在一个神秘的，长达两个月的失踪人口案件后，当局宣布9岁的Melodee Buzzard是在犹他州被发现死亡和她的母亲，阿什莉·巴扎德被逮捕了因为涉嫌杀害她的女儿。
这是这起悲剧的时间线:
10月7日
圣巴巴拉县治安官办公室表示，10月7日，Melodee和Ashlee Buzzard从他们在加州Lompoc的内布拉斯加州地区的家出发，开始了为期三天的公路旅行。
当局称，监控图像显示，当天在圣巴巴拉地区的一家租车公司，这对母女似乎都戴着假发。
10月8日
在公路旅行中，阿什莉·巴扎德据称移除了加州车牌根据警长办公室的说法，她租的白色2024雪佛兰Malibu的车号为9MNG101。
从10月8日开始，纽约车牌号码HCG9677出现在租车上。根据警长办公室的说法，不清楚那个车牌是什么时候放上去的，也不清楚其他车牌是否是在其他时间添加上去的。
10月9日
警长办公室告诉ABC新闻，最后一次证实看到Melodee是在10月9日。根据警长办公室的说法，监控录像显示Melodee和她妈妈那天在科罗拉多州和犹他州边境附近。
当局表示，他们认为阿什利·巴扎德的返回路线是向西穿过犹他州的格林河;犹他州潘吉奇;亚利桑那州西北部;内华达州普里姆;和加州的库卡蒙加牧场。
十月十日
10月10日，Ashlee Buzzard开着她和Melodee在10月7日租的车回到了Lompoc的家，但Melodee没有和她在一起，警长办公室说。
当局称，Ashlee Buzzard的租赁车在归还给租赁机构时，仍保留着原来的加州牌照。
十月十四日
警长办公室表示，对Melodee失踪的调查始于10月14日，当时一名学区管理员向当局报告了她的“长期失踪”。
警长办公室说，至少在过去几年里，Melodee显然是在家接受教育的。据该地区称，今年8月，Melodee和她的妈妈访问了Mission Valley独立学校，为她报名参加了Lompoc联合学区的“独立学习计划”。
“在我们的独立学习项目中，如果学生没有完成作业，学生将被送回他们居住的学校，然后学校联系家庭完成注册，”学区在一份声明中告诉ABC新闻。“如果学生不去上课，学校会采取强制性的逃课程序——包括打电话、写信、发电子邮件和家访。当这些努力无法联系到学生或家庭时，学校会要求执法部门进行福利检查。”
Melodee的姑姑告诉ABC新闻，Melodee独自和母亲生活在一起，越来越孤立。这位阿姨说，在她见过的几次中，这个小女孩很友好、善良、可爱。
十月十五日
警长办公室表示，当局于10月15日对阿什莉·巴扎德的家进行了初步搜查。
十月三十日
10月30日，调查人员对Ashlee Buzzard的家、储藏室和租来的雪佛兰Malibu进行了另一次搜查。警长办公室说，在房子里发现了一个用过的弹壳，在车里发现了一发类似的实弹。
11月6日
11月6日，一个名叫泰勒·布鲁尔的人声称他被强行扣留在阿什莉·巴扎德的家里。
布鲁尔说他是一名“法律文件助理、传票送达员、授权记者和公认的法庭官员”，在Melodee被报告失踪后，他说他联系了Ashlee Buzzard提供帮助。
布鲁尔在一份声明中说，11月6日，他在阿什莉·巴扎德的家中，当时她“在分享了她似乎后悔披露的信息后，明显变得很痛苦，”他说。
“一把美工刀被拿出来了，尽管多次要求被允许离开家，但我没有被立即允许离开，”他说，并补充说门上有多把锁。
11月7日
据警长办公室称，阿什莉·巴扎德于11月7日因非法监禁被捕。
“这一罪行与正在进行的对Melodee的搜索无关，”警长办公室说。
十一月十二日
阿什利·巴扎德11月12日出庭并对非法监禁的指控提出无罪抗辩。
法官命令她带着GPS监视器从监狱释放，并给了她一个条件清单，包括不得拥有武器或接触所谓的非法监禁受害者。
检察官抗议释放她，认为她有潜逃风险，因为她据称戴假发，换车牌就在梅洛迪消失之前。但法官说，这是单独的，不涉及非法监禁案件。
十一月二十日
这非法监禁的指控被撤销了在11月20日的预审中。法官听到了阿什莉·巴扎德和布鲁尔之间的对话音频，并发现该音频与布鲁尔告诉执法部门和媒体的内容不符，根据圣巴巴拉ABC子公司KEYT.
12月6日
当局说，随着对Melodee下落的调查继续进行，12月6日，一对男女联系了犹他州韦恩县的警长办公室，他们在农村地区拍照时发现了一具腐烂的尸体。
12月8日
12月8日，韦恩县官员就身份不明的遗体联系了圣巴巴拉县警长办公室。当局称，已确定受害者死于头部枪伤。
十二月十七日
十二月。当局说，17日在犹他州现场发现的弹壳与从阿什利·巴扎德家中发现的弹壳有关。
十二月二十二日
当局说，12月22日，美国联邦调查局犯罪实验室在犹他州发现的遗骸与Ashlee Buzzard的家族DNA之间建立了DNA联系。
十二月二十三日
12月23日，阿什莉·巴扎德在逮捕涉嫌杀害梅洛迪。
动机还没有确定，但比尔·布朗警长说“冷血和犯罪的复杂预谋和无情...开始策划“犯罪”和“残忍”...参与了实际犯罪。”
A timeline of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard's disappearance and alleged murder
After a mysterious, two-month-long missing persons case, authorities announced that9-year-old Melodee Buzzardwasfound dead in Utah, and her mother,Ashlee Buzzard, has been arrestedfor allegedly killing her daughter.
