A Mothers Secret Mission? | A Wig, A Road Trip, & A Missing Child: Where is Melodee Buzzard?

Hidden True Crime

True Crime, Society & Culture, News Commentary, Documentary, News

4.8 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard vanished after a cross-country trip with her mother—then Mom came home alone and stopped cooperating. Surveillance shows Melodee in a hood and what appears to be a wig; a rental car logged hundreds of miles; the FBI is now involved. In this episode, we trace the paper trail, the digital breadcrumbs, and the chilling 72-hour ultimatum to “produce Melodee or face arrest,” and ask the only question that matters: where is Melodee? About Hidden True Crime What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime⁠⁠ You can go to my sponsor https://aura.com/hiddentruecrime to try 14 days for free. That’s enough time for Aura to start scrubbing your personal info off these data broker sites, without you lifting a finger. ⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The image is haunting.
0:02.0	A little girl with a gray hood pulled over her head.
0:05.0	Her hair darker and straighter than it should be.
0:08.0	A face fairly visible behind the wig she may never have chosen.
0:14.0	Nine-year-old Melody Buzzard of Lompoc, California is missing.
0:19.0	And the last person anyone knows to have been with her
0:22.6	is her own mother.
0:25.6	40-year-old Ashley Buzzard.
0:26.6	I'm Lauren Matthias, and this is Hidden True Crime.
0:28.6	And in this episode, we are going to share everything
0:31.6	you need to know about this unfolding case.
0:34.6	A very concerning, all too familiar case case because when a child goes missing,
0:39.8	most of us would instinctively be distraught, searching desperately for any help, any lead
0:45.4	anywhere to bring them home. And that's what feels normal. What isn't normal is doing nothing
0:51.5	or worse knowing where your child is and refusing to share that information with law enforcement while an active investigation unfolds.
0:59.5	But sadly, history shows the scenario is far from rare.
1:03.8	Cases like Casey Anthony come to mind where her daughter, Kaylee, wasn't reported missing until her grandparents intervened.
1:09.9	Then there's the still active case
1:11.9	of Madalina Kojikari whose parents have been largely unhelpful to authorities despite likely
1:17.9	knowing where she is. And of course, the tragic story of Little Harmony Montgomery, whose
1:23.1	father and stepmother did not report her missing because, well, they killed her. I can't think,
1:29.1	honestly, of a single case where parents withheld information or refused to cooperate and the
	...

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