Conversation instead of a one way conversation. So I hope to see you there. But let me start with the story for this episode. A nine year old girl vanishes from California. And the one person who should be doing everything in her power to help find this little girl is refusing to say a word. She's a little girl with a million dollar smile and her name is Melody Buzzard. And now the FBI has joined the effort to find her again. She's just nine. She's from Lombok, California. And according to investigators, she may have been driven across the country by her mother, ashley buzzard. On October 7, Melody Buzzard was last seen alive, but no one reported her missing. Not her mother, not a family member, no, not anyone. It actually took her school to notice that she hadn't shown up for her independent study program for a very long time. And when administrators finally called the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, investigators couldn't even confirm the last time anyone had laid eyes on Melody. But the nine year old was eventually spotted at a car rental place in her hometown of Lompocular. She and her mom, Ashley Buzzard, were leaving on a road trip that took them all the way to Nebraska and back again in just three days. They left that rental outlet on October 7th and Ashley Buzzard returned back home to Santa Barbara county on October 10th. The trouble is Ashley returned home without Melody. So police opened a missing child investigation, but they've been getting no help from Ashley. So now they're releasing a new photo of little Melody from that California car rental office on the day that that road trip began. Again, October 7th. Police think that little Melody may be wearing a wig in this photo, possibly to conceal her identity. Investigators say her mom, Ashley is, and I quote, known to wear wigs. And that's also where the trail goes cold because that mother is refusing to cooperate with the investigators. She wouldn't answer questions. She wouldn't even open her door. She would not confirm whether Melody was even alive. And in the days since her disappearance, pictures of Melody have been sent out far and wide. The only weird part here is that there aren't very many pictures to choose from. And until this recent surveillance picture, we have seen nothing of her. That's more recent than two years ago. And I say that's weird because most families, and certainly most moms have hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures of their little kids. That does not seem to be the case here. Melody's family members on her mother Ashley's side won't talk now, either. Early in the investigation, those same family members told reporters that they hadn't seen Melody in years. Her grandma, Lori Miranda, said that she hadn't seen her granddaughter in more than two years, and what she described was heartbreaking. Lori says her daughter Ashley has battled severe mental health issues ever since 2016, when Melody's father was killed in a crash. That's when Melody was just six months old. According to Lori, the grandma Things spiraled after that. There was an incident years ago where police had to remove Melody from Ashley's home because of what they found inside that home. Rotting food, filth, unsafe living conditions. The grandma even believed that Ashley was trying to feed that rotting food that was in the fridge to her daughter, little Melody. In the past month, Ashley Buzzard's behavior has become increasingly erratic. Neighbors in Lompoc, a quiet California town about an hour northwest of Santa Barbara, say that Ashley has been holed up in her cream painted cottage, ignoring knocks on the door from social workers and that Ashley has been refusing visits from extended family as well. Earlier this week, in a scene straight out of a movie, Ashley was spotted trying to rent a car. Over and over again, she hit up multiple rental agencies, a budget rent a car, and then an Avis. At the Santa Maria airport about 20 miles from her house, security cameras captured her being dropped off by a friend in a black Lincoln sedan. Ashley went inside, tried to rent a car, and was denied at both locations. No credit approval, no card on file out. And then just minutes after she returned home, a car full of social workers screeched up to her curb. They pounded on the door, demanding to see Melody. Ashley wouldn't answer. According to neighbors, Child protective services gave her a notice. She had 72 hours to produce Melody or disclose Melody's location. By that point, Ashley was being shadowed. Six unmarked police cars followed her around Lompoc, one parked on her street, another down the block as the countdown began. But Ashley still wouldn't open her door to the cops, wouldn't say a word, and didn't show them where Melody was. Melody's aunt, Lizabeth Meza, says Ashley Buzzard has kept that little girl isolated for years. No holidays, no phone calls, no visits. I talked to Lizabeth and I'm going to play you our conversation in just a moment. Lizabeth Told the Daily Mail she cut everyone off. We were told years ago Melody had been adopted out. We had no idea if it was true. Lizbeth's sister, Corina Meza, is Melody's half sister. She's 30 years old and said that she's been banging on Ashley's front door for days. Desperate for answers, she says that she had managed to speak with Ashley just once last week. And very briefly, Corinna says she asked Ashley, quote, do you need anything? Can I get Melody anything? Is Melody okay? But that Ashley shot back, quote, why now? Why are you coming here now? When Corinna said she tried to explain that she hadn't known where Ashley was living, she says Ashley snapped, quote, there's a reason for that. Relatives say this is what Ashley's life became, isolation, paranoia and secrecy. She's unemployed and lives on Social Security payments. And yet somehow she's managed to avoid letting anyone, family or the state lay eyes on Melody for months, maybe years. But if Ashley Buzzard crossed state lines with her daughter and is abusing her or worse, we're now in federal jurisdiction. Hey, everybody. Ashley Banfield here. Before we jump back into today's case, I want to flag another true crime podcast that you have got to listen to. It's called Scorned Love Kills. This is a new hit series from Investigation Discovery, one of my favorites. And it's all about when passion flips into poison. And when love stories don't end well, they end in body bags. Best part about this one, it's a podcast that comes straight from Investigation Discoveries archives. So it's real audio, it's real investigators and real psychologists, all of them walking you through these jaw dropping crimes. Like the husband in South Carolina running an underground gambling ring that blew up into cheating and debt and a deadly showdown. Or the perfect couple in Kentucky whose marriage collapsed into drugs, affairs and a shocking murder no one saw coming. Listen, this podcast is really gripping. It is raw. And if you're into true crime like I am, I know you're gonna love it, so make sure you check it out. Scorned Love Kills. Wherever you get your podcasts, forget whatever.
