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

[Knox]

It’s been awfully quiet lately, SBCSO hasn’t put out a media release in a while. That’s who I want to hear from. The peripherals need to stick to social media.

 

[Wishbone]

Where is she? With strangers mommy met at a zoo? GMAB. I fear something terrible has happened to MB.

 

[Deedee102901]

Hoping to get help in here.
I remember reading sometime from a neighbor stating Ashlee would not let Melodee play with her child because she didn't play well with others due to being autistic. This is the only source I've seen making that statement but I can't remember where I saw it. Article or video, or even a forum comment? Can someone point me in the right direction please.

 

[sasha17]

Hoping to get help in here.
I remember reading sometime from a neighbor stating Ashlee would not let Melodee play with her child because she didn't play well with others due to being autistic. This is the only source I've seen making that statement but I can't remember where I saw it. Article or video, or even a forum comment? Can someone point me in the right direction please.

I haven't watched the video myself but earlier in the thread, this video was linked for the source of the autism claim:

 

[truecrimel]

This case was moving incredibly quick last month and it seems to have slowed down considerably. I hope police know more than they are saying and are close to making some progress. Can’t stop thinking about little Melodee. I hope wherever she is that she’s safe and warm.

 

[Lebowski]

you never know how long a case will go on. some are solved in 5 minutes, some in 5 years, some in 5 never.

 

[Eli9]

This case was moving incredibly quick last month and it seems to have slowed down considerably. I hope police know more than they are saying and are close to making some progress. Can’t stop thinking about little Melodee. I hope wherever she is that she’s safe and warm.

LE was clearly surveilling her at her rental and no doubt followed her to her next dwelling. We just don't happen to know where she is right now so things have died down. Part of me believes that they are waiting her out as a charge of child abandonment doesn't get much time in CA. About a year and a fine. And there needs to be, at least in the case of a living child, a certain period of time to pass before charges are pressed.

The question I can't answer is does LE know/think MB is alive or deceased. I hope they are monitoring AB's banking. I hate the wait.

 

[blueelephant]

This case is weighing heavily on me.

How long does it take for forensics to come back? Is it strange that there is no info reported to the public about what they examined in her house?

Also, can they give Ashlee a psychiatric evaluation and potentially admit her for inpatient treatment if she is found to be unstable? It seems like if CPS is called for a wellness check and they find that the parent is unable to care for the child and needs mental health help they would take the parent to the hospital for treatment. I don’t see how this situation is really any different. Police were notified due to concerns from the school, and no child was present and the mother is not saying where she is. How is that not grounds to do a psych eval at the very least? If Ashlee is in fact very sick, getting treatment could potentially save Melodee’s life if she is still alive.

It seems like as a society our job should be to care for our most vulnerable (in this case children) and just letting the mother move about as she pleases with no accountability seems so wrong in my opinion. I’m also feeling very angry that it seems (granted this is me speculating) that Ashlee wasn’t provided more thorough, consistent care over the years given her previous mental health struggles because ultimately it’s the child who is so affected.

Just such a sad situation all around given Ashlee’s traumatic upbringing that has now been passed down to Melodee. JMO

 

[Cedars]

This case is weighing heavily on me.

How long does it take for forensics to come back? Is it strange that there is no info reported to the public about what they examined in her house?

Also, can they give Ashlee a psychiatric evaluation and potentially admit her for inpatient treatment if she is found to be unstable? It seems like if CPS is called for a wellness check and they find that the parent is unable to care for the child and needs mental health help they would take the parent to the hospital for treatment. I don’t see how this situation is really any different. Police were notified due to concerns from the school, and no child was present and the mother is not saying where she is. How is that not grounds to do a psych eval at the very least? If Ashlee is in fact very sick, getting treatment could potentially save Melodee’s life if she is still alive.

It seems like as a society our job should be to care for our most vulnerable (in this case children) and just letting the mother move about as she pleases with no accountability seems so wrong in my opinion. I’m also feeling very angry that it seems (granted this is me speculating) that Ashlee wasn’t provided more thorough, consistent care over the years given her previous mental health struggles because ultimately it’s the child who is so affected.

Just such a sad situation all around given Ashlee’s traumatic upbringing that has now been passed down to Melodee. JMO

I think it's natural to imagine 'what if' and wish nothing had ever happened.

However, I think there are two separate issues here: crimes and criminal law, and family issues and family law.

IMO, Melodee's case bypassed family law and went straight into the realm of criminal law. That may have been intentional by her mother.

From the criminal law end, investigators aim to prosecute for the actual wrong-doing/felony (kidnapping, assault, manslaughter, etc) and for that they need sufficient evidence, beyond a reasonsble doubt. Whether a key suspect has concocted an elaborate fake story, is just refusing to speak, or has given a true confession or a false confession (they didn't do it but say they did) - IMO that's not the key point. LE always look to 'solve' the case using hard evidence, and prosecute the actual perp, while also respecting people's constitutional rights.

