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, on charges unrelated to the ongoing search for the missing child.

According to a statement posted Friday on the Sheriff’s Office’s 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 crime is not connected to the investigation into Melodee’s disappearance.

Ashlee Buzzard was taken into custody Friday, Nov. 7, and booked at the Northern Branch Jail with bail set at $100,000. Her booking photo is withheld from public release due to establi

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