CA CA - Melodee Buzzard, 9, Vandenberg Village, 14 Oct 2025

[TMich6811]

I wonder where they saw her with the wrong plate to confirm it was her with the plate vs just another car. There had to be an obvious link so I wonder where it was

 

[tlcya]

hotel, gas station, truck stop/travel center maybe?

 

[Lusitana]

WTF is going on and who is this person in the brown wig? Ashlee has round face with full cheeks, nit very prominent bone structure and thin lips. So who is this lady with angular face, strong jaw and full lips? What the heck is going on?

That is Ashlee, she has lost a lot of weight and looks nothing like the first picture that was released by LE. Seems like she has been struggling for quite some time. I wonder who even provided LE with the first two pictures of Ashlee and Melodee that were released, I can't believe Ashlee gave them the pictures if she's refusing to cooperate.

 

[tlcya]

That is Ashlee, she has lost a lot of weight and looks nothing like the first picture that was released by LE. Seems like she has been struggling for quite some time. I wonder who even provided LE with the first two pictures of Ashlee and Melodee that were released, I can't believe Ashlee gave them the pictures if she's refusing to cooperate.

probably family members from Melodee's paternal side, explaining why it was not at all a recent photo, and Ashlee's picture I am betting came from an old social media account of hers. MOO

 

[Stunned]

Well, this has taken an ominous turn, not that it wasn’t ominous previously.

Wearing wigs, renting a car, changing license plates, a big road trip and returning home without Melodee. Why the subterfuge? Who is she trying to hide from and why? How did she rent that vehicle with her credit issues?

Did they stay in motels? Sleep in the car?

This is getting stranger and stranger.

She left quite the trail. Was there a reason for that?

 

[Knox]

yeah. nitpick: u-haul's entire fleet is registered in arizona. but, yes, you'll see plates from all over on an interstate highway. especially from populous states like NY. we went on a road trip a few months ago and played the license plate game, so i feel like i should get registered with WS as a recognized expert or whatever. still looking for *expletive* hawaii.

assuming they were on the interstate, ashlee would have had plenty of opportunities to steal a NY plate at a rest stop, etc. that would be my guess for where she got it. i tend to think a paper license plate would either have trouble staying on or need so much tape it would look weird.



yup. if she stole it, she gave LE a hard data point telling them she was at a particular place at a particular time.

yeah. nitpick: u-haul's entire fleet is registered in arizona. but, yes, you'll see plates from all over on an interstate highway. especially from populous states like NY. we went on a road trip a few months ago and played the license plate game, so i feel like i should get registered with WS as a recognized expert or whatever. still looking for *expletive* hawaii.

assuming they were on the interstate, ashlee would have had plenty of opportunities to steal a NY plate at a rest stop, etc. that would be my guess for where she got it. i tend to think a paper license plate would either have trouble staying on or need so much tape it would look weird.



yup. if she stole it, she gave LE a hard data point telling them she was at a particular place at a particular time.

I’ll nitpick ya back
When you buy a car in California, instead of the taped license info in the drivers side window, they issue paper plates initially. New York also issues paper plates. I bought a new car late August, my plates arrived last week.

Not saying that’s what Ashlee did, only a possibility I thought of. Criminals are pretty inventive and evolve right along with new processes.

 

[Knox]

Maybe she looked for a car matching the make and model of the car she rented, and it happened to have a NY tag.

Agree likely just an oportune moment in time.

 

[katydid23]

With mental health issues being reported and the story not making any sense whatsoever, I am beginning to think that this might be exactly the cause.

The problem is, this might be very risky for Melodee. Ranging from "stay in this forest and the Clan will feed you" all the way to "the demons caught her and she had to go" with everything else in between. She is only 9 and has been realtively isolated. She will believe her mum on most things and if her mum is unwell, that might put her in extreme danger.

It is also possible that there is something else going on. But honestly, mabe it is not making sense because it is not making sense. The simplest explanation, IMO.

Yes, she might have paranoid delusions. imo


My other fear is that she might have been communicating with someone who wanted to get their hands on poor Melodee. That person may have been gaslighting Ashlee, feeding her delusions, and offering to pay for her visit to drop Melodee off for safety for everyone. "Let me help you Ashlee, I'm here for you."

 

[katydid23]

I wonder where they saw her with the wrong plate to confirm it was her with the plate vs just another car. There had to be an obvious link so I wonder where it was

maybe she used a debit/charge card somewhere, for gas or food?

 

[Knox]

maybe she used a debit/charge card somewhere, for gas or food?

What date was that again?

 

[Gigglingtoes]

There’s too many fb groups for me to know which one is worth reading. Overwhelmed me

 

[Lebowski]

Okay this is starting to look even more sinister now. However, could the disguises and number plate switching be down to some delusion of being watched or followed?

