Missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard’s grandma recalls mom’s troubled mental state, rotting food in home as FBI joins search

Melodee Buzzard’s grandmother said that the missing 9-year-old’s mother has suffered from mental health issues in the past — and recalled a frightening time police were called to her daughter’s squalid home filled with rotting food to take the child away.

Relatives have raised concerns about the emotional state of Melodee’s mother, Ashlee Buzzard, who has been “uncooperative” with investigators since authorities began searching for her daughter after school officials in California reported she had not participated in her independent studies program in a year.

Buzzard’s mother, Lori Miranda, who had not seen her granddaughter in more than two years, told KSBY her daughter’s mental health has taken a drastic dive since 2016 when Melodee’s father was killed in a crash and the girl was just 6 months old.

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Miranda recalled receiving a call from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s office when Melodee was a baby, who said they were taking Buzzard to the hospital and Melodee to Child and Protective Services.

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Miranda said when she arrived at the house, it was a disaster.

“I couldn’t believe it was my daughter. I mean, the house was in disarray. There were raw eggs in pans, there was rotten food in the fridge I think she was trying to give my granddaughter,” she said.

She did not disclose what initially prompted the police response.

Miranda said she believes Buzzard “should be at the hospital” now, receiving treatment.

Buzzard has been “uncooperative” with investigators since they began searching for Melodee last week after school officials in the Lompoc Unified School District reported her “prolonged absence.”

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On Monday, police said Melodee was seen with her mother as recently as Oct. 7, mysteriously driving in a rental car as far as Nebraska — some 1,500 miles away from her home in Lompoc, about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara.

She’s since returned home but Melodee’s whereabouts are a mystery. 

Police went to look for the girl at her home last Tuesday following the concerning report from the school district, but Melodee was not there and Buzzard provided “no clear explanation … for her whereabouts,” according to officers.

The FBI has since joined in the investigation since the probe has crossed state lines.

“Ashlee Buzzard remains uncooperative and has not provided detectives with any information about Melodee’s current location or condition,” the sheriff’s office said.

Lizabeth Meza, Melodee’s aunt, said in a Facebook post that Buzzard is “extremely mentally unstable” and has kept her daughter from the rest of the family for more than four years.

Meza said that her brother, Melodee’s father, died in a crash when Melodee was just 6 months old.