Overview
- Ashlee Buzzard, 40, faces one count of felony false imprisonment for a Nov. 6 incident in Lompoc; she was arrested Nov. 7, is held on $100,000 bail, and is set for arraignment Wednesday.
- The district attorney’s complaint characterizes the case as “false imprisonment by violence” and alleges planning or sophistication, while named accuser Tyler S. Brewer says he was prevented from leaving her home and saw a box cutter.
- The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office says the criminal case is not directly related to Melodee’s disappearance and has withheld further details to avoid hindering investigative steps.
- Melodee was last verified on Oct. 9 near the Colorado–Utah border during a rental-car trip; her mother returned to Lompoc alone on Oct. 10 and has not provided a verifiable account of the child’s whereabouts, investigators say.
- Detectives, aided by the FBI, executed search warrants at the home, a storage locker, and the rental car, and they report surveillance indicating wigs and a switched New York license plate; authorities are seeking tips and corridor video from the Oct. 7–10 route.