A Vandenberg Village mother charged with false imprisonment, who is also at the center of a missing child investigation, will have her electronic monitoring discontinued and the felony charge against her dismissed.
Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Stephen Dunkle made the ruling Thursday in a Lompoc courtroom following more than two hours of testimony in Ashlee Buzzard's preliminary hearing.
The hearing was the third, and now final, in just over a week following Buzzard’s Nov. 7 arrest.
Media was only allowed to take pictures during the hearing. No video or audio recording was permitted and pictures of the alleged victim were also prohibited.
The felony charge stemmed from a Nov. 6 incident at Buzzard’s Mars Avenue home involving a man identified as Tyler S. Brewer. In court, he said he was a legal document assistant and freelance paralegal.
While on the stand, Brewer described the approximately five visits he made to Buzzard’s home between Nov. 1 and 6, after reaching out to her, offering assistance should she need it.
He told the court he first met Buzzard back in 2014 while friends with Buzzard’s then-roommate.
The focus of Thursday’s hearing was on Brewer’s testimony. He said he felt threatened by Buzzard the evening of Nov. 6 while at her home for more than an hour. He claims Buzzard’s demeanor changed during their conversation, and that she had a box cutter and he wasn’t allowed to leave.
Buzzard denied the charges, which authorities say are unrelated to the missing child investigation involving her 9-year-old daughter, Melodee.
The judge ultimately ruled to dismiss the criminal complaint against Buzzard and terminate pretrial supervision. The GPS device was placed on Buzzard last week, following another judge's ruling that she could be released from custody.
The judge stated that an audio recording taken of Buzzard from the last night Brewer was at her home did not show enough evidence for Brewer to have been in fear. A Santa Barbara County Sheriff's detective testified that following Buzzard's arrest, two cell phones were found in her purse. He says a search warrant was obtained and the audio recording of the conversation between Brewer and Buzzard was discovered when content on one phone was downloaded.
The judge also noted when announcing his ruling that he was not trying to invalidate anyone’s “lived experiences.”
Meanwhile, authorities have said that the investigation into Melodee's disappearance remains ongoing. That investigation began on Oct. 14 when local school officials reported the girl’s prolonged absence.
With assistance from the FBI, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has said Buzzard took a three-day road trip with her daughter as far east as Nebraska, leaving on Oct. 7 and returning on Oct. 10 without Melodee. They said Buzzard changed license plates at least once during the trip and also changed wigs.
Investigators say Melodee was last seen on surveillance video on Oct. 9, near the Colorado-Utah border.
Buzzard’s home has been searched by authorities three times since Oct. 14, along with her rental car and a storage unit. Authorities have not said whether any items of interest were located during those searches.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has said the case remains an open missing person case and not a criminal investigation.
