Authorities in California say the mother of a missing 9-year-old girl has been uncooperative with investigators who continue a search launched after a school administrator reported the child’s “prolonged absence.”
Ashlee Buzzard “remains uncooperative and has not provided detectives with any information about Melodee’s current location or condition,” the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Monday.
The search for the girl from the small community of Vandenberg Village, about 160 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, was launched Oct. 14 after the Lompoc Unified School District administrator’s report, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives tried to reach Buzzard and Melodee at their home that day, but the girl was not there, “and no clear explanation was provided for her whereabouts,” according to the sheriff’s office.
It said evidence indicates Melodee was with her mother as recently as Oct. 7. Buzzard and Melodee may have traveled as far as Nebraska in a rented white Chevrolet Malibu that was later returned, the sheriff’s office said.
In a bulletin last week, the office said that the “last verified contact” with Melodee was about a year ago and that the most recent picture of her was taken two years ago.
In a statement Friday, the Lompoc school district said Melodee enrolled in August, but law enforcement was contacted for a welfare check as part of a process after absences and failure to accept class assignments.
The FBI’s Los Angeles field office said Monday that agents were helping the sheriff’s office with its search.
On Sunday, residents of Vandenberg Village gathered at the girl’s home and sought answers, NBC affiliate KSBY of San Luis Obispo reported.
Melodee’s half-sister, Corinna Meza, told the station that their father died when Melodee was a baby. She said the girl is rarely seen, even among family.
“We’re all looking for answers,” Meza told the station, adding that she hopes Buzzard “will come out and tell us where she’s at.”
The sheriff’s office is asking locals not to interfere.
“Detectives are aware of the strong community interest in Melodee’s case and are asking the public not to attempt to conduct their own searches or investigations,” it said Monday, adding that private searches could hinder its own probe.
