The deputy’s knock came just before noon, but Ashley didn’t open the door all the way. She stood in the crack, one hand on the frame, and told them her daughter was with a friend. A name, maybe. An address, no.
The deputies asked again. Ashley closed the door. It was October 14th, 2025, and nine-year-old Melody Buzzard hadn’t been seen in months. The welfare check the school had asked for was supposed to be routine.
Instead, it became a missing person’s case. And then, just over two months later, a murder investigation. Melody’s father, Rubil Mesa, had died in a motorcycle accident when she was only six months old. He was a motorcycle enthusiast, part of a large loving family, and went by Chino or Penoi to those who knew him.
He also had an older daughter, Karina, from a previous relationship. Rubil’s mother, Lily, remembered Melody as a very happy baby, always smiling, very smart. Her uncle Marvin said she loved life, loved to dance around. Karina remembered Melody liking Frozen and puppies.
Ashley Buzzard’s life was nothing like Rubil’s. She had a troubled childhood. Her father was emotionally, verbally, and physically violent and took drugs regularly. In 1994, when Ashley was nine years old, her mother Lorie fled with her, boarding a bus with nothing but forty dollars to her name.
They stayed with relatives, then spent time at a shelter in Santa Maria. Lorie later said her ex had told her she was nothing and would always be nothing, but she knew she could be something. She got sober, earned her GED, and found steady work. Ashley, though, remained deeply introverted and socially awkward.
Yet there was something about Rubil that allowed her to open up. Their relationship was on and off, according to Karina. When Lily first met Ashley, she pulled her son aside and said, “Is this girl okay? She doesn’t look like she’s normal.
” Lily had the impression Ashley was mentally ill. Karina said her dad had told her about Ashley’s mental health challenges. Before Melody was born, Ashley had another daughter with a former partner. That child was removed from Ashley’s custody and placed in the father’s care.
Still, when Melody was born on February 10th, 2016, Ashley moved in with Rubil’s family. They welcomed her with open arms. For a brief moment, life appeared normal. Then Rubil died in a motorcycle accident just six months later.
Ashley spiraled. She attended the funeral but kept to herself. Karina said Ashley was devastated. She allowed the family to see Melody sometimes, but that contact dwindled to almost nothing.
Ashley filed for bankruptcy in 2017. The family wanted to care for Melody, but Ashley wouldn’t allow it. Around 2020, Ashley was hospitalized for undisclosed mental health reasons. A family member believed Ashley had intentionally crashed her car with Melody inside.
While Ashley was hospitalized, Melody’s uncle Marvin cared for her and was her legal guardian. Lily also tried to gain custody but never got a long-term placement. When Ashley was released, she pulled Melody out of school and cut off all contact with the paternal family. She filed a restraining order against Lily, completely preventing her from seeing her granddaughter.
She even changed Melody’s last name from Mesa to Buzzard. The last time the family physically saw Melody was around 2021. Elizabeth, Melody’s aunt, described it for Nancy Grace. Ashley brought Melody to Lily’s house, and the little girl played with Elizabeth’s kids.
But Ashley was acting very strange. She had shaved her head down to a buzz cut and wore a hoodie. Lily told her, “If you want to leave her here, she could stay here. ” Ashley looked at her and said, “I can’t do this.
” She grabbed Melody and left. That was the last time they saw her. Ashley moved with Melody to a single-story house in Vandenberg Village. She mostly kept to herself, rarely seen outside.
She locked the security door behind her when she went to the garage to keep Melody inside. She ordered groceries online from Walmart and only opened her door for deliveries. She never filed the paperwork to homeschool Melody. In August 2025, she enrolled Melody in an independent study program through the Lompoc Unified School District.
They visited the school to begin the enrollment process, but Melody never returned to pick up her assignment. On October 7th, someone spotted Ashley on CCTV renting a 2024 Chevy Malibu. Melody stood right beside her, wearing a wig and a hoodie. Ashley herself wore a wig too.
Detectives believed the disguises were meant to avoid being tracked. Lily, when shown the image, said she would never have recognized her granddaughter—she looked so different, lost a lot of weight, no hair. Ashley, the woman who rarely left her house, then went on a multi-state road trip covering up to three thousand miles, traveling as far as Nebraska and returning through Kansas. The FBI joined the investigation on October 18th.
They tracked the route with help from more than a dozen agencies, including FBI field offices in seven cities. Investigators believed Ashley swapped the rental car’s license plate with a fake New York plate. She backed her car into gas stations to avoid surveillance cameras. On October 9th, Melody was captured on surveillance video near the Colorado-Utah border.
