Ashlee Buzzard Faces Murder Charges After Authorities Discover Daughter Melodee’s Body in Utah Desert Following Multi-State Road Trip

A routine outing for a couple taking scenic photos in Utah turned into a grim discovery earlier this month when they stumbled upon the body of nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard.

The girl had been reported missing months earlier from her home in Lompoc, California.

The Road Trip That Ended in Tragedy

Melodee vanished on October 14, but investigators traced her and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, 40, to a four-day road trip across several states.

Surveillance footage showed the pair renting a 2024 Chevrolet Malibu on October 7, with Melodee disguised in a gray hooded sweatshirt and a wig darker than her natural hair, while her mother wore a long, curly wig.

Authorities later spotted them near the Colorado-Utah border.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown revealed detectives believe Melodee was killed shortly after that stop.

Ashlee returned home alone the following day, refusing to provide information on her daughter’s whereabouts.

Breakthrough Leads to Arrest

The case took a turn on December 6 when the couple in Utah alerted Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies about a decomposed body near the eastern entrance of Capitol Reef National Park.

Ashlee Buzzard was arrested and now faces murder charges.

Her daughter’s body was found with at least one gunshot wound to the head.

Sheriff Brown described the crime as “calculated, cold-blooded, and criminally sophisticated,” noting Ashlee had switched license plates on the rented vehicle and backed it into gas stations to avoid surveillance cameras.

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Investigators enlisted seven FBI field offices across the Western U.S. to track the mother and daughter as they traveled through multiple states.

Evidence Links Ashlee to the Crime

Police traced spent cartridges found in Ashlee’s Lompoc home and in the rented vehicle to the murder scene.

DNA analysis later confirmed a familial match between Ashlee and the victim.

On December 8, authorities compared the evidence and solidified her connection to the crime, leading to her arrest.

Family Speaks Out

Melodee’s family has long expressed concerns about Ashlee’s mental health.

Her aunt, Lizabeth Meza, revealed that Ashlee had lost custody of Melodee in the past due to psychological issues and financial troubles, including a bankruptcy filing.

“The system failed her by giving her back to a mother time and time again when she was unstable,” Meza said.

Grandmother Lilly Denes also shared her heartbreak, stating that Ashlee deliberately cut Melodee off from the family after being released from a mental health facility in 2021.

Denes had been in the process of adopting her granddaughter when Ashlee removed the girl from their lives.

Authorities Vow Justice

While the motive remains unclear, Sheriff Brown emphasized the seriousness of the crime and pledged justice for Melodee.

“Today we stand together in grief, but also with resolve.

Melodee deserved a far better life than she had,” he said, highlighting the need for accountability in this deeply troubling case.

The investigation continues as law enforcement works to recover the murder weapon and piece together the events that led to this devastating tragedy.