A California woman has been charged with murder in what a sheriff called the “calculated and cold-blooded” killing of her 9-year-old daughter following the discovery of the girl’s remains in rural Utah.
Ashlee Lynn Buzzard was taken into custody Tuesday morning and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Melodee Elani Buzzard, who was reported missing two months ago. Melodee died of gunshot wounds to the head, Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown said in a news conference.
“Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend,” Brown said. “But this level of criminal activity is particularly shocking.”
Investigators “recovered a significant amount of evidence” against Buzzard, Brown said.
A school administrator reported Melodee’s “prolonged absence” on Oct. 14, according to a timeline provided by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies went to the family residence and contacted her mother, who failed to provide verifiable information about her daughter’s whereabouts, authorities said.
The following day, detectives served a search warrant, and investigators found that Buzzard had recently rented a car. Surveillance footage showed mother and daughter at the rental office — both wearing wigs in an apparent bid to conceal their identities, Brown said. The images were released publicly on Oct. 22.
Buzzard swapped license plates and deliberately avoided surveillance cameras during the pair’s multistate road trip, Brown said. Melodee was last seen on video footage with her mother on Oct. 9, near the Colorado-Utah border. Detectives believe she was killed shortly after that stop, Brown said.
On Oct. 30, an expended cartridge case was found during another search of the family residence, and a live round of similar ammunition was located in the rental vehicle, authorities said.
Two members of the public discovered a decomposed body in a remote area of Wayne County, Utah, on Dec. 6, and on Monday, the FBI linked the remains to the familial DNA of Buzzard.
Authorities are continuing to look for the murder weapon, Brown said, and they do not believe anyone else was involved in the killing.
Investigators were met with “deliberate efforts” to prevent them from finding Melodee and uncovering the truth, Brown said as he praised their tenacity.
Buzzard is being held without bail.
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