Found Deceased CA - Melodee Buzzard, 9, Vandenberg Village, 14 Oct 2025 *Mother arrested*

[iamshadow21]

Do amish kids for example have public and traceable school records? From an outsiders pov it seems that there are so many weird cult-like, politically motivated, religion-based etc ways to disappear in the US if someone was feeling very paranoid. If a kid was dropped off at say a community of doomsday-preppers, why would they ever feel the need to enrol her in the public school system? They’d just “school” her themselves.

Amongst the Amish and amongst a lot of the Utah groups, large and small, a brown kid like Melodee is really going to stand out. Some groups are actively white only.

I'd also suggest that most prepper groups are looking for useful members who can contribute labour and skills. An unaccompanied minor who's lived in the city her whole life isn't going to have much to offer.

MOO

 

[Beans]

I'm not sure I've ever heard of a case where extemist/prepper/anti-govt. cult/militia folks stepped up and volunteered to hide a kid for someone. I'm not saying it's never happened, but it doesn't seem very realistic to me.

jmo

Check out the River Jennings / Lee Jennings / Sarah Stanley case. It doesn’t fit this description perfectly but it was definitely an eye opener when it came to the ways in which these organisations operate.

 

[Beans]

And it doesn't seem to me that she wants to protect the child, it seems to me that she needs him for financial benefits, thanks to the fact that she has a child and some program she doesn't even have to pay rent. That's why she was afraid of losing the girl. That angry look she had at the girl in the video tells me everything. All that remains is to wait for a miracle. The child must be insured and she is the beneficiary. Her first child was taken away from her because she fed the child rotten food.

I can’t agree with the financial aspect of this. Nothing Ashlee has done in the last few weeks will protect any alleged financial interests.

 

[TMich6811]

Bottom line is, if benefits are being paid out for Melodee and Ashlee cannot/will not produce her to demonstrate she's being properly cared for, that's SS fraud.

I don’t disagree that this should be how it is.

But I guess I can’t say it is - is this social security law? I don’t have a clue personally

 

[Tortoise]

I don’t disagree that this should be how it is.

But I guess I can’t say it is - is this social security law? I don’t have a clue personally

Yes, it's Grand Theft, if it reaches a certain threshold. Lori Vallow Daybell was charged with it, for continuing to receive child social security benefits, after her children JJ and Tylee were murdered by her and Chad.

They first got her into custody for failing to produce her children by a set date, and was charged with desertion of minor children. Then that changed to murder once they found their bodies.

 

[TMich6811]

Yes, it's Grand Theft, if it reaches a certain threshold. Lori Vallow Daybell was charged with it, for continuing to receive child social security benefits, after her children JJ and Tylee were murdered by her and Chad.

They first got her into custody for failing to produce her children by a set date, and was charged with desertion of minor children. Then that changed to murder once they found their bodies.

No I understand this, absolutely grand theft when it’s determined to be neglect/parents/crime related

But before it’s fraud they have to be in custody right or a crime to have occurred? LE hasn’t named a crime related to this yet. I’d think they would have to give a crime related to her missing first before they can say she’s stealing.

Eta clarity

 

[Greenestdays]

Amongst the Amish and amongst a lot of the Utah groups, large and small, a brown kid like Melodee is really going to stand out. Some groups are actively white only.

I genuinely didn’t even consider the race aspect But yes, now you mention it, she probably would stand out in the kind of setting I was theorizing about.

 

[Tortoise]

No I understand this, absolutely grand theft when it’s determined to be neglect/parents/crime related

But before it’s fraud they have to be in custody right or a crime to have occurred? LE hasn’t named a crime related to this yet. I’d think they would have to give a crime related to her missing first before they can say she’s stealing.

Eta clarity

I don't think being in custody is an element, I think (and it's only my opinion, not that I've researched the law on this) they would only need to demonstrate that the parent was claiming money for a child no longer in their care.

 

[TMich6811]

I don't think being in custody is an element, I think (and it's only my opinion, not that I've researched the law on this) they would only need to demonstrate that the parent was claiming money for a child no longer in their care.

I agree

Looks like this is pretty clearly defined. Needs to be reported by the 2nd month and the penalty is withholding. So she’s just now out of compliance

https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.18/handbook-1831.html#:~:text=1831.1Is%20it%20required%20to,were%20required%20for%20that%20period.

Eta I wonder when it crosses to criminal

 

[iamshadow21]

I genuinely didn’t even consider the race aspect But yes, now you mention it, she probably would stand out in the kind of setting I was theorizing about.

Yeah, a lot of say, for example, LDS offshoots and splinter groups are primarily, if not exclusively white. FLDS is heavily composed of generations of family members back to the early days, and groups like the AUB (of Sister Wives fame) still adhere to discrimination against members of colour in a way the mainstream LDS church did away with forty years ago. I can't speak to smaller less well known groups that haven't been publicly documented, but Utah as a state skews very white anyway just in raw census demographics.

