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

  • #101
  • #102
DBM
 
Last edited:
  • #103
The Lompoc Unified School District said Friday that 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, missing from Vandenberg Village, was first enrolled in the district just two months ago and was last seen in August, narrowing the timeline in a case that has drawn widespread attention.

In a written statement released Friday afternoon, district officials said Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, visited Mission Valley Independent School in August to begin the registration process for independent study, a program in which students complete coursework off campus under teacher supervision.

Under California education law, independent-study programs require ongoing contact between families and credentialed teachers. If a student does not begin attendance or fails to engage, schools must initiate truancy protocols — including phone calls, written notices, and welfare checks requested through law enforcement.

The district said it could not share the information earlier at the request of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation.

 
  • #104
Send this in to LE. (805) 681-4150. Or anonymous (805) 681-4171
Not necessary, she went missing only recently. It was to show a pic with the hair tied up
 
  • #105
  • #106
I don't think refusing to tell law enforcement where a child is provides probable cause for an arrest. You need evidence of a crime for that, and simply not knowing where a child is doesn't rise to that level.

I wish they would create a law in all 50 states to address this. It would have to be carefully thought-out, but to prevent these exact situations.
 
  • #107
Oh, just like Lori Vallow? That’s a ridiculous thing to propose LE should accept as an answer.

ETA-Teeby this isn’t directed at you personally. You are simply playing devils advocate right?
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. :/
 
  • #108
The only thing I could consider is that mom got involved in something and fears for her safety

This isn’t the case I’m sure, but the only possibility that could make any sense
 
  • #109
Not necessary, she went missing only recently. It was to show a pic with the hair tied up
When I made that post we didn't know exactly when she went missing. Now we are updated with a new 'last seen' date.
 
  • #110
Well, thank goodness it hasn’t been a full year. Though I do question why the school is just now doing what they’re supposed to be? What took so long
 
  • #111
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. :/

Maybe just make school attendance mandatory or more oversight on homeschooling. And check-in each week, by phone or computer, and mandatory physical check-in at school once a quarter.
 
  • #112
The Lompoc Unified School District said Friday that 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, missing from Vandenberg Village, was first enrolled in the district just two months ago and was last seen in August, narrowing the timeline in a case that has drawn widespread attention.

In a written statement released Friday afternoon, district officials said Melodee and her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, visited Mission Valley Independent School in August to begin the registration process for independent study, a program in which students complete coursework off campus under teacher supervision.
[snip]
I hope they have a way to make sure that the child that visited the school was actually Melodee though. If she had only just enrolled, it's unlikely anyone at the school knew her. It may be unlikely, but not impossible, that she was already missing and a child was "borrowed" to stand in as her. Would school staff definitely speak to a child in this scenario or is there a chance to avoid that?
 
  • #113
I hope they have a way to make sure that the child that visited the school was actually Melodee though. If she had only just enrolled, it's unlikely anyone at the school knew her. It may be unlikely, but not impossible, that she was already missing and a child was "borrowed" to stand in as her. Would school staff definitely speak to a child in this scenario or is there a chance to avoid that?

I feel like the police have likely viewed video
 
  • #114
Maybe just make school attendance mandatory or more oversight on homeschooling. And check-in each week, by phone or computer, and mandatory physical check-in at school once a quarter.
I like the mandatory physical check-in part.
 

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