Missing
Trenton John Duckett
Trenton, approximately 2006; Age when reported missing: 15 (approximately 2019); Melinda Duckett; Joshua Duckett; Melinda's car
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/26/2006
Missing location (approx) :
Leesburg, Florida
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
Asian, Biracial, White
DOB : 08/10/2004 (16)
Age at the time of disappearance: 2 years old
Height / Weight : 3'0, 35 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A blue and green striped shirt, denim shorts and a diaper.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Biracial (Asian/Caucasian) male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Trenton is of Korean descent.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Trenton was last seen on August 27, 2006 at Windemere Apartments in the 1400 block of Griffin Road in Leesburg, Florida. He was living there with his mother, Melinda M. Duckett, at the time. Melinda stated she put her son to bed at approximately 7:00 p.m. When she went into his room to check on him two hours later, he was missing.
The bedroom window screen had been slit, leading authorities to speculate that an abductor had gained access to the room through the window and carried the child away. Authorities initially announced they believed Trenton had been abducted and made an appeal to the public to search for him. Several days after his disappearance, however, investigators stated they had no reason to believe the child was deceased or had been taken out of the local area, and that his parents were the focal point of the investigation.
Melinda and Trenton's father, Joshua Duckett, had begun dating in high school and got married in 2005. Photographs of both of them are posted with this case summary. They were in the process of a heated divorce and custody battle in August 2006. Their relationship had been a contentious one, with numerous allegations of domestic violence between the couple, and abuse of Trenton before and after the marriAge at the time of disappearance: . Trenton was often in the care of Melinda's grandparents or in foster homes.
Melinda won a temporary restraining order against Joshua in July 2006, after accusing him of threatening her life and Trenton's. Joshua denies the allegations. He has been cooperative in the disappearance of his son and has passed a polygraph test.
Joshua's father, James "Jimmy" Duckett, is on death row in Florida. A former police officer, he was convicted of the rape and murder of a young girl in 1988. Joshua was only a toddler at the time his father was incarcerated, but they have maintained a relationship with each other. Trenton had visited James on death row and Melinda kept up a written correspondence with him. Authorities investigated to see whether Trenton's disappearance was related to his grandfather's crimes, but found no evidence to support this theory.
About a week after Trenton went missing, police stated they were not certain he had disappeared at the time Melinda said he did. No one other than Melinda reported having seen Trenton since his mother picked him up from day care a full day prior to his reported disappearance, and witnesses reported seeing Melinda alone in the hours prior to her son's going missing.
Melinda refused to take a polygraph, and she failed a voice stress test. Investigators found photographs and sonogram imAge at the time of disappearance: s of Trenton, and some of his toys, in the trash bin when they searched Melinda's apartment after the child's disappearance was reported. It is unclear why someone tried to throw those items away, but their presence in the garbAge at the time of disappearance: made police suspicious.
Melinda had told her attorney she took her son and a shotgun to a shooting range at the Ocala National Forest on August 27, then became lost and drove around central Florida for eight hours. A photograph of Melinda's vehicle, a silver 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse, is posted with this case summary. Police are anxious to talk to anyone who may have seen it on August 27, so they can verify Melinda's story. Witnesses reported seeing her in Leesburg at the time she was supposedly lost.
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