Here's the timeline of the tragic case:
Oct. 7
On Oct. 7, Melodee and Ashlee Buzzard left on a three-day road trip from their Lompoc, California, home to the Nebraska area, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's office said.
Surveillance images show the mom and daughter -- both appearing to be wearing wigs -- at a Santa Barbara-area rental car business that day, authorities said.
Oct. 8
During the road trip, Ashlee Buzzardallegedly removed the California license plate, number 9MNG101, from her rented white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu, according to the sheriff's office.
Beginning on Oct. 8, New York license plate number HCG9677 was on the rental car. It's not clear when that plate was put on or if other plates were added at other times, according to the sheriff's office.
Oct. 9
The last verified sighting of Melodee was on Oct. 9, the sheriff's office told ABC News. Surveillance video shows Melodee with her mom that day near the Colorado-Utah border, according to the sheriff's office.
Authorities said they believe Ashlee Buzzard's return route went west through Green River, Utah; Panguitch, Utah; northwest Arizona; Primm, Nevada; and Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Oct. 10
On Oct. 10, Ashlee Buzzard arrived home in Lompoc with the car she and Melodee had rented on Oct. 7 -- but Melodee was not with her, the sheriff's office said.
Ashlee Buzzard's rental car had its original California license plate back on when it was returned to the rental agency, according to authorities.
Oct. 14
The investigation into Melodee's disappearance was sparked on Oct. 14 when a school district administrator reported her "extended absence" to authorities, the sheriff's office said.
Melodee was apparently homeschooled for at least the last few years, the sheriff's office said. This August, Melodee and her mom visited the Mission Valley Independent School to enroll her in the Lompoc Unified School District's "independent study program," according to the district.
"In our independent study program, if a student fails to pick up assignments, the student is referred back to their school of residence, which then contacts the family to complete enrollment," the district told ABC News in a statement. "If attendance does not begin, the school follows mandatory truancy procedures -- including phone calls, letters, emails, and home visits. When a student or family cannot be reached after these efforts, the school requests a welfare check from law enforcement."
Melodee's paternal aunt told ABC News that Melodee lived alone with her mother in increasing isolation. The aunt said in the few times she'd seen Melodee, the little girl was friendly, kind and loving.
Oct. 15
Authorities conducted an initial search of Ashlee Buzzard's home on Oct. 15, the sheriff's office said.
Oct. 30
Investigators conducted another search at Ashlee Buzzard's home, as well as at a storage unit and the rented Chevrolet Malibu, on Oct. 30. An expended cartridge case was found at the house and a live round of similar ammunition was found in the car, the sheriff's office said.
Nov. 6
On Nov. 6, a man named Tyler Breweralleged he was held against his willat Ashlee Buzzard's home.
Brewer said he's a "legal document assistant, process server, mandated reporter, and perceived officer of the court," and after Melodee was reported missing, he said he reached out to Ashlee Buzzard to offer help.
Brewer said he was at Ashlee Buzzard's home on Nov. 6 when she "became visibly distressed after sharing information she appeared to regret disclosing," he said in a statement.
"A box cutter was produced, and despite multiple requests to be allowed to exit the home, I was not immediately permitted to leave," he said, adding the door had multiple locks on it.
Nov. 7
Ashlee Buzzard was arrested on Nov. 7 for false imprisonment, according to the sheriff's office.
"This crime is not connected to the ongoing search for Melodee," the sheriff's office said.
Nov. 12
Ashlee Buzzardappeared in court on Nov. 12and entered a not guilty plea to the false imprisonment charge.
The judge ordered her released from jail with a GPS monitor and gave her a list of conditions, including not possessing weapons or contacting the alleged false imprisonment victim.
Prosecutors protested her release, arguing she's a flight risk because she allegedlywore wigs and switched license platesjust before Melodee vanished. But the judge said that is separate and not involved in the false imprisonment case.
Nov. 20
Thefalse imprisonment charge was droppedduring her Nov. 20 preliminary hearing. The judge heard audio of a conversation between Ashlee Buzzard and Brewer and found the audio didn't match what Brewer told law enforcement and the media,according to Santa Barbara ABC affiliate KEYT.
Dec. 6
As the investigation into Melodee's whereabouts continued, on Dec. 6, the sheriff's office in Wayne County, Utah, was contacted by a man and woman who found a decomposed body while taking photos in a rural area, authorities said.
Dec. 8
Wayne County officials contacted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office about the unidentified remains on Dec. 8. It was determined the victim died from gunshot wounds to the head, authorities said.
Dec. 17
On Dec.17, cartridge cases found at the scene in Utah were linked to a cartridge case recovered from Ashlee Buzzard's home, authorities said.
Dec. 22
On Dec. 22, the FBI crime lab made a DNA link between the remains found in Utah to familial DNA of Ashlee Buzzard, authorities said.
Dec. 23
On Dec. 23, Ashlee Buzzard wasarrestedfor allegedly killing Melodee.
A motive hasn't been determined, but Sheriff Bill Brown said "cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness ... went into planning" the crime and "ruthlessness ... went into actually committing the crime."
