Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The recent discovery of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard's dead body in Utah led to the arrest of her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday.
Ashlee Buzzard is accused of first-degree murder in her daughter's death after a couple found Melodee's dead body and reported it to police on Dec. 6 in Wayne County, Utah, according to NBC News.
The couple found a decomposed body while they were taking photos in the county that is among the least-populated in Utah, with a population of 2,486 and is located near several national parks in the state's southeastern region.
"Maternal filicide is rare and always difficult to comprehend," Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown told media during a 2 p.m. PST news conference.
"This level of criminal activity is particularly shocking given the calculated, cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it," Brown said.
