Melinda Duckett Suicide After Nancy Grace Grilling

On September 8, 2006 Melinda Duckett shot and killed herself after appearing on Nancy Grace. Melinda appeared on the Nancy Grace show regarding the disappearance of her 2-year old son, Trenton Duckett, who she claimed was abducted from his crib one evening while watching movies with friends in the other room.

"About a week into the investigation, police began to question the time sequence into when Trenton went missing and when he was first reported missing. Investigators reported there was a possibility that Trenton could have been missing up to two days before Melinda contacted police. Police could not find anyone who saw Trenton since he was picked up from day care on Friday, August 25, other than Melinda."

The father, Joshua Duckett, was initially a suspect until he agreed to take a polygraph. The results of the polygraph satisfied authorities that he was telling the truth and was not involved with the disappearance of his son. The mother, Melinda, was not as cooperative and refused the polygraph.

The only lead to the child's disappearance was a slit in the screen of his bedroom window where he was sleeping in his crib the day the mother reported him missing. When Melinda appeared on Nancy Grace, she refused to answer the questions that Nancy had asked her about where she was the day of and the days prior to the child being taken. In the interview an emotionless Melinda Duckett spoke garbled, almost inaudible at times and refused to answer the questions asked of her, saying something about not trusting the media.

CNN interviewed criminal profiler Pat Brown after Melinda's death asking if she felt Nancy was responsible for the actions of Melinda Duckett. Pat Brown implied the accusations were ridiculous, saying if she killed herself after her interview on CNN would that make CNN responsible. In voicing her parallel, she said she doesn't believe Nancy Grace should be held responsible for what Melinda Duckett did to herself. Melinda Duckett agreed to go on Nancy's show and killed herself because she could not cope with life after what happened to her son.

At this time, Melinda Duckett was and still is the only suspect in the case of her missing toddler. Could the police investigation have more to do with the pressure Melinda was feeling at the time of her suicide? If she did have something to do with the disappearance of her child, why wouldn't she leave a note before killing herself? There are so many questions that have yet to be answered in this case.

SOURCES:

"Missing Toddler Trenton Duckett, The Search for Trenton Duckett Challenges Police"

By Charles Montaldo, About.com Guide, http://crime.about.com/od/missing/a/duckett.htm