Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Ashlee Buzzard Arrested Amid Ongoing Search for Missing Daughter Melodee | Crime Alert 6AM 11.09.25
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Crime Alert.
- 0:01Speaker 2: I'm Missy Grace, Breaking crime news now straight out to
- 0:04Speaker 2: Nicole Parton for the latest.
- 0:06Speaker 3: Authorities in California have arrested the mother of a missing
- 0:09Speaker 3: nine year old girl, Melody Buzzard, who was last seen
- 0:12Speaker 3: in early October. The arrest, however, is not directly related
- 0:17Speaker 3: to the child's disappearance. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
- 0:21Speaker 3: confirmed that forty year old Ashley Buzzard was taken into
- 0:24Speaker 3: custody Friday on a felony charge of false imprisonment. A
- 0:28Speaker 3: witness captured video of law enforcement leading Buzzard away from
- 0:32Speaker 3: a residence. According to investigators, she allegedly prevented a victim
- 0:37Speaker 3: from leaving a location against their will. While officials say
- 0:40Speaker 3: this incident is unrelated to her daughter's disappearance, there withholding
- 0:45Speaker 3: further details to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
- 0:49Speaker 3: Melody Buzzard was last seen on a surveillance video during
- 0:53Speaker 3: a road trip with her mother. Authorities believe the pair
- 0:56Speaker 3: traveled as far as Nebraska. In a troubling twist, the
- 1:00Speaker 3: rental car they were using reportedly had its license plate
- 1:04Speaker 3: swapped an attempt to avoid detection. The indications are that
- 1:09Speaker 3: the license plate was switched to avoid detection. We don't
- 1:13Speaker 3: have any other plausible reason for why Ashley would have
- 1:16Speaker 3: switched to place. Ashley Buzzard is currently being held at
- 1:20Speaker 3: the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Barbara County with a
- 1:23Speaker 3: bell set at one hundred thousand dollars. Despite the arrest,
- 1:26Speaker 3: the Sheriff's office emphasized that their primary focus remains on
- 1:30Speaker 3: locating Melody and ensuring her safety. The child is considered
- 1:35Speaker 3: at risk and the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office is
- 1:38Speaker 3: now assisting in the search. On Thursday, investigators released new
- 1:42Speaker 3: video footage showing Ashley and Melody at a car rental
- 1:46Speaker 3: location on October seventh. Both were seen wearing wigs, and
- 1:49Speaker 3: officials believe Ashley changed her appearance multiple times during the trip,
- 1:54Speaker 3: possibly to avoid recognition. The investigation began on October fourteenth,
- 2:00Speaker 3: when a school administrator reported Melody's extended absence. Deputies responded
- 2:05Speaker 3: to the family's home, where Ashley was present, but her
- 2:08Speaker 3: daughter was not, and no credible explanation for her whereabouts
- 2:13Speaker 3: was provided. Melody Buzzard is described as approximately four to six,
- 2:17Speaker 3: weighing sixty pounds, with brown hair, and Brown Eyes. If
- 2:21Speaker 3: you have any information that could help locate Melody, please
- 2:24Speaker 3: contact the SCENT to Barbara County Sheriff's Office or your
- 2:28Speaker 3: local authorities immediately. Nancy Police say the investigation remains active
- 2:33Speaker 3: and ongoing.
- 2:34Speaker 1: Nicole thank you. More private justice news after this.
- 2:42Speaker 3: At least four people have died and eleven others sustained
- 2:45Speaker 3: serious injuries after a vehicle struck pedestrians in Florida. This
- 2:49Speaker 3: tragic event occurred when a car crashed into a business
- 2:53Speaker 3: in a neighborhood in Tampa, impacting more than a dozen
- 2:56Speaker 3: people who were outside, According to a news release from
- 2:59Speaker 3: the Tampa Police Department, The TPD reported that around twelve
- 3:03Speaker 3: forty am, their air service was tracking a vehicle that
- 3:07Speaker 3: was driving erradically on I two seventy five. The driver
- 3:11Speaker 3: continued to speed recklessly, exiting the interstate at Doyle Carklan Drive.
- 3:16Speaker 3: Authorities stated that the driver eventually lost control of the vehicle,
- 3:20Speaker 3: colliding with the storefront and hitting several pedestrians in the process.
- 3:25Speaker 3: Prior to this incident, the same vehicle had been observed
- 3:28Speaker 3: participating in street racing in a nearby location. Police noted
- 3:32Speaker 3: in total, fifteen people were affected by the incident. Three
- 3:36Speaker 3: victims died at the scene, while a fourth died due
- 3:39Speaker 3: to their injuries at the hospital. One victim remains in
- 3:42Speaker 3: critical condition and eight others are still in the hospital. Additionally,
- 3:47Speaker 3: two individuals suffered minor injuries related to the crass. According
- 3:50Speaker 3: to the TPD, the suspected driver has been identified as
- 3:54Speaker 3: twenty two year old Silas Sampson, who was arrested at
- 3:58Speaker 3: the scene. The investigation into the crash is now being
- 4:01Speaker 3: led by the Florida Highway Patrol, As stated by the TPD.
- 4:05Speaker 3: TBD Chief Lee Bercall referred to the event as a
- 4:09Speaker 3: senseless tragedy, expressing condolences to the victims and their families.
- 4:14Speaker 1: Elsa Mario Ferrera, a mom of three, takes her family's
- 4:18Speaker 1: laundry to a Houston laundromat. She's caught on video leaving
- 4:22Speaker 1: in her black twenty sixteen Nissan, but never makes it home.
- 4:26Speaker 1: Days later, her children discover her car had been towed
- 4:30Speaker 1: from an apartment complex across town. They say the mom
- 4:34Speaker 1: had no connection to those apartments. The laundry found folded
- 4:38Speaker 1: neatly in a basket in the back seat. The rest
- 4:41Speaker 1: of Mario Ferrera's belongings gone. If you have info about
- 4:45Speaker 1: Elisa Mario Ferrera, please call Houston PD eight three two
- 4:51Speaker 1: three nine four one eight four zero.
- 4:54Speaker 2: For the latest crime injustice news, go to crime online
- 4:57Speaker 2: dot com and please join us for our daily podcast,
- 5:00Speaker 2: Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people,
- 5:03Speaker 2: especially children, and help solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert,
- 5:08Speaker 2: I'm Nancy Grace.