Authorities have arrested the mother of Melodee Buzzard more than three weeks after the 9-year-old girl was reported missing. But the charges, officials said, are unrelated to the ongoing search.

Ashlee Buzzard, 40, of Vandenberg Village, was taken into custody by deputies with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office on Friday on a felony warrant for false imprisonment.

Officials from the Sheriff's Office said they learned of a "recent incident" in which Ashlee Buzzard allegedly prevented a victim from leaving a location against their will. Those accusations, officials said, constituted a charge for false imprisonment.

Ashlee Buzzard has since been booked into the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria, where she remains in custody with bail set at $100,000.

While the arrest is not conn

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