As the search intensifies for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, her paternal grandmother is sharing new details about the child’s relationship with her mother, Ashlee Buzzard.
Melodee was reported missing more than a month ago by a school official in Lompoc, Calif., according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office (SBCSO).
Authorities learned that Ashlee had taken her daughter on a multi-state road trip that extended as far as Nebraska. When deputies arrived at Ashlee’s home to check on Melodee, she was nowhere to be found.
In an interview with Fox News, Melodee’s grandmother, Lilly Denes, described concerns she has long held about Ashlee’s mental health. She said social services previously asked her to take custody of Melodee while Ashlee received treatment in a mental hospital — a move that would have kept the girl out of foster care.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(927x592:929x594):format(webp)/melodee-buzzard-102725-ffa70378a15f40219a79e3209eef5999.jpg)
Denes said she welcomed Melodee into her home and even began adoption proceedings. But in 2021, after Ashlee was released from the hospital, she re-entered her daughter’s life.
According to Denes, Ashlee then isolated Melodee from their extended family.
“When I met her…she looked so quiet and she was following me with her eyes back and forth, and I told my son, ‘Is this girl OK? Something’s wrong with this lady,’ ” Denes told Fox News.
Describing her granddaughter as “very happy, always smiling, very smart,” she added a plea to the public: “Maybe somebody out there knows where my baby is. Somebody has to know.”
Authorities say Ashlee has been uncooperative during the investigation and has not been able to explain Melodee’s disappearance. She has not been named a person of interest or charged in connection with the case.
Surveillance footage previously released by investigators shows Ashlee and Melodee at a rental car facility in Lompoc at the start of their trip on Oct. 7, 2025.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/melodee-buzzard-110425-2-d0e88842e1134e908150e446915972e1.jpg)
Melodee’s father, Rubiell Meza, died in a vehicle crash in 2016 when she was an infant.
The investigation began on Oct. 14, when Melodee was reported missing by a school administrator after extended absences. Officials said she was being homeschooled and hadn’t checked in since October 2024.
Melodee was last seen on surveillance video on Oct. 9 near the Colorado–Utah border. The sheriff’s office said the pair likely traveled through Nebraska and returned via Kansas before disappearing. In video footage, both Ashlee and Melodee appear to be wearing wigs — the child’s hair looking darker and straighter than usual.
Recently, Ashlee was arrested on an unrelated false imprisonment charge and has since been released. The SBCSO said the arrest came after she allegedly prevented a man from leaving her home and brandished a box cutter during the incident. Media outlets cited officials stating the encounter occurred after Ashlee became distressed about information she shared.
The man, a paralegal, told KSBY he had reached out to Ashlee to help support the search for Melodee. Ashlee has pleaded not guilty.
Melodee is described as approximately 4 feet 6 inches tall, around 60 pounds, with brown curly hair and brown eyes, according to the SBCSO.
The FBI has now joined the search. Anyone with information is urged to contact investigators through any of the following:
- Call the Detectives Line: (805) 681-4150
- Submit anonymous tips: (805) 681-4171
- Provide online information: www.sbsheriff.org/home/anonymous-tip/