... (snipped)

Yes, she might have paranoid delusions. imo

... (snipped)

to be fair, she was being watched and followed.

or at least she is now. the subterfuge is completely rational, IF she was expecting law enforcement to try to track her and she really didn't want them to.

it's not a delusion when they are literally out to get you

 

[katydid23]

to be fair, she was being watched and followed.

or at least she is now. the subterfuge is completely rational, IF she was expecting law enforcement to try to track her and she really didn't want them to.

it's not a delusion when they are literally out to get you

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

 

[truthfinder2019]

To me the other question is: how does she make a living

 

[Knox]

At the time Ashlee took the road trip on October 7th, she wasn’t being watched or followed.

The school contacted LE for a well check sometime after that, the official missing bulletin was put out October 14th. So the subterfuge, at Enterprise was odd.

IMO, because the schools efforts to hold her accountable for Melodee’s truancy was escalating. She left on that road trip to do whatever she set out to do. This whole case is ridiculous, if she didn’t harm Melodee or leave her in a dangerous situation. It’s easy to fix. I’m over all the poor Ashley carp and the mental health crisis.

This is about a child’s safety and wellbeing. Prior to this circus, she wasn’t living her best life. Being isolated from the world isn’t healthy, it’s harmful. If Ashlee can’t be a good parent, Melodee should be removed again.

 

[Sjöberg]

she has lost a lot of weight

There can be many reasons for that (including plain old stress), but lack of appetite and sudden weight loss is actually also known symptom for psychosis. Oftentimes, the lack of apetite and sleep problems actually start slightly before the paranoia really sets in and delusions start etc.
In chronic patients, this weight loss is often amplified by the fact, that most antipsychotic medication makes people to gain weight in the first place, so when they stop their meds and therefore become symptomatic, there are two different triggers for the weight loss: pulling the medications effect that made them gain weight and the effects of the illness to lose weight.

Honestly, this might not be the case at all here, but as I read what Lusitana wrote, it just made me even more uneasy. But as I said, there are also tons of other reasons people can lose weight, from stress and financial diffiulties all the way to simply changing their eating habits or getting the jab.

 

[Gigglingtoes]

Here is a new interview with Ashlee’s mom. I couldn’t find a normal link. Here’s Instagram and it’s also on tik tok.

She says the route Ashlee took coming back from Utah to California that Ashlee’s parents “used to know” people on that route. She is concerned about the disguise on Melodee and upset and claims someone is setting these things up for Ashlee and it’s not Ashlee..?

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Lebowski]

At the time Ashlee took the road trip on October 7th, she wasn’t being watched or followed.

The school contacted LE for a well check sometime after that, the official missing bulletin was put out October 14th. So the subterfuge, at Enterprise was odd.

IMO, because the schools efforts to hold her accountable for Melodee’s truancy was escalating. She left on that road trip to do whatever she set out to do. This whole case is ridiculous, if she didn’t harm Melodee or leave her in a dangerous situation. It’s easy to fix. I’m over all the poor Ashley carp and the mental health crisis.

This is about a child’s safety and wellbeing. Prior to this circus, she wasn’t living her best life. Being isolated from the world isn’t healthy, it’s harmful. If Ashlee can’t be a good parent, Melodee should be removed again.

(bbm)

ok, i had thought LE had visited the house before the road trip and had possibly triggered it. i guess that's wrong? but, even so, it seems like the school's interactions with ashlee before the LE call still could have been a trigger. do we know what the school said to her, and when they said it?

if they were saying stuff like "we need to talk to the police/CPS", or even just using strong, scoldy language, she could have anticipated LE coming to look for melodee, even if LE hadn't gotten involved yet. and that anticipation would have been correct. ... if you're with me on all that, i'd say the subterfuge still makes sense, even if she took it to a foil-hat extreme.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Here is a new interview with Ashlee’s mom. I couldn’t find a normal link. Here’s Instagram and it’s also on tik tok.

She says the route Ashlee took coming back from Utah to California that Ashlee’s parents “used to know” people on that route. She is concerned about the disguise on Melodee and upset and claims someone is setting these things up for Ashlee and it’s not Ashlee..?

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Video link doesn't work. Who was it that interviewed her?

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Video link doesn't work. Who was it that interviewed her?

Chrystal Bermudez, KSBY News
This maternal grandmother did mention that there were family members of Ashlee's mother and dad who lived on that route she took... specifically Utah and west of Utah (pretty sure that is what the grandmother meant)

“This is just so shocking to me that my granddaughter is dressed in a disguise… This is just so overwhelming. It’s just so really scary.”

Three weeks since 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard was reported missing, new images show her and her mother at a Lompoc rental car location before their road trip.

Investigators are focusing on Oct 9–10, with help from the FBI and law enforcement in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.

Anyone with information can call (805) 681-4150 or leave an anonymous tip at (805) 681-4171.

#melodeebuzzard #vandenbergvillage #colorado #utah #missingchild