By F. Scott Faulkner
November 8, 2025 – Santa Barbara County, CA
A tense Nov. 6 encounter inside a Lompoc Valley home has now led to the felony false-
imprisonment arrest of a mother already under scrutiny in the disappearance of her 9-year-old
daughter.
Ashlee L. Buzzard, 40, of Vandenberg Village, is accused of trapping a paralegal assistant during what began as a conversation about her missing child.
According to the victim, Tyler Brewer, the visit became contentious after he tried to help locate the girl, Melodee.
According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel
Zick, “Ms. Buzzard became visibly distressed after sharing information she appeared to regret
disclosing.”
A box cutter was allegedly produced, and despite multiple requests to be allowed to
exit the home, Brewer “was not immediately permitted to leave.”
Brewer reported that multiple locks at the residence door “delayed his exit.”
SBSD detectives forwarded their findings to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s
Office, whereupon a single count of felony false imprisonment by violence was brought against
Buzzard, indicating that elements of “violence, menace, fraud and deceit” prompted the issuance
of an arrest warrant.
Buzzard was contacted at her residence on November 7 and taken into custody.
She was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where she was booked with her bail set at $100,000.
SBSD deputies continue searching for her daughter, who has been missing since mid-October.