The next day, Ashley returned home alone. On October 24th, about two dozen people gathered on Mars Avenue for a candle vigil in Melody’s honor. Melody’s uncle Marvin spoke, expressing frustration and bitterness over how the courts had handled Melody’s case years earlier. He said, “Had the court left Melody with us, she wouldn’t be missing.
”
On October 30th, detectives executed new search warrants at Ashley’s home, her storage unit, and her rental car. They recovered a spent bullet casing in the home and a similar round in the car. Both were sent to a national ballistics database. But they still lacked enough evidence to detain her.
All they could do was place her under twenty-four-hour surveillance. On November 6th, a man identified as TB, a legal document assistant and process server, went to Ashley’s home to offer help after learning about Melody’s disappearance. He later wrote that the situation escalated, that Ashley became visibly distressed after sharing information she appeared to regret disclosing. He claimed she produced a box cutter and that he was not immediately permitted to leave, the door secured by several locks.
He reported the incident to law enforcement. On November 12th, Ashley was arraigned on a false imprisonment charge and pleaded not guilty. She was released with a GPS monitor, no weapons, no contact with the alleged victim. But on November 20th, the judge dismissed the charge after audio of a conversation between Ashley and TB was played in court, concluding his account was inconsistent and the evidence insufficient.
Melody’s family grew increasingly desperate. Lily set up a shrine in her living room with photos of Melody with her late father, a picture of her smiling as a toddler, and a large black “bring her back” poster she had carried to a prayer vigil. With Thanksgiving approaching, she said it didn’t feel the same. She ignored the internet trolls who claimed the little girl was already dead.
“I know that maybe somebody out there in the world knows where my baby is,” she said. “Somebody has to know. ”
On December 6th, the case broke. An unsuspecting couple in Wayne County, Utah, were driving along a quiet dirt road hoping to take pictures.
Instead, they stumbled upon the decomposing body of a young girl partially concealed among dry brush. The remains were recovered and sent for forensic examination. Investigators also retrieved spent cartridge casings. The body had died from a gunshot wound to the head.
On December 17th, the ATF compared the cartridge casings recovered in Utah to a casing found inside Ashley’s home. They were a direct match. Investigators determined the route Ashley traveled aligned perfectly with the remote Utah location. On December 22nd, the FBI crime lab confirmed the remains were a familial DNA match to Ashley Buzzard.
Melody had died from a fatal gunshot wound to the head, likely killed in October, around the time Ashley took her on the road trip. Law enforcement concluded the killing was intentional. The following morning at approximately 7:51 a. m.
, deputies from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by the FBI, served search and arrest warrants at Ashley’s residence. She was booked on charges of first-degree murder. Sheriff Bill Brown addressed the media. “Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend, but 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 into actually committing the crime.
”
Lily got the call from Officer Oliver the day before Christmas Eve. He said, “I call you for respect because you’re the grandma and to let you know that the baby’s no longer here. ” She had the rest of her grandkids coming home. She was a mother of six, with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she had always loved celebrating the holidays with her whole family.
That year, it was a shocker. On December 26th, Ashley appeared before Judge John McGregor in a Santa Maria courtroom alongside her attorney. The courtroom was filled with members of Melody’s family. Pink bows were shared in her memory among those watching the proceedings via the court Zoom live stream.
The criminal complaint alleged the crime involved great violence, cruelty, callousness, or viciousness, that it was carried out with planning and sophistication, and that Ashley took advantage of a position of trust. Ashley pleaded not guilty and waived her right to a preliminary hearing within ten days. The judge granted a temporary gag order, prohibiting Sheriff Brown and his department from commenting or releasing additional evidence. The district attorney’s office announced they would not seek the death penalty, instead pursuing a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The decision sparked outrage among Melody’s family. Marvin expressed his anger plainly: “What she did is despicable. For what she did, the punishment should be a lot worse. ”
Sheriff Brown addressed Melody’s family directly at a news conference that day.
He said their strength, patience, and steadfast hope had been evident from the very beginning. “No family should ever have to experience this kind of loss and our hearts are with them today and will be with them in the difficult days ahead. May God bless the innocent soul of Melody Alani Buzzard who we will never ever forget. ”
Ashley was held without bail at the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria.
In the days following her arrest, residents visited the home in Vandenberg Village, covering the property with flowers, candles, and stuffed animals. Lily said they had no idea about funeral services yet. She also warned the public about fraudulent GoFundMe campaigns created in Melody’s name. “Please don’t send any money to none of those GoFundMes because we really don’t need it,” she said.
“It’s already covered by the state. ”
