Overview
- Santa Barbara County prosecutors filed one felony count Monday over a Nov. 6 incident in Lompoc, and Ashlee Buzzard is held on $100,000 bail with arraignment set Wednesday.
- The sheriff’s office says the allegation is separate from the missing-person investigation, which continues with FBI assistance.
- Detectives say Melodee was last seen Oct. 9 near the Colorado–Utah border during the return leg of a road trip, and her mother returned to Lompoc on Oct. 10 without her.
- Investigators report the pair left on Oct. 7 in a rented white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu that later displayed a New York license plate not assigned to the vehicle.
- Surveillance images show the mother and daughter at a Lompoc rental business appearing to wear wigs, and officials are seeking public tips and corridor video from Oct. 7–10.