Search intensifies for 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard missing after cross-country trip with mother

Investigators are piecing together a complex and scattered case spanning several states, hoping it leads to the safe return of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard.

(NBC)- Investigators are piecing together a complex and scattered case spanning several states, hoping it leads to the safe return of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard.

“We’re getting closer and closer to figuring out where Melodee is today,” said Raquel Zick with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

Melodee was last seen nearly a month ago while on a road trip with her mother, Ashlee Buzzard. Officials say a recently uncovered image shows the pair in disguise, both wearing wigs just days before Melodee’s school reported her missing.

Authorities describe Ashlee as a “key person” in the investigation but emphasize she has not been named a suspect, adding that she is not cooperating with detectives.

“At this point, Ashlee has not been able to provide us with a plausible explanation as to where Melodee is, or where Melodee was,” Zick said.

Detectives confirmed that Ashlee left California with her daughter on October 7, driving a white Chevy Malibu as far as Nebraska. On October 8, investigators say the vehicle’s license plate was swapped from California to New York to avoid detection.

Melodee was last seen the following day, October 9, on surveillance video near the Utah–Colorado border. The next day, Ashlee drove back to California without her daughter.

“We think somebody might have taken notice of a child wearing a wig, or a child wearing a wig with a hood pulled up,” Zick added. “It’s not something that you see every day.”

The FBI has now joined the case, expanding the search across multiple states along the mother’s travel route and urging anyone with information to come forward.