One Year Later: Where is Little Trenton Duckett?

Two year old Trenton Duckett was reported missing from his Leesburg Florida home on August 27, 2006. One year from then, there have been no signs of the missing toddler. Trenton was reported missing by his mother Melinda Duckett around 9:00pm that night. Melinda stated that she put him to be in between 6:30 and 7pm, watched a movie with friends, and when it was over went to check on little Trenton. He was gone, and a large cut was in the screen in the window of his room.

Typical abduction case, right? WRONG. This case was not typical from the time Melinda called the police. First off, while on the phone with the police Melinda said that she knew who took little Trenton. Melinda was referring to her estranged husband Josh Duckett, with who she was in a nasty divorce and custody battle over the little boy. Josh had not seen Trenton for month after Melinda got a protective order placed against him for death threats that he supposedly sent from his Myspace account to hers. At the time of the reported abduction, Josh Duckett was at home with his family about an hour away from Leesburg. He was awoken by law enforcement to let him know that little Trenton was missing.

As in the beginning of any abduction case, authorities want to get the word out as soon as possible. They started an Amber Alert and notified local authorities around the area. Authorities also started interviewing the parents and their friends and relatives. Interviews with the father confirmed that he had a solid story and also Josh Duckett agreed and passed a lie detector test. Most other people they interviewed also did not give any clues to authorities of what might have happened to little Trenton.

However, Trenton's mother Melinda was consistently changing her story. First she said she was in the Orlando area that day and got lost. She said she pulled over at the Altomonte Springs mall and changed Trenton's diaper there. Then she said she got lost. After being questioned more, she said she had been up in the Ocala National Forest (2 hours north of Orlando) and was driving around with Trenton all day. Later in the case, a worked at a local Wendy's in Bellview stated that she saw Melinda and Trenton that day. Melinda had come through the drive thru with Trenton and then a little while later, came through again without him.

While local authorities continued to look for little Trenton, his case started gaining national attention. The Nancy Grace show picked up on the case invited Josh and Melinda to come onto the show and plead for their child's safe return. Nancy Grace, the former prosecutor, is a tough woman who just wanted answers and to help this family reunite with each other. Josh appeared first and answered all of the questions that Grace gave to him and was cooperating very nicely. When Melinda came on the show(via telephone) she dodged the questions, gave answers that were off the wall, and flat out refused to answer others. Nancy Grace did not like how the mother was being uncooperative and started asking more questions, when Melinda decided to hang up on the show.

Meanwhile, back in Leesburg, the police found that the threatening Myspace message that Melinda used to get her protective order from Josh was actually sent from Melinda's computer. Although, the police had enough evidence to arrest Melinda with falsifying a document that was introduced in court to obtain the protective order, they decided not to at the moment as they were worried that their star witness would stop helping with the investigation.

Hours before the segment that was taped the day before was set to air on The Nancy Grace show, authorities were called to Melinda Ducketts grandparents homes in The Villages, Florida, a popular retirement community. Melinda was found in a closet in her grandparents home and she had taken her own life. She left 3 suicide notes. One note was to her Grandparents who she lived with during her high school carrier. The second was to her adoptive parents, who adopted her from Korea when she was a small infant, and the other was to all the media letting them know exactly how they made her feel and that she had to take her life due to them.

To this day, Trenton's case still baffles investigators. Authorities have checked on every tip and lead that has come to them, checked out every possibility that they can think of, and none of these have led them to little Trenton, either dead or alive. Trenton's dad, Josh and grandmother Carla still keep hope that someday they will have their little Trenton back. Earlier in August they celebrated Trenton's 3rd birthday and then on the 27th of August held a candle light vigil in downtown Leesburg to remember what happened to little Trenton 1 year ago. Although the tips have stopped coming in completely, authorities still believe that little Trenton will be found one day and investigators are still searching for more information on this little boy.