Charges Dropped Against Mother Of Missing SoCal Girl Melodee Buzzard, 9

LOMPOC, CA — False imprisonment charges have been dropped against Ashlee Buzzard, the mother of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, a Southern California girl reported missing in October, according to multiple reports.

Buzzard was taken into custody on Friday, Nov. 7 and booked at the Northern Branch Jail with bail set at $100,000, according to the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department. But on Thursday, a preliminary hearing, audio of a conversation between Ashlee Buzzard and alleged victim Tyler Brewer led the judge to dismiss the case, finding it inconsistent with Brewer’s accounts to authorities and the media, KEYT reported.

Detectives had previously said they believed Buzzard prevented Brewer from leaving a location, constituting false imprisonment. The agency said it cannot fully outline the circumstances of the crime without compromising its ongoing investigations, the department said.

At a Nov. 20 court hearing, a felony case against Buzzard, alleging she used a box cutter and blocked a man’s exit from her Lompoc home on Nov. 6 was dismissed for insufficient evidence. The court also ended her pre-trial supervision and removed an ankle monitor requirement, Fox News reported.

The sheriff’s office reiterated that while Buzzard’s arrest on the false-imprisonment warrant took place during the missing-child investigation, it is not related to Melodee’s disappearance. Investigators remain fully focused on locating the child and confirming her safety.

The arrest occurred amid the high-profile search for Melodee, who was reported missing in early October. A school official first reported her extended absence on Oct. 14 after Buzzard was unable to provide a verifiable explanation for the child’s whereabouts and declined to confirm her welfare. The child's other family members have said they haven't seen her in months. According to CNN, they lost touch with the mother and daughter in recent years, and her father died in a motorcycle crash when she was a baby.

In connection to the disappearance investigation, surveillance footage released by the sheriff’s office shows Buzzard and Melodee at a rental-car counter in Lompoc on Oct. 7, both wearing wigs. Authorities believe the disguise may have been used to avoid recognition and that the vehicle’s license plate was swapped during the trip, which reportedly crossed multiple states.

READ MORE: ‘We Just Want Her Safe’: New Clues Emerge In Case Of Missing CA Girl

Anyone with information about Melodee’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office detectives line at 805-681-4150, the anonymous tip line at 805-681-4171 or submit an online tip here.

"The primary goal of this investigation is to verify the location and welfare of Melodee Buzzard and ensure that she is safe," according to a previous department statement.