A tragic discovery in Utah has led to the arrest of a California mother after a grueling weeks-long search for her missing 9-year-old daughter. The child was found dead following a cross-country road trip.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown announced at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that Melodee Buzzard’s decomposed remains were located in a secluded area of Wayne County, Utah, earlier this month. The body was discovered by a couple who stumbled upon it while taking photographs and subsequently informed the authorities.

On Tuesday morning, Ashlee Buzzard, the girl’s mother, was arrested after DNA tests confirmed the identity of the body. Local NBC affiliate KSBY reported her arrest took place around 7:45 a.m.

Buzzard now faces a first-degree murder charge. Sheriff Brown revealed that the investigation concluded Buzzard fatally shot her daughter in the head, with ballistic evidence linking a weapon found at their residence to the crime.

“These developments are crucial in ensuring Ashlee Buzzard is held responsible for her daughter’s murder,” Brown stated, “yet they do not lessen the deep sense of loss we are acknowledging today.”

Melodee was last seen with her mother on Oct. 9 near the Utah-Colorado border. Sources told ABC News authorities believe she was likely dead in October, before she was even known to be 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.”