On the one-month anniversary of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard’s disappearance, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s detectives arrested her mother, 40-year-old Ashlee Buzzard Friday at her Vandenberg Village home, on a charge unrelated to the ongoing search for the missing child.

According to a statement posted on the sheriff’s office X account, detectives arrested Ashlee Buzzard on a felony warrant charging false imprisonment, stemming from an incident in which she allegedly prevented a victim from leaving a location against their will.

Officials emphasized that the alleged crime is not connected to the investigation into Melodee’s disappearance.

Ashlee Buzzard was booked at the Northern Branch Jail with bail set at $100,000. Her booking photo is being withheld from public release due to e

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