← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Glammed Up for Court… After Cutting Melodee’s Face Out of Posters?! | The Ashlee Buzzard Meltdown
00:22:23
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- [00:06]
A
Hey, everyone. I'm Ashley Banfield and this is Drop dead Serious. And I think you're going to notice a change in the podcast as my partner, Atlas, is no longer with us. I know he was a big part of this production. We had our Atlas cam. And I know so many of you used to love seeing him in the studio. He was at my feet and not just in the studio at all times. And I am feeling a massive void, not gonna lie. But I just wanted to let you know I have a little tribute here in the studio to Atlas. His collar and his leash, his water bowl, which was always here in the studio, and a couple of his favorite Mother Hubbard Crunchies. He loved those. I'm not advertising for them. It's not a sponsorship. They were just his favorite little milk bones. And so I have two of them here. But I just wanted to let you know that's why you're not going to see Atlas on the Atlas cam for the podcast. But I'm going to get straight to work because I know you're here for, you know, our true crime community. I don't know if you have an ex, an ex that you'd like to erase from your camera roll, or maybe a former friend who burned you so badly you still can't look at old photos without wanting to crop them out. But leave it to Ashley Buzzard, as out in Lompoc, California, to take that coping mechanism and twist it into something so strange, so disturbing, you almost can't believe it's real. Ashley is the mother of nine year old Melody Buzzard, that little girl who's not been seen now in 41 days. And I'm recording this on November 19th. 41 days of silence. 41 days of questions. 41 days of a community wondering if melody is safe. 41 days of wondering if Melody is alive. And during that entire time, Ashley has stonewalled the investigators. She's had her home and her rental car and her storage unit raided by the feds. She's been charged with falsely imprisoning the very acquaintance who was trying to help her find her missing daughter. And I've got an update on that case. Wow. Just a second from now, I'm going to bring you just a real bizarro twist. You won't believe how she showed up for court this morning. And again, it is November 19th, so hold that for a second. But I'm going to bet that you remember seeing that bewildering video of Ashley Buzzard ripping down her daughter's missing child posters that were staked in her front yard. For reasons that nobody can fathom right until possibly now, a private investigator hired by Melody's aunt has just dropped a bombshell. Wait until you hear what Ashley Buzzard did to those posters once she brought them into her house. And do you remember what I mentioned to you about what you do when you got an ex or a friend that crossed you, what you do with the photos? The private investigator that was hired by the family of little Melody's late dad, he says a person who was inside Ashley's home saw her cutting Melody's face out of those missing person posters. You heard that, right? Let it just sink in for a minute. Mom collects up all the missing person posters of her child missing now 41 days, brings them into the house and if this account is correct, starts cutting the faces of Melody out of the posters. What normal folks do to people they consider dead to them. Ashley Buzzard did to her own missing and endangered child. So does Ashley Buzzard consider Melody dead to her? Does she consider or does she know the child to be dead, period? Interestingly, the private investigator says not necessarily. And this is the really weird and spooky part. My NewsNation colleague Brian Enten has been on the streets of Lompoc, California and spoke exclusively with this private investigator. And here's what he told Brian.
- [04:28]
B
So the posters had photographs of Melody. They didn't take up the entire photo, the entire poster, but they were snapshots that were projected onto the posters. So I understand that she had cut these photographs off of the poster.
- [04:47]
C
So she cut Melody out of the.
- [04:48]
B
Missing poster, out of several of the missing posters.
- [04:51]
C
And why would she do that?
- [04:53]
B
Not sure. But what she did with them is she placed them on the table in her home. To me it represents an altar. Not saying that she's deceased, but it's something that she can have some memory of. And that's what I, that's what I picked up from that.
