Ashlee Buzzard Arrested for Melodee Buzzard's Murder — The Road Trip, The Wigs, The 10-Week Wait

Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary

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3.3 • 907 Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

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Summary

Ashlee Buzzard is now charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 9-year-old daughter Melodee Buzzard. According to prosecutors, Ashlee shot Melodee multiple times in the head and left her body in a remote Utah desert. But the path to this arrest took over two months — and the reason why is infuriating. Investigators knew almost immediately that something was wrong. On October 7th, 2025, Ashlee rented a car and took Melodee on a road trip spanning eight states. Surveillance footage showed both wearing wigs. Ashlee allegedly swapped license plates mid-trip and backed into gas stations to avoid cameras. On October 9th, Melodee was captured on surveillance near the Colorado-Utah border. It was the last time she was seen alive. Ashlee came home the next day — alone.

She never explained where Melodee was. She never cooperated. Investigators surveilled her around the clock, executed multiple search warrants, and found a spent shell casing in her home. But without a body, they couldn't prove murder. That changed December 6th when photographers in Utah's Wayne County discovered remains on a dirt road. Ballistics linked the scene to Ashlee's home. DNA confirmed it was Melodee. Ashlee was arrested December 23rd and pleaded not guilty. Melodee's grandmother — who hadn't seen her in years — received a call from detectives: "The baby is with her dad now." Melodee's father died when she was six months old. No motive. No murder weapon. No answers. Just a 9-year-old who deserved so much better.

#AshleeBuzzard #MelodeeBuzzard #TrueCrimePodcast #CaliforniaCrime #JusticeForMelodee #TrueCrimeAudio #FBI #UtahCrime #Lompoc #HiddenKillers

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Hidden Killers with Tony Brewski.
0:03.0	Here now, Tony Brucey.
0:06.2	Well, you've probably heard by now this didn't end well.
0:10.5	On the morning of December 23rd, 2025, FBI agents in Santa Barbara County deputies pulled up to a single-story house on Mars Avenue in Lompoc, California.
0:22.6	It's a neighborhood where these streets have names like Stardust Road at Pluto Avenue.
0:27.7	Real cute.
0:28.8	Real suburban.
0:30.0	Kind of place where nothing's supposed to happen, yet, you know, it always does.
0:36.6	At 7.51 a.m., they arrested Ashley Lynn Buzzard, 40 years old first-degree murder,
0:41.9	no bail. The charge alleges she took her own daughter's life, 9-year-old Melody,
0:50.1	buzzard, multiple shots to the head with a 9mm handgun. It's according to the criminal complaint. The killing involved cruelty, viciousness, and callousness. Prosecutors say, Ashley took advantage of a position of trust over a particularly vulnerable victim.
1:11.2	The victim was her child.
1:16.0	Here's the part that's going to make your headspin.
1:17.8	Investigators have been watching Ashley for over two months.
1:22.4	You've been following along, you know that.
1:24.9	They knew she'd taken her daughter on the thousand mile road trip across
1:28.3	eight states and came home alone. They knew she was wearing wigs and swapping license plates
1:33.5	and backing into gas stations to avoid cameras. They had a spent shell casing from her house.
1:40.8	They had her under around the clock surveillance and they still couldn't arrest her for 10 weeks
1:49.1	she walked free while the whole country watched and wondered why nobody was doing anything
1:55.6	we need to talk about why because it is mading, and it's also how the system works.
2:04.9	Sheriff Bill Brown called it an extraordinarily, extraordinarily tragic case involving the
	...

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