In terms of family law and child protective services, IMO those laws have been written for non-criminal situations. No one is considered to have committed a crime in family law. The actions taken in that context are not intended to punish people for wrong-doing, but to try to aid families in staying together for the benefit of all. IMO, taking a child away from her mother is an extreme act of interference in the natural rights of women to give birth and raise their own children, and there has to be very strong evidence of serious harm to take that action. IMO, the school was getting vibes of a relatively minor harm that M wasn't getting the education that a 9 year old needs, and were starting to make noises about that, as a solveable problem. But, as far as I can tell, no one suspected Ashley as being likely to physically harm Melodee.

IMO, Ashley may have gone nuclear on a very minor, easily solved family law issue. I think that's on her, she's responsible, it was her choice, no one could have predicted or prevented her from deliberately doing that, just like in any other crime.

JMO

 

[TMich6811]

This case is weighing heavily on me.

How long does it take for forensics to come back? Is it strange that there is no info reported to the public about what they examined in her house?

Also, can they give Ashlee a psychiatric evaluation and potentially admit her for inpatient treatment if she is found to be unstable? It seems like if CPS is called for a wellness check and they find that the parent is unable to care for the child and needs mental health help they would take the parent to the hospital for treatment. I don’t see how this situation is really any different. Police were notified due to concerns from the school, and no child was present and the mother is not saying where she is. How is that not grounds to do a psych eval at the very least? If Ashlee is in fact very sick, getting treatment could potentially save Melodee’s life if she is still alive.

It seems like as a society our job should be to care for our most vulnerable (in this case children) and just letting the mother move about as she pleases with no accountability seems so wrong in my opinion. I’m also feeling very angry that it seems (granted this is me speculating) that Ashlee wasn’t provided more thorough, consistent care over the years given her previous mental health struggles because ultimately it’s the child who is so affected.

Just such a sad situation all around given Ashlee’s traumatic upbringing that has now been passed down to Melodee. JMO

Ashlee broke educational law which warrants LE investigation.
There is nothing to indicate a psychiatric evaluation is warranted here, that we’ve been told anyway.

I understand the mindset that people do bad things because they are psychiatric unwell but there is still free will and choice. People generally engage in unlawful behavior because of choice, circumstance or intention. Not psychiatric needs. Crime isn’t a symptom of mental illness and people can be harmful without a psychiatric backing. We cannot do a psychiatric admission to everyone who chooses to not control themselves when they know right from wrong.

I still do not believe this is psychiatric related but even if it is, I think the above is incredibly important

 

[bluestsocks]

This case is weighing heavily on me.

How long does it take for forensics to come back? Is it strange that there is no info reported to the public about what they examined in her house?

Also, can they give Ashlee a psychiatric evaluation and potentially admit her for inpatient treatment if she is found to be unstable? It seems like if CPS is called for a wellness check and they find that the parent is unable to care for the child and needs mental health help they would take the parent to the hospital for treatment. I don’t see how this situation is really any different. Police were notified due to concerns from the school, and no child was present and the mother is not saying where she is. How is that not grounds to do a psych eval at the very least? If Ashlee is in fact very sick, getting treatment could potentially save Melodee’s life if she is still alive.

It seems like as a society our job should be to care for our most vulnerable (in this case children) and just letting the mother move about as she pleases with no accountability seems so wrong in my opinion. I’m also feeling very angry that it seems (granted this is me speculating) that Ashlee wasn’t provided more thorough, consistent care over the years given her previous mental health struggles because ultimately it’s the child who is so affected.

Just such a sad situation all around given Ashlee’s traumatic upbringing that has now been passed down to Melodee. JMO

A court can order a parent to undergo evaluations as part of a juvenile case, but the consequences of not complying with that aren’t involuntary commitment - the consequences are you may lose your child to a state agency’s custody. In this case, there’s no child to remove. I’m not entirely sure why no one has sought to involve juvenile family court in this case, to try to get an order to produce the child, but I’m sure there’s some reason we simply don’t have access to. But really, to your point, the only way to truly force someone to get an evaluation is to order it as part of criminal proceedings, and even then “unstable” isn’t a reason for involuntary commitment - that requires a finding of immediate danger to oneself or others. I believe Melodee’s mother is pretty seriously mentally ill, but you can be very unwell and still not qualify for involuntary commitment.

 

[blueelephant]

A court can order a parent to undergo evaluations as part of a juvenile case, but the consequences of not complying with that aren’t involuntary commitment - the consequences are you may lose your child to a state agency’s custody. In this case, there’s no child to remove. I’m not entirely sure why no one has sought to involve juvenile family court in this case, to try to get an order to produce the child, but I’m sure there’s some reason we simply don’t have access to. But really, to your point, the only way to truly force someone to get an evaluation is to order it as part of criminal proceedings, and even then “unstable” isn’t a reason for involuntary commitment - that requires a finding of immediate danger to oneself or others. I believe Melodee’s mother is pretty seriously mentally ill, but you can be very unwell and still not qualify for involuntary commitment.

Thank you for this explanation!