- [05:15]
A
And you're going to hear more from that private investigator in just a hot minute. Again, he was hired by the sister of Melody's long deceased father. And that side of the family's been cut off from little Melody for years and years. So they're, you know, getting a PI to start figuring out what the hell is going on with Ashley, the mother. So first though, I got to tell you about this bananas court appearance this morning. Ashley had to appear in court. It was super quick, really, really brief. She only appeared for like a couple of minutes. And it was for that false imprisonment charge. Remember she was slapped with that, two weeks ago, a friend of hers came over to help in the search for Melody. The friend told police that Ashley told him some things about dropping little Melody off somewhere out near Nevada or Utah and even told him who with, and then apparently regretted she'd said it and then locked the doors and wouldn't let this guy leave her house and produced a box cutter. That was the report that police got. Right? So this is the charge, false imprisonment from, you know, not letting this friend leave your house and pulling out a box cutter. So she had to appear in court this morning, and the long curly wig was back, but this time she'd pulled it into a ponytail. And this time, Ashley Buzzard came to court dolled up to the nines in full makeup. And when I say full, I mean brimming over the top full. My News Nation colleague, Brian Enten went to the courthouse today, and he covered not only this hearing, but he, like, went outside the courthouse and chased after Ashley Buzzard as she was leaving the courthouse. And he and Mo Moran, his cameraman, were able to, like, get the mic in her face, ask questions, like the ones that we all want to ask her. Right? Everything you want to ask Ashley Buzzard. Brian Enten did it, and here's what it looked like. I had it on my News Nation show earlier tonight. But here's Brian catching up with Ashley Buzzard as she left the courthouse.
- [07:25]
C
Ashley, can you tell us where Melody is? Why aren't you saying anything to law enforcement? Ashley, why have you just stayed quiet when your daughter's missing? It doesn't make any sense. Why did you cut her pictures out on the posters? Everyone just wants to know where Melody is. Everybody just wants to know. Back up, away from the car, please.
- [07:44]
A
Okay. I don't know if it's just me, and maybe you feel the same way, but when I watch that, I am immediately transported, like half a decade ago to Hawaii and not for anything good. I'm transported to the moment that Nate Eaton from East Idaho News flew to Hawaii to track down Lori Valo and walked beside her and Chad and asked the questions. Where are your kids, Lori? Lori, where are your kids? Everybody's worried about your kids. Where are they? And she just stared straight ahead and kept on walking. This was like the same vibe completely, right? There's Brian Enten trying like hell to ask the questions we all want asked and answered. And there's Ashley Buzzard just staring straight ahead, Lori Valo style. Now, I'm not suggesting that Ashley Buzzard killed Melody Buzzard. I do not know that I don't have a good feeling. But there she was, just like Lori Valo, staring straight ahead. Didn't give a hot damn about a reporter, about police, about anybody asking after the whereabouts and and well being of her nine year old daughter. Ashley Buzzard's charge again stemmed from that accusation that she threatened that friend of hers with the box cutter after she'd allegedly told him about Melody's whereabouts. So now both of them are going to be in court tomorrow, it's a preliminary hearing and the expectation is, is that Tyler Brewer, the alleged victim to whom this all happened, is going to be there as well. So I'm going to watch for that. I will update you, make sure you subscribe so you don't miss these updates because they're sort of coming at us fast and furious. But I had a chance to talk with my colleague Brian Enten earlier when he was standing right outside of Ashley's house. And ser this interview was giving Brian Laundrie vibes at that house because it was all dark, you know, just like when Brian was out in front of the laundry's house wondering about Gabby Petito and they wouldn't talk, they wouldn't even answer the door. So here is my conversation with Brian as he kept an eye on the comings and goings or lack thereof at Ashley Buzzard's house. Take a look. Brian, great work in posing those questions to her because you might be the very first person who has done that. At least we have been able to hear whether police have been stonewalled by her. It's all under wraps. But that was just amazing to see her doing the same thing to us that presumably she's been doing to the police. Let me ask you about the house tonight. Any action, any sign of her?
- [10:21]
C
Yeah, and by the way, you heard the clanking in that video when I was asking her questions. Those were her little high heel boots. She was really dolled up today. Like you said, very different than what we've seen her in the past. And she had the wig on before but it was sort of pulled back. We're outside her house tonight in Lompoc. Very, very dark. The signs are still out here. She's left these signs out front. Where is Melody? We won't stop looking for her. So show us where she is. This apparently was up on this stick here, but it's been pushed down. We'll get a little closer to the house though. It's dark. She's inside tonight. Ashley, There was a FedEx delivery a couple of Hours ago. And she came out and got the box, but she went back in. There's the light on outside, but it's totally pitch black inside. There have been no lights coming in from any of the windows and she hasn't come out and she still hasn't spoken to anyone.
