A 40-year-old mother from California has been apprehended after the tragic discovery of her 9-year-old daughter’s body in Utah, concluding an extensive search that spanned several weeks. The young girl was initially reported missing following a cross-country journey.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown announced during a press briefing on Tuesday that Melodee Buzzard’s remains were located in a secluded area of Wayne County, Utah, earlier this month. The discovery was made by a couple who stumbled upon the body while taking photographs and subsequently alerted the authorities.

Authorities detained her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, on Tuesday morning after DNA analysis verified the identity of the remains. According to NBC affiliate KSBY, Buzzard was taken into custody at approximately 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

Facing a charge of first-degree murder, Buzzard is accused of shooting her daughter in the head. Investigators have connected the crime to a firearm discovered at the Buzzard residence through ballistic evidence.

“Although these developments are crucial in ensuring Ashlee Buzzard faces justice for her daughter’s murder, they cannot lessen the deep sorrow we are experiencing today,” Sheriff Brown stated.

Melodee was last sighted with her mother on October 9 near the border of Utah and Colorado. ABC News sources suggest that authorities suspect she was deceased by October, even before being officially reported missing.

Buzzard left her home in Lompoc, some 60 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, for Nebraska on Oct. 7, according to authorities. She returned to the Golden State three days later without her daughter.

Investigators allege that during the return trip, she wore wigs and switched license plates in an apparent attempt to throw authorities off track. She was allegedly “uncooperative” with detectives and refused to provide them with any useful information.

As Law&Crime previously reported, authorities first learned Melodee was missing on Oct. 14 when the Lompoc Unified School District alerted them about Melodee’s “extended absence.” Deputies with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office went to Buzzard’s home in the 500 block of Mars Avenue, but “Melodee was not home and there was no verifiable explanation for her whereabouts.”

Sheriff Bill Brown called it a “perplexing” case.

KSBY spoke to Ashlee Buzzard’s mother, Lori Miranda, who said her daughter has been suffering from mental health problems after Melodee’s father died in a car crash when the girl was a baby. She said CPS took custody of Melodee after finding the girl living in squalor.

“I couldn’t believe it was my daughter,” Miranda told the TV station. “I mean, the house was in disarray. There were raw eggs in pans, there was rotten food in the fridge I think she was trying to give my granddaughter.”