The body of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard has been located, and her mom has been arrested more than two months after the child vanished during an impromptu mother-daughter road trip.
Ashlee Buzzard was in custody Tuesday in connection with the young California girl’s disappearance, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Melodee’s body was found in Utah in early December, authorities confirmed.
Law enforcement sources said the young girl’s body was found in an area where Melodee had traveled with her mother in October.
It is believed that Melodee was killed and that she likely died in October, before her disappearance was reported.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office told the outlet it would be sharing “major developments” in the missing girl’s case at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Melodee was last seen on camera with her mother on Oct. 9 near the Colorado-Utah border after the pair took a sudden road trip from their home in Lompoc, California, and went as far as Nebraska.
But family members said they haven’t seen the girl for over a year, and described the elder Buzzard as “extremely mentally unstable.”
The mother has been uncooperative with investigators.
Buzzard and her daughter wore wigs as they walked into a Santa Barbara car rental outlet on Oct. 7 to obtain a Chevrolet Malibu.
The next day, however, their car was clocked on the road with New York plates, and when it was returned on Oct. 10 in California, the original plates had been returned, and Melodee was not with her mother.
Ashlee, 40, faced felony false imprisonment charges last month in a case unrelated to the disappearance of her daughter.
The charges — filed following allegations that she tried to prevent a man from leaving her home — were ultimately dropped.
The case was dismissed after an audio recording appeared to disprove claims made by the victim, who described himself as a “legal document assistant”.
He told authorities that Ashlee became agitated while discussing the disappearance of her daughter.
Melodee was reported as missing in October after Lompoc Unified School District staff noticed that the homeschooled elementary school girl had been absent for a prolonged period of time.