- [11:11]
A
Ashley, I am getting Brian Laundrie vibes here. I remember when you were out in front of the laundries home in Florida when Gabby Petito was missing and it was the same thing. Dark windows, no activity signs outside, and a lot of protesters. That was one thing that was very different. But I am curious that when you saw her, I know it was all very fast and you were busy interviewing. Did you happen to notice whether she still had her ankle monitor on her leg? Because the other day when she was moving boxes, it was hard to tell, but we thought maybe it wasn't there.
- [11:47]
C
It's a good question. And it was hard to tell. I didn't see it. Although what she was wearing and these kind of boots, like heeled boots. I think it could have been covered. I didn't notice it. But it was a quick hearing. And it was interesting too. She kind of had an entourage today. Ashley, last time we saw her, she was by herself. And she doesn't have a car. I mean, there's no car in the garage. She doesn't have a car. So she Ubers or she rideshares to these court hearings. So last time she showed up and she walked in alone. This time, I guess they were sort of prepared. She had a couple of police officers surrounding her. Her lawyer, her public defender was also with her, walking with her. When she went in, she was only in for maybe five, 10 minutes. It was a quick hearing. Tomorrow is really gonna be the main hearing. And then she walked out. She went back to that ride share, came right back to the house and she hasn't been out since.
- [12:39]
A
So tell me about the actual court appearance itself. I know it was really brief, but tell me all the color from inside that proceeding.
- [12:49]
C
Yeah, it was brief. They didn't allow video cameras this time, but the judge did allow still cameras, which is why you can see these still IM images, these photographs from inside of her. Again, she showed no emotion. She didn't speak once. We never heard her voice, not even once. And she just went in, she was with her lawyer. They were basically confirming that this preliminary hearing is gonna happen tomorrow. And she looked at the judge, but really kind of stone cold, no emotion at all. Really dolled up. I mean, really heavy on the blush. Ashley, you could see just her cheeks were really, really red. She had a lot of makeup on, which we haven't seen before. And I it was the same wig. She just sort of had it styled differently and pulled back. And so she didn't say a word. She was in very quick. She left. And the only time I noticed any kind of like feeling from her is when I first said her name. When she came out, I said Ashley. And she looked over and we made eye contact just for a second, but then she just looked forward and went to the car.
- [13:55]
A
So I'm going to ask you this next question, but I'm going to ask our control room to put that comparative photo of her in the court appearance last week and the court appearance this morning in full screen. I want to just be. Yeah, I want to. I want the audience to be able to just see the stark difference between her court appearance. Now, granted, I will say this on the right, she had been in jail. They arrested her at her home and they brought her to the police station and processed her. And they locked her up in county for, I believe it was like five or six days. Days at least. I think she was pulled in on a Friday or so, and she came out midweek. And so this would have been her on the right after several days in jail where they don't, you know, have an ample supply of makeup or hair products. But that's a wig on the right, and it does look like it's the same wig on the left, Brian. But the amount of makeup that she has on makes her indeed, just an entirely different person. And I put that on the screen. Not for the prurience of looking at it. I put it on the screen for those who feel they may have seen that woman on the left somewhere in that cross country trip that she made with Melody from which he returned without Melody. Or have they seen the woman on the right? Have you seen either of these women? They're the same woman, but she has obviously, she's a chameleon. It's just incredible to see that. And I want you to tell me, Brian, a little bit more about this private investigator who has inside knowledge of what was going on inside her home, snipping the faces of Melody off of those missing posters. Walk me through that.
- [15:32]
C
Yeah, this is really disturbing. This private investigator, his name is Bill Garcia. He has a long history, decades of work looking for missing children and a lot of success. And the paternal side, Melody's father's family, the aunt actually recruited this man, Bill Garcia, to come in and help with the case. He spent a lot of time, by the way, actually out here, surveilling the house, watching her movements, trying to talk to her. But he got information from someone who was inside the house who he says told him that the missing Melody posters were inside this house behind me, and that she had cut the faces and the border around Melody's face out of the posters. So they were just like the shell of Melody's face in the posters. And that she had moved those pictures over to area where, as he described it, it almost seemed like a shrine, which he found to be very, very disturbing. He also, by the way, went on the road trip that Melody went on. He retraced her steps. He went to Utah, where there have been these reports that Melody may have given. I'm sorry. That Ashley may have given Melody to someone in Utah. And I asked him whether he really believes that story. Listen to what Bill Garcia told me.
