Ashlee Buzzard’s false imprisonment charge dropped, daughter Melodee still missing
The FBI and Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office are looking for missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard. FBI
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) — A false imprisonment charge has been dropped against Ashlee Buzzard, the mom of missing 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, according to Santa Barbara ABC affiliate KEYT.
At Thursday’s preliminary hearing, the judge dismissed the case after hearing audio of a conversation between Ashlee Buzzard and the alleged victim, Tyler Brewer, and found the audio didn’t match what Brewer told law enforcement and the media, KEYT reported.
Buzzard had been arrested on the false imprisonment charge on Nov. 7 and she pleaded not guilty last week.
Meanwhile, the search is ongoing for Buzzard’s 9-year-old daughter, Melodee, who was last seen on Oct. 9 near the Colorado-Utah border.
Buzzard has not been charged in her daughter’s disappearance, but authorities have said she’s not cooperating with the investigation.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Buzzard and Melodee had left their home on Oct. 7 for a several-day road trip, traveling as far as Nebraska in a rented white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu. Investigators said they believe Buzzard wore wigs and swapped license plates during this trip.
When Buzzard returned to her house in California on Oct. 10, Melodee was not with her, the sheriff’s office said.
Members of the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service police provide security as Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump, is brought before a judge at the federal courthouse for an initial appearance on September 16, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Ryan Routh, who is representing himself as he faces charges of trying to kill Donald Trump on his West Palm Beach golf course last year, rested his defense at his trial in Florida Monday.
Routh called three witnesses, two of whom testified about his character. He declined to testify in his own defense.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Routh, who lacks any legal education or experience, began his defense with a meandering direct examination of a firearms expert who tested the weapon allegedly used for the assassination attempt.
Routh attempted to focus his questions on the low likelihood that his assassination attempt would be successful because of issues with his weapon and the location of his alleged sniper perch.
Michael McClay, a Marine Corps veteran and expert in sniper tactics, noted that the firearm — a Chinese-made variant of the AK-47 — would routinely misfire, that the rifle’s scope appeared to be secured with a combination of putty, tape, and glue, that Routh was poorly camouflaged, and that hitting a target from 300 yards away would be difficult.
“Is there any way you could put a chance of success rate?” Routh asked.
“With the severity and seriousness of this, I am not going to guess that,” McClay responded.
“I respect that,” Routh said.
Despite McClay testifying as a defense witness, he appeared to be confused by many of Routh’s questions and declined to answer at times.
“Did you suffer mental anguish from being shot at?” Routh asked McClay, a veteran who saw combat.
“I don’t wish to answer that,” McClay said.
The main thrust of Routh’s direct examination of McClay was Routh’s suggestion that the assassination attempt would have failed due to his own incompetence and his being a self-described “coward.” Prosecutors had argued that Routh planned his attempt for months and set up a sniper’s perch with body armor to ensure that he would be able to shoot Trump.
“If someone is not dedicated to their mission 100%, is an exit plan vital to those who are cowards?” he asked McClay.
“I don’t understand,” McClay said.
“In your experience in the military, does it take a special type of person to take another person’s life?” Routh asked, prompting Judge Aileen Cannon to cut off the question.
After Judge Cannon criticized Routh for the “tenor” and “clear impropriety” of the question, Routh unsuccessfully argued that the question demonstrates he would not follow through with the assassination attempt.
“This whole case revolves around intent and state of mind … whether someone has the capacity [to kill],” Routh argued.
Prosecutors briefly cross-examined McClay to highlight how the weapon’s misfiring could be attributed to testing done on the gun after the shooting. The FBI used acid to try to recover the gun’s serial number, which had been scratched off.
Because Routh called two witnesses who spoke about character, prosecutors said they may seek to elicit testimony about some of Routh’s other alleged bad acts, including his alleged calls to kill politicians, like Trump, as well as his neighbors in Hawaii; racially offensive statements he allegedly made; and statements prosecutors say he made about his assassination plans in which he allegedly said he was “not going to go down easy for law enforcement” and that he would “shoot first.”
“If the defendant is going to try to develop he is nonviolent, that information is relevant,” prosecutor John Shipley said.
Routh, in earlier court filings, broadly described his defense strategy as emphasizing his “gentleness, peacefulness, and nonviolent caring for humanity.”
Among the exhibits Routh planned to use were a design for a DIY skatepark, videos and photos showing him recruiting and fundraising for the Ukrainian military, a photo of a flash mob he organized, and a church bulletin from 1980 when he was awarded an Eagle Scout award.
At the conclusion of Routh’s defense, federal prosecutors suggested they might not present a rebuttal case but said they have not made a final decision.
Judge Cannon — who has repeatedly clashed with Routh over his unusual courtroom tactics — curtailed much of Routh’s defense by blocking many of his proposed witnesses, including an ex-girlfriend and several Palestinian scholars, and prohibiting him from arguing that his actions were justified or that he would not have followed through with the assassination attempt.
