The rental car that a missing 9-year-old California girl was last seen traveling in with her mother had its license plates swapped during a road trip “to avoid detection,” police revealed.

The whereabouts of Melodee Buzzard, of Lompoc, California, remained unknown Tuesday. She was “last seen along the return route via video surveillance on October 9, 2025, in the region between the Colorado–Utah border,” according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. It added that her 35-year-old mother, Ashlee Buzzard, “has remained uncooperative and has not confirmed Melodee’s location or welfare.”

“Through their investigation, detectives have confirmed that Ashlee left California with Melodee in a white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu, initially bearing California license plate 9MNG101, on October 7, 2025. Detectives believe that Ashlee and Melodee traveled as far as Nebraska, with a return trip that included Kansas,” according to the sheriff’s office.

“Beginning October 8, 2025, the Malibu was observed with a New York license plate HCG9677. It is unknown when the plate was installed or whether additional plates were used at other times during travel. The New York plate seen on the car does not belong to the vehicle or to Ashlee,” the sheriff’s office added. “Investigators believe it was used as a false or switched plate to avoid detection. When the vehicle was returned to the rental agency in Lompoc, California, the assigned California plate was on the vehicle.”

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Investigators believe the rental vehicle traveled through Green River and Panguitch in Utah, northwest Arizona, Primm in Nevada and Rancho Cucamonga in California on or around Oct. 9.

“Detectives are seeking anyone who may have had contact with Ashlee or Melodee at any point from October 9-10, 2025, or any video footage from their route of travel,” the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.

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The sheriff’s office said investigators are sharing additional surveillance images of Ashlee and Melodee that were captured at a rental car location in Lompoc at the start of their road trip on Oct. 7.

“Both Ashlee and Melodee appear to be wearing wigs with Melodee’s appearing darker and straighter than her natural hair,” the sheriff’s office said.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office previously said its investigation into the disappearance of Melodee Buzzard began on Oct. 14 after a school administrator reported her extended absence. Deputies then responded to her home in Lompoc and encountered her mother, Ashlee, but “Melodee was not at the home, and no verifiable explanation for her whereabouts was provided,” according to the office.

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Melodee Buzzard is described by police as being around 4 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing approximately 60 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office is assisting in the search.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he will impose a steep tariff on New Yorkers moving to his state after voting on Election Day ends.

Abbott, a Republican, made the announcement Monday, a day before New Yorkers headed to the polls to choose a new mayor in what has been a closely watched race between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a socialist, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“After the polls close tomorrow night, I will impose a 100% tariff on anyone moving to Texas from NYC,” Abbott posted on X.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Abbott’s office for comment.

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The power to impose tariffs falls under the federal government’s authority, not the states.

The NYC mayoral race is one of the most anticipated contests this year. President Donald Trump has endorsed Cuomo, who is running as an independent.

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On Monday, Trump said he would most likely halt federal funds — aside from the minimum required — to New York if Mamdani is elected.

“It can only get worse with a communist at the helm, and I don’t want to send, as president, good money after bad,” he wrote on Truth Social. “It is my obligation to run the nation, and it is my strong conviction that New York City will be a complete and total economic and social disaster should Mamdani win.”

Trump said he would rather see a Democrat with a record of success than Mamdani, a former state assemblyman.

“He was nothing as an assemblyman, ranked at the bottom of the class, and as mayor of, potentially, again, the greatest city in the world, HE HAS NO CHANCE to bring it back to its former glory!” he added.

The race to replace the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner in Texas’ 18th Congressional District advanced to a runoff election between Democrats Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards.

The congressional seat, which covers some of the most densely populated portions of Houston, has been empty since Turner’s sudden death on March 5.

A Democratic stronghold, there were 16 candidates in the race, seven Democrats, five Republicans, three independents and one Green Party candidate.

Menefee, an attorney and Houston City Council member, won 32% of the vote as of late Tuesday night, and Edwards, who currently serves as Harris County attorney, brought in 26%. Because neither candidate took home 50% of the vote to win the seat, they will have to face off again in a runoff election in February.

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Due to the passing of Texas’ mid-decade redistricting bill, the district will split into districts 9, 29 and 18. However, this change will not happen until March and will not impact the runoff election.

Though both candidates have been vocal critics of President Donald Trump, Menefee has been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus Political Action Committee. He has been praised by the likes of Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Greg Casar, D-Texas, and Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. 

In a joint statement, the three called Menefee a “proven fighter” against “Republican overreach” and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney Ken Paxton and the Trump administration.

“As the youngest person and first African-American to serve as chief civil lawyer for Texas’s largest county, Christian Menefee has a demonstrated record of standing up to Republican overreach and delivering results for working families,” the three said in the statement. “He has won multi-million dollar settlements holding corporations accountable for emissions deception and deceptive marketing and has protected communities by taking on polluters and discriminatory landfill expansion. He has taken on Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton and the Trump administration. Christian is the proven fighter Texas’s 18th district needs. We are proud to back his campaign.”

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Menefee has also boasted in campaign ads about being called a “radical attorney” by the Trump White House.

Edwards, meanwhile, has been endorsed by groups such as EMILY’s List and Elect Democratic Women.

Edwards’ campaign website emphasizes building a healthier, safer and more equitable District 18.

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She states that “under President Trump’s leadership, our country has seen devastating attacks on our democracy, divisive rhetoric that weakened communities, and policies that have harmed the middle class and working families.”

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Turner died at age 70, having only served in Congress for just months. He also served as mayor of Houston for eight years, from 2016 to 2024. He replaced the late Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who also died in office in 2024, after serving in Congress for 29 years.