Missing 9-Year-Old Melodee Buzzard Found Dead, and Mom Is in Custody By Christine Pelisek 107

Authorities have discovered the body of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard two months after she disappeared — and taken her mother into custody.

Melodee’s decomposing body was discovered on the side of a road on Dec. 6 in Wayne County, Utah, by a man and women taking photos, Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said at a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 23.

The girl, who had sustained gunshot wounds to her head, was identified only on Dec. 22, when the FBI notified the Santa Barbara County Sheriff that the remains’ DNA matched Melodee’s mother, Ashlee Buzzard.

Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was arrested on murder charges on Dec. 23, Brown 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 into actually committing the crime,” said Brown.

“We have recovered a significant amount of evidence that clearly indicates that this heinous crime was committed by Ashlee Buzzard, Melodee’s mother, and the very person upon who she relied upon and trusted the most in this world,” Brown continued.

Brown said investigators had matched an expended cartridge found in Ashlee’s home with casings found at the crime scene in Utah.

Melodee was seen on video surveillance with her mother on Oct. 9 at a rest stop near the Utah-Colorado border, Brown said, adding she is believed to have been killed shortly after that.

Melodee was reported missing on Oct. 14 by a school official who flagged her “prolonged absence,” according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities at the time said Ashlee was refusing to cooperate with investigators.

She was arrested on Friday, Nov. 7 on false imprisonment in a different case, the sheriff’s office announced.

In November, the sheriff’s department released security camera footage showing Melodee with Ashlee on Oct. 7, around the time the girl vanished.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Earlier, investigators released CCTV photos stills at a car rental business in California where Melodee was seen in a wig, which officers alleged was likely Ashlee’s attempt to disguise the little girl.

In a statement on Thursday, Nov. 6, the sheriff’s office said they have also discovered that Ashlee also wore a wig at the car rental in the video captured on Oct. 7, alleging the mother “swapped” wigs several times during the trip that ensued.