We have learned that the body of missing child Melodee Buzzard (9) was found December 6, 2025. The news broke on December 23. Melodee’s body was found in Caineville, Utah earlier in the month and once the remains were confirmed to belong to her, it hit the media. Her mother Ashlee has now been arrested and charged with her murder.
“The detective called me this morning to let me know that they found the baby and the baby is with her dad,” Melodee’s paternal grandmother, Lilly Denes, told The Times. “I knew he was telling me that the baby is dead.”
In relation to the area where Melodee was found, Caineville is an unincorporated community in central Wayne County, Utah, United States. It is a very rural, remote area with the last population figures being 20 in 1950. Caineville is around 750 miles/1200 kms -11.5 hour drive from Lompoc in California where Melodee and Ashlee were last seen.
This information about the scene is from CNN:
As the December sun set over central Utah’s sandstone peaks, a couple ventured down a nondescript dirt road to snap photos against the backdrop of a red rock vista. Instead, they stumbled across a grisly discovery among smattered shrubs and parched soil: the decomposed remains of a little girl.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived in the sparsely populated stretch of Caineville, it was clear they would be investigating a homicide. The unidentifiable girl had died from gunshot wounds to her head, authorities later said.
After the unidentified body was found, a lab in Utah analyzed items left at the scene, according to the sheriff in Wayne County.
“In less than 24 hours, the Crime Lab obtained confirmation that the Wayne County case was connected to the Santa Barbara case,” Sheriff Micah Gulley said in a statement.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said that the suspect in Melodee’s death was the person the child had “trusted the most in this world.”
“This level of criminal activity is particularly shocking given the calculated, cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it,” Sheriff Brown said. “We have recovered a significant amount of evidence that clearly indicates that this heinous crime was committed by Ashlee Buzzard, Melodee’s mother.”
The examination of a spent shell casing found in Ashlee’s home matched what was found at the scene in Utah, and live similar rounds were found in Ashlee’s car, officials said.
Authorities have confirmed that Melodee died from multiple gunshot wounds, including at least one to the head.
Melodee was last seen on video with Ashlee on October 9 near the Colorado and Utah state line. Detectives now believe Melodee was killed shortly after this sighting, according to law enforcement.
Ashlee returned home to California the day after this final sighting.
On December 22 , the FBI Crime Lab was able to determine that the remains from Utah were a “familial DNA match” to Ashlee, and investigators got a warrant to arrest her on suspicion of murder.
Ashlee was charged with first-degree murder in her daughter’s killing, which a criminal complaint said was carried out with exceptional “cruelty” and “viciousness.”
Ashlee appeared in court on December 26 and pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty if she is convicted, but would instead ask for life in prison without parole.
“Melodee deserved a far better life,” Sheriff Brown said. “She will never be forgotten.”
Sheriff Brown also spoke about Melodee’s extended family.
“Their strength, their patience and their steadfast hope have been evident from the very beginning,” he said. “No family should ever have to experience this kind of loss, and our hearts are with them today and will be with them in the difficult days ahead.”
He later added, “May God bless the innocent soul of Melodee Elani Buzzard, who we will never, ever forget.”
We have learned more about Ashlee’s early life.
When Ashlee was just 9 years old — the same age as Melodee when she went missing — she and her mother, Lori Miranda, became homeless after fleeing Ashlee’s abusive father, Miranda told the Santa Maria Times in 1995.
The article, titled “Lessons From the School of Hard Knocks,” describes how Lori and Ashlee arrived on the streets of Santa Maria with no job, home or car and only $40 to support them.
They had previously moved from place to place to get away from Lori’s husband, who she said struggled with substance use and episodes of violence. In June 1994, Lori decided to take her daughter from Orange County to the Central Coast to be farther away from him, and they briefly lived at the Good Samaritan Shelter in Santa Maria before moving into an apartment.
“I was so scared,” Ashlee told the paper, describing her early days in Santa Maria. “I knew no one [here]. I felt very uncomfortable.”
When Ashlee was in the 11th grade at Santa Maria High School, she filed a petition to be emancipated from her mother, according to court records. The judge rejected the petition, noting that Ashlee was still living with her mother and had not submitted adequate information pertaining to her income and expenses.
This is a developing story and this blog will be updated.
SOURCE LIST
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/26/us/melodee-ashlee-buzzard-investigation
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