Tuesday marks one week since Melodee Buzzard was first reported missing. Authorities are not giving up making contact with Ashlee Buzzard, the 9-year-old’s mother. CPS and sheriff’s deputies have been to her door in Vandenberg Village repeatedly this week, but Ashlee has not answered the door.
Private investigator Bill Garcia says during his career, he hasn’t seen CPS arriving at a parent or guardian’s home very often as part of a missing person investigation.
“I've only seen that occur maybe two or three times in my 34 years, so that's not, that's not that common, but every county has a little bit different twist on how they handle things,” Garcia said.
“There's a number of reasons why child welfare may report to a home to assess safety of children and a number of reasons why law enforcement may also be present. Again, there's typically collaboration on cases when necessary, but I can't say any specific reason,” said Amy Krueger, Santa Barbara County's Assistant Director of Adult and Children Services.
The search for Melodee now extends to Nebraska and was sparked on Oct. 14 when school administrators reported her prolonged absence from an independent studies program.
Investigators say while the home has been searched, Ashlee has been uncooperative.
With the FBI now assisting, Garcia says that allows authorities to gain faster access to cell phone data, vehicle tracking and interstate records.
“It allows the FBI to come in and do forensics on the electronics that I mentioned earlier and they have a much quicker turnaround than local law enforcement, who doesn't deal with that quite as quickly or as often,” Garcia said.
On Tuesday, a neighbor shared surveillance footage of Ashlee taking out garbage that morning, confirming she was there. The neighbor did not want the video shared publicly.
Garcia says any kind of video from neighbors is important to the case.
“There's a good possibility that they would have seen both Ashley and the child leave and come back if they came back together, and law enforcement has that video,” Garcia said.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's spokesperson Raquel Zick says dozens of calls have come in regarding the case.
One neighbor says she saw Melodee and her mother at a nearby park just three months ago.
“Her daughter, Melodee, was begging her to play, you know, talk to her mom, like, ‘Mom, let's play, let's play,’ and then the mom, Ashley, was, like, distressed, like, ‘No, not right now,’ like, just, you know, rubbing her head,” recalled Shavannah Thomas.
KSBY News community reporter Crytal Bermudez tried contacting Ashlee last week after seeing her outside her home but she did not respond. Multiple family members tell Bermudez they also have not had any recent contact with her or Melodee.
Authorities are continuing to treat this as an urgent case. Anyone with any information that could help locate Melodee Buzzard is asked to contact law enforcement right away.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at (805) 681-4150. Anonymous tips can be made by calling (805) 681-4171 or online at SBSheriff.org.
