Mother of missing Melodee Buzzard pleads not guilty to unrelated charge

The hunt for Melodee Buzzard began connected October 14 erstwhile a schoolhouse head reported the 9-year-old had been absent for a prolonged time.

The probe into her whereabouts has present stretched for astir a month, focused connected a 1,000-mile roadworthy travel from California to Nebraska, and has led to the apprehension of her "uncooperative" mother, Ashlee Buzzard, connected a mendacious imprisonment complaint unrelated to Melodee's disappearance.

The parent appeared successful tribunal Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. She was released connected bail with a GPS device.

Law enforcement sources told ABC News that they are investigating each possibilities successful the case, including that Melodee was trafficked. The sources accidental there's nary circumstantial grounds pointing to her being trafficked, but that it is 1 of the angles they are investigating. They adhd that investigators worked done the Veterans Day vacation connected the case, but inactive bash not person immoderate hard leads. They said Ashlee Buzzard remains uncooperative.

Here's a person look astatine the timeline of the child's disappearance and the hunt for her.

Mother-daughter beingness successful SoCal

Melodee and Ashlee Buzzard lived successful a location connected Mars Avenue successful Lompoc, California, astir an hour's thrust westbound of Santa Barbara.

Melodee's begetter died from a motorcycle clang erstwhile she was lone 6 months old, CNN affiliate KSBY reported.

Family members said they had mislaid interaction with Melodee and Ashlee Buzzard successful caller years. In an interrogation with NewsNation past month, Melodee's aunt, Lizabeth Meza, said she had not seen her niece successful 4 years.

One of the astir caller photos of Melodee was from 2023.

Melodee participated successful the Lompoc Unified School District's distant survey programme and was seen successful August 2025, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's bureau described her arsenic astir 4-feet-6-inches tall, 60 pounds, with brownish curly hairsbreadth and brownish eyes.

The 'critical' roadworthy trip

On October 7, Ashlee Buzzard near California with Melodee, driving a rented achromatic 2024 Chevrolet Malibu, and returned 3 days aboriginal without the girl. That play is present a "critical" clip framework for investigators, the sheriff's bureau said.

Surveillance footage from the rental car concern successful Lompoc showed the mother-daughter brace wearing what appeared to beryllium wigs connected October 7, the sheriff's bureau said.

"Investigators besides judge that Ashlee swapped wigs passim the trip, changing to a darker wig that is akin successful colour and benignant to the 1 Melodee was seen wearing," the sheriff's bureau said. "This alteration successful quality is believed to person been intentional to debar designation during travel."

The vehicle's question way spanned arsenic acold arsenic Nebraska, and the instrumentality way detoured into Kansas. It is unclear erstwhile the car began to caput backmost west.

During the journey, the licence sheet connected the Malibu, which was primitively a California sheet (9MNG101), appears to change. The car was seen with a New York licence sheet (HCG9677) opening October 8. "The sheet does not beryllium to the conveyance oregon Buzzard and is believed to person been utilized arsenic a mendacious oregon switched sheet to debar detection," the sheriff's bureau said.

Per the sheriff's office, connected October 9, the Chevy Malibu traveled done cities successful astatine slightest 4 states, including Green River, Utah; Panguitch, Utah; Northwest Arizona; Primm, Nevada; and Rancho Cucamonga, California.

On October 9, surveillance footage captured Melodee successful an country adjacent the Colorado-Utah authorities enactment connected the instrumentality trip, the past confirmed sighting of her.

On October 10, the Malibu was returned to the Lompoc rental bureau with its archetypal California plates.

The probe begins

Melodee's disappearance was reported connected October 14 by Lompoc schoolhouse administrators, who noticed she had not been participating successful the distant survey programme her parent had precocious enrolled her in. The sheriff's bureau said an head contacted constabulary for a payment cheque aft her "prolonged absence."

Officers searched the home, but Melodee was obscurity to beryllium found. Her parent could not supply a "reasonable" mentation for her whereabouts, the sheriff's bureau said.

Ashlee Buzzard "has been uncooperative with investigators," the sheriff's bureau said connected October 17.

The FBI joined the probe connected October 18.

With nationalist involvement growing, the sheriff's office connected October 20 asked the nationalist "not to effort to behaviour their ain searches oregon investigations. While well-intentioned, these efforts could unintentionally interfere with investigative enactment already successful progress."

On October 22, investigators released to the nationalist a timeline of Melodee's movements, and connected October 24, they released surveillance images of her astatine the rental car agency.

Members of Melodee's father's broadside of the household held a candlelight vigil for the missing miss connected October 24, according to KSBY.

On October 30, investigators served follow-up hunt warrants astatine the Buzzard home, a retention locker and the rental car.

Further, investigators released connected November 6 a abbreviated video of Melodee and Ashlee Buzzard astatine the rental bureau weeks earlier.

Mother arrested connected mendacious imprisonment charge

On November 7, the sheriff's bureau announced they had arrested Ashlee Buzzard connected a mendacious imprisonment complaint unrelated to Melodee's disappearance.

Investigators said they learned of an incidental a time earlier successful which the parent "prevented a unfortunate from leaving a determination against their will."

Buzzard faces a felony complaint of mendacious imprisonment by violence, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office. She was being held astatine a region jailhouse with bail acceptable astatine $100,000, records show.

The alleged unfortunate successful the mendacious imprisonment lawsuit posted a connection connected societal media - which helium aboriginal removed - saying helium went to Buzzard's location connected November 6 to connection assistance uncovering Melodee.

"[D]uring an enactment astatine her residence, the concern escalated. Ms. Buzzard became visibly distressed aft sharing accusation she appeared to regret disclosing," the antheral wrote.

"A container cutter was produced, and contempt aggregate requests to beryllium allowed to exit the home, I was not instantly permitted to leave. The doorway was secured by respective locks, which delayed my quality to exit. This incidental was reported to instrumentality enforcement."

Authorities person not provided immoderate specifics of the alleged interaction.

CNN and ABC News contributed to this report.