her daughter. The rental car has since been returned to the same rental company.
Melodee was reported missing days later on Oct. 14, and her mother has purportedly not cooperated with the investigation and has not provided an explanation or a satisfactory answer for her daughter’s whereabouts or condition.
The day after she was reported missing, authorities served a search warrant at the family’s home and surrounding areas in Vandenberg Village in northern Santa Barbara County. The FBI was looped into the investigation days later.
Despite her lack of cooperation and inability to provide a satisfactory answer to where her daughter is, Ashlee Buzzard has not been arrested or taken into custody.
The search, meanwhile, continues.
“Our detectives are following every lead in this case. We continue to seek information from the public that could help us find Melodee,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown. “We remain determined to bring her home safely.”
Melodee is described as being around 4 feet 6 inches and weighing around 60 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. In the newly released security images, she’s seen wearing a gray hoodie, vibrant patterned leggings and black sneakers.
Officials are also urging the public not to attempt to conduct their own “searches or investigations,” as that could only complicate and disrupt ongoing efforts by law enforcement.
Anyone who has seen Melodee Buzzard, or has had contact with her mother since Oct. 7, is urged to contact the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at 805-681-4150. Anonymous tips can be provided online or by calling 805-681-4171.
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