- [16:55]
B
Ashley, My personal belief, after doing this over 30 years, I don't believe it. I don't believe she left Melody. I think it's kind of a smokescreen to throw people off. I don't see her leaving her out anywhere with anyone or leaving her out in the brush or in the woods. I see her bringing her all the way home if something happened to her. I think regardless if something happened, she would have brought her at least close to home.
- [17:28]
C
So you think she could be that close to home?
- [17:31]
B
I do. I absolutely do. I think Ashley has done this before. And whether she was a courier for drugs or any other kind of item.
- [17:45]
C
When you say done this before, what.
- [17:46]
B
Do you mean she's made these trips before? I'm certain of it. You mean this strange trip, the cross country trips? I believe she's made the trips before, and I understand that she regularly would get a rental car. And, you know, we don't know where she went.
- [18:08]
C
So Ashley, he says he discovered that she has rented the car before, and he is very, very confident that she has made that trip before on that route. And he believes that Melody is not in Utah. He believes that Melody is back in the Lompoc area. He actually wants to do searches in this area. You know, it's been very heavy rain here for the last several days. It's nice tonight. But he wants to get out here and search. He believes Melody's closer to home, but.
- [18:37]
A
I hope he means alive. Does he mean alive closer to home?
- [18:44]
C
Look, he's. He's careful when he talks about that. He wants to be hopeful. But he also has plans to search in wooded Areas, and, you know, there's lakes around here, those kinds of things. So he's not entirely hopeful, Ashley.
- [19:02]
A
Talk to me, Brian, about the tips that apparently that PI says he's been getting from truckers.
- [19:10]
C
Yeah, so you talk about hopeful. I mean, tips have been coming into him from people who believe they may have seen Melody alive. Among them are truckers, because that's a popular trucker route coming in from places like Nebraska, even from Iowa. He just got a tip this morning. Listen to what he told me about that.
- [19:34]
B
And he says, I can't get that little girl out of my mind. I keep seeing her in the early morning of Friday, just four days ago, at this distribution facility with a truck driver.
- [19:46]
C
Where?
- [19:48]
B
In Lansing, Michigan. And she had that same gray looking hoodie. And he said, I saw her face, and her face looked like. Like Melody.
- [20:01]
C
So he's got tips coming in, Ashley. He has been referring those to the FBI, who we know are investigating. And again, he was sitting out here for so long doing surveillance. It's just so bizarre. It's so quiet. It's so dark. I just want to show you again. I mean, there's posters that line the front sidewalk here with pictures of Melody. A nicer photo than a photo from the surveillance. From the surveillance at the rental car place. Where is Melody? A poster here. There's candles over here that the neighbors left and little stuffed animals. I mean, it is such an awful vibe out here. And the fact that she just stays inside with all the lights off, it's got everybody in the neighborhood really upset.
- [20:41]
A
Yeah. And clearly these don't seem to be posters that the mother is putting out in front asking for help finding the child. It is the neighborhood putting those posters up saying, just like the laundries where, you know, is Gabby. I remember the posters and the people demanding the laundries speak, and they just wouldn't. 10 seconds left here, Brian. Tomorrow, what can we inspect in court? I think we're hearing that the alleged victim, Tyler Brewer, the one who was allegedly held with the box cutter and not allowed to leave that house behind you, Is that what we're expecting to see tomorrow?
- [21:14]
C
Yes, quickly. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day. The preliminary hearing. We expect that that victim may testify. Will something come up about Melody? We don't know, but she's gonna have to be there again tomorrow, so she's gonna have to Uber there in the morning, probably put on all that makeup and the wig on again, and we'll see what tomorrow brings bright and early.
- [21:34]
A
My big thanks to Brian enten. As always. And I'm just gonna say it. This whole thing is absolute nonsense. And it gets more infuriating every time we peel back another layer of the story. And I'm gonna stay on it. And the second there's another development, you will get it right here. So again, make sure you're subscribed. I don't want you to miss any of these updates because sometimes they. There are multiple updates in a day. Today was a big walloping, you know, cornucopia of weirdness in this case. But we're following it and the shoe is going to drop at some point. I can feel it. As always, I thank you so much for being here. I thank you for listening and watching. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.