Routh’s unorthodox defense case follows seven days of testimony from 38 witnesses called by federal prosecutors seeking to prove Routh came within a few hundred yards of killing then-candidate Trump on Sept. 15. Jurors heard from the Secret Service agent who said he spotted Routh hiding in the bushes of Trump’s golf course with an assault rifle, the man who illegally sold the gun to Routh, and a series of law enforcement witnesses who tied Routh’s fingerprints and DNA to the gun abandoned at the crime scene.
FBI agents also testified that Trump would have been less than 130 feet from Routh had Routh not been spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh’s rifle, they argued, can hit a target ten times that, and the shot could have been made without a scope.
Two brothers who worked with Routh also testified about receiving a box from him in April 2024 — five months before the alleged assassination attempt — that contained wires, pipes, and bullets. After Routh’s arrest, the brothers said they opened the box to find a 12-page letter that prosecutors argue amounts to a confession from Routh.
“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” the handwritten letter said.
Routh has argued that the letter does not describe the alleged assassination attempt.
At the conclusion of the government’s case on Friday, Routh argued that prosecutors had failed to prove their case and that Judge Cannon, who previously oversaw and dismissed one of Trump’s criminal cases, should toss the case. Routh claimed that the area in the bushes where he was allegedly found was a public area where anyone could carry a gun.
“They maybe proved that someone was outside the fence with a gun, but the gun was never fired,” Routh argued.
Judge Cannon denied Routh’s motion, concluding that prosecutors have provided enough evidence to let the jury decide the case.
Danielle Villasana for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Camp Mystic announced plans to reopen one site of its summer camp a year after flash flooding killed 27 campers and counselors on Texas’ Guadalupe River on the Fourth of July earlier this year.
The summer camp made the announcement on Tuesday, saying it will be designing and building a memorial “dedicated to the lives of the campers and counselors lost on July 4th.”
“We hope this space will serve as a place of reflection and remembrance of these beautiful girls,” the camp’s statement read. “We continue to pray for the grieving families and all those who lost loved ones.”
The summer program officials said that Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site that opened in 2020, will be open in summer 2026, while Camp Mystic Guadalupe River will not be able to reopen by then due to the devastating damage sustained earlier this year.
“We are working to implement new safety protocols and other changes that comply with the requirements of the recently passed camp safety legislation, the Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act,” Camp Mystic said in their letter announcing the reopening. “We will share more details as they become available in the coming weeks.”
Twenty-seven children and staff of Camp Mystic, an all-girls sleepaway camp located on the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas, were killed by the floods in the middle of the night on July 4. some state leaders and environmental experts told ABC News in July that a number of the cabins were in known flood zones and close proximity to the river, according to officials and FEMA’s flood maps.
Texas’ rules and regulations about housing and construction and summer camps immediately came under scrutiny by environmentalists and urban planners. Though, in the case of Camp Mystic, which opened in 1926 and expanded throughout the years, many structures were built long before FEMA flood zones and other regulations were created and are likely to have approvals grandfathered in, Republican Texas Rep. Gary Gates, who chairs the state House’s Land & Resource Management Committee, told ABC this summer.
“We continue to evaluate plans to rebuild Camp Mystic Guadalupe River,” camp officials said. “Our planning and procedures will reflect the catastrophic 1,000-year weather event that occurred on July 4, including never having campers return to cabins that had floodwaters inside them. And, as at Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, our plans will comply with the requirements of the new camp safety.”
“The heart of Camp Mystic has never stopped beating, because you are Mystic. We are not only rebuilding cabins and trails, but also a place where laughter, friendship and spiritual growth will continue to flourish,” officials continued. “As we work to finalize plans, we will do so in a way that is mindful of those we have lost. You are all part of the mission and the ministry of Camp Mystic. You mean the world to us, and we look forward to welcoming you back inside the green gates.”
A baby was found on a subway platform in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 20, 2025. (WABC)
(NEW YORK) — The woman charged with abandoning her newborn at a Midtown Manhattan subway station told investigators she gave birth just hours before she left the baby at the bottom of a staircase, according to court documents.
The baby girl was found wrapped in a blanket at the southbound 1 train platform at 34th Street-Penn Station during the Monday morning rush hour, the New York Police Department said. The umbilical cord was still attached, indicating she had likely been born within a few hours, according to the criminal complaint.
The baby was taken to the hospital in stable condition, police said, with New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow calling it “the miracle on 34th Street.”
Police said the mother, 30-year-old Assa Diawara, was caught on surveillance footage carrying a bundle in her arms through the turnstiles at the subway station. More footage showed her leaving the station empty-handed, the complaint said.
Diawara allegedly admitted she was the woman in the videos and said she gave birth late Sunday night into early Monday morning, the complaint said.
Diawara was taken into custody early Wednesday on charges of abandonment of a child and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.
Detectives identified her by following a trail of surveillance camera footage, an NYPD official said. Video showed Diawara taking a car service to Jamaica, Queens, and then investigators canvassed the area where she was dropped off and found a neighbor who recognized her from the surveillance footage, the official said.
Diawara has made her first court appearance and was granted supervised release. She is due to return to court in December.
New York’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act permits a parent to leave a newborn in a safe place — like a hospital, police station or fire station — up to 30 days after the baby’s birth. The parent would not be prosecuted and can remain anonymous as long as the baby is left in a safe place and the appropriate person is notified.
