Melodee Buzzard: Missing California 9-year-old girl found dead

Melodee Buzzard found dead in Utah, sheriff says

Missing California 9-year-old girl Melodee Buzzard was found dead in Utah.

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KTTV) - Melodee Buzzard, the missing 9-year-old California girl, has been found dead in Utah.

What we know:

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown announced on Tuesday, December 23 that Buzzard's body was found in Wayne County, Utah.

In the wake of the 9-year-old girl's death, Buzzard's mother, Ashlee Buzzard, has since been detained by FBI and Santa Barbara County deputies. 

Brown acknowledged that the 9-year-old girl's death is going to be complicated to investigate.

"Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend," the Santa Barbara County Sheriff said. "This level of criminal activity is particularly shocking given the calculated cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it and the ruthlessness that went in to actually committing the crime."

The backstory:

Prior to the news of her death, Melodee Buzzard was last seen on October 9 near the Colorado-Utah border in the middle of a family trip.

At the time of the 9-year-old's disappearance, Melodee was allegedly taken by her mother, who was also accused of driving a Cherovet Malibu with a fake New York license plate.

Prior to Tuesday's news, Ashell Buzzard was arrested for an unrelated crime. During the earlier stages of the investigation over Melodee's disappearance, an Oct. 7 surveillance footage shared by a car rental facility in Lompoc showed the mother-and-daughter duo wearing wigs. The two allegedly switched them out over the course of the road trip, authorities said during the early stages of the investigation.