Nearly a week has passed since Melodee Buzzard, 9, was reported missing. On Monday, KSBY News community reporter Crystal Bermudez sat down with the Vandenberg Village girl’s grandmother, who is speaking publicly for the first time.
Lori Miranda says she first learned her granddaughter was missing when law enforcement called asking if she knew where the child was.
“He said, ‘Did you know that your granddaughter was missing?’ And I said, ‘Missing?' He goes, ‘When's the last time you talked to your daughter?’ I said, ‘I don't know, two years ... a year-and-a-half ago?” Miranda, Ashleey Buzzard’s mother, said.
The search for Melodee began last week when authorities were notified about her extended absence from an independent studies program within Lompoc Unified.
Investigators say Ashlee has not been cooperating and will not say where her daughter is.
Watch: Community wants mother to provide information on missing child
Miranda raised concerns about Ashlee's mental state, recalling a time when she was planned to drop by her daughter's house when Melodee was just a baby, but authorities called her first.
"About 15 minutes later, the sheriff calls me. He says, 'I'm at your daughter's house in Orcutt and I was just getting ready to take your granddaughter, Melodee, with me to CPS because we're getting ready to take your daughter to the hospital,'" Miranda said.
When she arrived at the house, Miranda says it was a mess.
"I couldn't believe it was my daughter. I mean, the house was in disarray. There were raw eggs in pans, there was rotten food in the fridge I think she was trying to give my granddaughter," she said.
Regarding the current investigation, Miranda said, "Everybody's dragging [Ashlee] around and she should be at the hospital and you should be talking to her there instead of everybody rattling her cage and then trying to act like they're trying to help."
On Monday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's officials reported that investigators believe Ashlee drove her daughter to Nebraska in a white Chevy Malibu earlier this month before returning to California.
"We want the public to think back to the 7th to the 14th. Did you see a mom and a daughter in this vehicle?" said Raquel Zick, a spokesperson with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Miranda says she has family as far as Ohio, but does not know anyone in Nebraska.
Due to the case crossing state lines, the FBI is now assisting.
"If we have circumstances that indicate there were something else criminal that has occurred in the process of that, then, you know, of course it shifts, but as of right now, we are searching for a missing person," Zick said about the status of the case and why it's not being considered a criminal investigation.
Miranda says she still has gifts she wanted to give Melodee on her 9th birthday back in February.
"The psychologist that I was seeing, I said, 'Should I be keeping these things? I keep buying them for Christmas and her birthday.' She said, 'If you keep them for her, she'll know that when she was gone, you were thinking of her,' so that's why I keep them and I wonder, am I going nuts, right?" Miranda said through tears.
She has a message for Melodee.
"Please tell somebody, 'I'm Melodee Buzzard. My grandma, Luna, is looking for me. Please call the police'."
Monday afternoon, CPS and authorities could be seen at Ashlee's home.
A neighbor tells KSBY they did make contact with Ashlee, handing her a paper, but she would not open the door for them again after that.
