The stays of lacking 9-year-old California girl Melodee Buzzard have been found, a legislation enforcement source acquainted with the case informed NCS on Tuesday.
Her mom, 40-year-old Ashlee Buzzard, was additionally taken into custody and is being held at Santa Barbara County’s Southern Branch Jail with out bail, in keeping with the jail’s on-line custody information.
NCS is making an attempt to find out whether or not Buzzard has an lawyer.
The younger girl’s stays had been found by authorities in Utah, the source mentioned. It’s not clear after they had been found.
The Utah Department of Public Safety referred NCS to the FBI in Los Angeles. The FBI didn’t return requires remark.
Melodee’s paternal grandmother informed NCS associates KEYT and KSBY that Melodee’s physique has been found. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office knowledgeable the paternal grandmother, Lilly Denes, that her granddaughter’s physique had been recovered, KEYT reported.
NCS has left a message for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. NCS has additionally reached out to the grandmother, who declined remark as a result of she is on her solution to a information convention.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office mentioned it is going to share “major developments” within the investigation at a 2 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) information convention.
Buzzard went on a road trip with her 9-year-old daughter on October 7, when surveillance footage captured the girl at a native automotive rental company wearing what seemed to be a disguise, authorities mentioned.
Melodee was sporting a hoodie pulled over her head and “what appears to be a wig that is darker and straighter than her natural hair,” the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office mentioned. “Investigators believe the wig may have been used to alter her appearance.”
Over the following three days, the rental automotive traveled via Nebraska, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Kansas earlier than returning residence to Lompoc, about 55 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, authorities mentioned.
“Investigators have confirmed that Ashlee was seen returning to her Lompoc residence on October 10, driving the same rental vehicle she departed with on October 7 – but Melodee was not in the car,” the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
The youngster was final seen October 9 in video surveillance within the area across the Colorado and Utah state line.
Melodee was reported lacking days in a while October 14 – not by a member of the family, however by a school administrator concerned about her lengthy absence.
The FBI joined the seek for Melodee, a case that has drawn widespread attention effectively outdoors Southern California.
This is a growing story and will probably be up to date.
Correction:
A earlier model of this story incorrectly listed a earlier felony cost for Ashlee Buzzard. It was dropped in November.