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by Samantha Hoffman, KUTV
New photos provide a clearer look at the rental car Ashlee Buzzard was driving during the road trip that ended with her nine-year-old daughter's disappearance. (Photo:Jason Jensen)
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ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — New photos provide a clearer look at the rental car Ashlee Buzzard was driving during the road trip that ended with her nine-year-old daughter's disappearance.
The vehicle is a 2024 white Chevrolet Malibu with no visible damage. The photos were taken both before and after the trip — not while Ashlee was using it.
The pictures offer a better view of the vehicle for potential witnesses.
Utah private investigator Jason Jensen said unusual or out-of-place cars could help jog memories.
“If you saw a car that’s misplaced, like if you see a small Tudor out in hunting fields, well, that’s a little weird," he said. "Or, if you saw specifically the Malibu with California plates or even New York plates, typically that’s going to stand out in rural Utah.”
Jensen said that while most rental car facilities clean their cars between uses, they may not clean the undercarriage, which opens opportunities for dirt sampling.
He explained, “If they take soil samples from under the car, and there’s a rich red dirt, red soil underneath, it might mean that they were in the area of Moab or something. So that can give them an idea where to look.”
California private investigator Bill Garcia said the rental car may also help through its GPS tracking data, which rental car companies use in case a vehicle is stolen. However, some trackers have gaps in monitoring.
“I’m hoping it had a long-running GPS that did monitor the entire route because that’s critically important as to where she stopped, the length of stops, and the different waypoints along the way," he said.
The FBI told the Bear Valley Country Store near Panguitch that Ashlee Buzzard’s phone was pinged by a cell tower at the State Route 20 and U.S. 89 intersection. Garcia said this was likely on the evening of Oct. 9. Officials said she arrived back in California shortly after 2 a.m. on the 10th.
Investigators said identifying stops along that route helps create a range of where Melodee might have gone.
“If you identify a five-hour window from the last reported sighting to the next reported sighting, you can take a map and a compass and draw a circle on a map," Jensen said. "The time it takes to go halfway into the circle and halfway back out of the circle is the total distance max that someone can travel in that given period of time.”
He urged residents in southern Utah and near the Colorado border to check for footage. He believes a likely range for clues is within Cove Fort, Grand Junction, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reefs.
Garcia detailed Ashlee's potential route home, according to the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department
"She went down to 89, drove down it on to 20, south of I-15, intersecting in Southern California, most likely on Highway 210, and then 210 on into Ventura and home," Garcia said.
“Anyone in those areas between October 8th and 10th should look at either wildlife cameras or dash-cam footage or surveillance footage anywhere and try and see if they can see the car or Melodee or Ashlee," Jensen added.
Investigators are still considering multiple possibilities regarding Melodee’s disappearance, including whether she may have been handed off to another adult.
“You would think if somebody knew they were looking for Melody and Melody’s in my care, I better call the authorities and say, ‘Hey, she’s fine. She’s with me. I met her mom on the night’ whatever the reason is," he said. "But, the longer this goes without such a conversation, the more it would appear that that was just a false story and that something more nefarious happened to her. And that’s going to take a hiker or ATVers or somebody to stumble across remains and call it in.”
Garcia said he is “pretty confident” Melodee made it back to California, citing neighbors’ observations.
“What was unusual about that is she backed that rental car up into the garage—something that neighbors said they had never seen her do. So that’s interesting," he said.
He plans to survey the Lompoc area in the coming weeks.
“If something happened to Melody along the route — maybe in Utah, maybe in Nevada — that could have major implications if Ashley didn’t address whatever situation that Melody may have encountered," Garcia said.
Ashlee Buzzard is back at her home with a GPS tracker after being released on false imprisonment charges.
She is scheduled to return to court next week.
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