MOO

 

[Ruminations]

Yeah I mean obviously I'm also super worried about this child and think the likelihood that her mother is concealing her abuse or death is really high ... But I'm just not sure that there's a way to criminalize this kind of behavior without destabilizing a lot of our really important constitutional freedoms like the right not to self incriminate, innocent until proven guilty, right against searches/seizures without probable cause, etc. :/

I can imagine a few scenarios where one would not want to tell LE where their child is. For example, if you want the child's location unknown to an abuser who is a police officer.

However, there should be some work-around. Such as having a handful of agencies a guardian can choose from that would have the authority to report back on a welfare check. If a person was given the choice of several agencies to check on a child, was promised confidentiality except if the child is in danger, that would allow a person who wants to stay private stay private in every instance except the instance that the confidentiality will be broken if the child is in danger is a deal breaker for the guardian.

For instance, what if a guardian can choose between local police, state police, child welfare, a large domestic violence agency, local school district and state education department? And be promised that if the child is not in danger, the original agency that requested the welfare check is not informed? I can see a situation where a person abuses that to do something mean to an adult, such as deny the loving adult access to a child, but I can't see how that would not solve the problem of someone who believed that the location of their (safe) child had to be kept secret.

MOO

 

[Ruminations]

True, but it's been said that she has a history of mental health problems. That may be because of drug usage or it may be incorrect, rumours etc.

But the way she is responding to this situation seems like someone with mental health issues, imo. It is not normal behaviour.

And her daughter wearing wigs and her stealing license plates for her road trip, in which he daughter goes missing----all of that is indicative of someone being irrational, imo.

If she feels she is being tracked by LE on her road trip, then she has something weird going on with her family situation. They are not going to try and track her unless there is something wrong with that parental situation. IMO

I have no knowledge of Ashlee's mental health, and I am not a mental health expert.

While I believe a person with paranoid delusions might take actions to avoid being followed when they are not, I also think a sound minded criminal would do the same.

If you are doing something illegal, taking actions like switching plates, wigs and shoes to make establishing a timeline of your travels difficult is not delusional. It's a reasonable attempt to avoid getting caught.

MOO

 

[minazoe]

getting Valllow/Anthony/ Horman vibes. mOO

 

[Ruminations]

"Shes been in the loonie hospital twice" Nice way to put it Grandma, no wonder Ashlee doesn't want any thing to do with The maternal side of the family.

11:08 in the video.

130K views · 2K reactions | Lilly Denes, the paternal grandmother of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, talks to NewsNation and affiliate KTLA about her frustration with Ashlee Buzzard's release from custody following a court hearing relating to a f

Lilly Denes, the paternal grandmother of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, talks to NewsNation and affiliate KTLA about her frustration with Ashlee Buzzard's release from custody following a court...

www.facebook.com

I didn't watch the video. This might not be fair.

But...if you know the single parent of your grandchild is mentally ill enough for 2 hospitalizations, don't you make moves to get some kind of legal regular visitation rights or otherwise put yourself out there as a resource for your grandchild? Not saying you will get access if the parent is set against it, at least in the short term. But if the single parent becomes unable to parent, you're in line to help parent the child instead of foster care.

I would petition for guardianship and visitation of any grandchild I did not have normal access to, or that had an unstable parent. And with super intensity if both were true. Foster care is well meaning, but not generally a good situation.

MOO

 

[Megnut]

Is it possible that Ashlee had been depriving both herself and Melodee food for quite some time? Punitive or out of paranoia....

JMO

 

[Jo in Calif]

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Lots of information in this article about Ashlee and Melodee's past, according to paternal Grandma.

 

[Eli9]

Is it possible that Ashlee had been depriving both herself and Melodee food for quite some time? Punitive or out of paranoia....

JMO

Anything is possible at this point. What is it that makes you think this may be the case?

 

[katydid23]

Anything is possible at this point. What is it that makes you think this may be the case?

I had a similar thought when I saw the pictures of Melodee in the rental office. Her legs look soooooo skinny compared to her younger pics. And her face is much thinner.

I know kids change drastically. My granddaughter is now 10---and she has shot up in height recently and has long thin legs compared to age 5, 6, 7 etc. I know that is normal.

But I thought MB looked unusually thin in her most recent picture.

 

[Megnut]

Anything is possible at this point. What is it that makes you think this may be the case?

Same reasons @katydid23 outlined.

Sure, maybe Melodee slimmed up as she grew up but maybe it wasn't natural or voluntary.

If Ashlee is truly paranoid, maybe tainted food joined her list of paranoias.

Result: hyper focus on (food) deprivation.

If (tainted/spoiled) food was an issue previously, maybe Ashlee developed an intense fixation on not doing that again, you know, like a good mom. Intense and seriously unhealthy.

Trauma reaction/paranoia, doing everything in her power (obsessively) to prove she can care for Melodee (never ever serve her spoiled food) (by feeding her almost no food) (I think Melodee looks too thin) so no one would takes her away from her.

Grasping at straws here. Maybe she started to believe that food is dangerous and that Melodee can only live without it.

Which of course would be woefully delusional.

But here was are. A mother who refuses to produce her child...

JMO

 

[ivegotcha]

has she Ashley been seen carrying groceries in .to the home . ever ......