Amber Alert: 2-year-old Trenton Duckett in Florida

[sharon]

Jacquie!

Thanks so much for finding and posting updates.

I spoke with my sister on Monday and asked her if she had heard anything -- she lives in Ocala and teaches in the Marion County School District.

She said there is nothing in the papers there.

And there is nothing in the papers here.

My mom and dad think that he is gone    That too much time has gone by. But I'm still holding out hope. I don't know why, but I am.

[Jacqueline]

Jacquie!

Thanks so much for finding and posting updates.

I spoke with my sister on Monday and asked her if she had heard anything -- she lives in Ocala and teaches in the Marion County School District.

She said there is nothing in the papers there.

And there is nothing in the papers here.

My mom and dad think that he is gone    That too much time has gone by. But I'm still holding out hope. I don't know why, but I am.

My pleasure Sharon!  I just hope I have something positive to post soon.

I agree it doesn't look good, but I never thought Elizabeth Smart would be found alive, and she was......

keep hope alive~

[Jacqueline]

People who spot missing toddler Trenton Duckett are no longer encouraged to call the FBI's hot line.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the missing 2-year-old is now encouraged to call CrimeLine at 800-423-TIPS, WESH 2 News reported.A reward is being offered in the case.
 

Police are also asking people who may have seen his mother, Melinda Duckett, the weekend he vanished to also call the number.

She reported Trenton missing on the night of Aug. 27, and police are still trying to establish a timeline for Melinda and Trenton Duckett that weekend.

Melinda Duckett killed herself on Sept. 8 in her grandparents' Lake County home.

Leesburg police also said Wednesday that there have not been any major breaks in the case. Investigators are still receiving and following up on routine tips and leads, police said.

[mrs. red]

I still have hope for him... don't know why but I do.  It would be an answered prayer if he is just given a better life...no child should be used as a pawn.

[Jacqueline]

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/breaking_news/15687395.htm

[sharon]

Thanks Jacquie.

It's an emabarrassment to the state of Florida. I don't know about the other states in the US.

The Department of Child Welfare in Fl. has let too many children slip through what is supposed to be their safety net. The stories are horrifying. One worse than the next. Poor Rilya  Poor Carly  Poor Trenton  The list is long.

Our governor has promised and nsisted on reform for both his terms -- yet nothing seems to have improved. We keep losing children in the system  -- we keep making wrong decisions about the children in our system -- we don't protect the children in our system from predators. Some of the predators are part of the system.

Anyone know who are governor has been

I'll give you a hint -- his last name is BUSH.

[Jacqueline]

-Team: Melinda Duckett Failed Voice Stress Test
Trenton's Mother Walked Out Of Several Lie-Detector Tests
POSTED: 8:34 am EDT October 6, 2006
UPDATED: 8:49 am EDT October 6, 2006

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Melinda Duckett failed a voice stress test and walked out of several lie-detector tests in the days after her son was reported missing, the WESH 2 I-Team reported.

Leesburg police gave Melinda and Josh Duckett voice stress tests right after 2-year-old Trenton disappeared.

His father passed with flying colors, and then he also passed a lie-detector test. But Melinda Duckett flunked the voice stress test and then refused to finish any lie-detector test.
 

Melinda Duckett killed herself on Sept. 8.

Melinda Duckett's behavior around the time that her son disappeared continues to confound investigators. As the I-Team first reported weeks ago, she was not fully cooperative with police after she called them to her Windemere Villas apartment to report Trenton missing on Aug. 27.

"She feigned cooperation, but she was uncooperative throughout the investigation," said Capt. Steve Rockefeller of the Leesburg Police Department.

Not only did investigators find fresh paint on Melinda Duckett's apartment walls and baby pictures, including a sonogram, in the trash, investigators said they also found holes in any story Melinda Duckett tried to tell them, especially when they put her on a voice stress test machine.

"Joshua passed his voice stress test. And Melinda, the results on hers were indicated deception," Rockefeller said. "That was definitely one of the earlier indicators that something was wrong with her story."

Several sources told the I-Team that Melinda Duckett balked at several opportunities to take a lie-detector test.

Leesburg police confirmed that at one point, she started answering questions about the Friday and Sunday on the weekend Trenton disappeared, but when they started asking her about Saturday, Melinda Duckett got up and walked out.

"The time frame right after Saturday afternoon leading up until Sunday morning she was, she just didn't seem willing to discuss. And at one point, she did get up and leave an interview," Rockefeller said.

Rockefeller continued to defend his department's decision not to arrest Melinda Duckett, despite all the evidence and despite the fact police had drawn up an arrest warrant they never served on her.

"Had we arrested Melinda, it may have gotten us Melinda. It may have prevented a suicide. But it wouldn't have gotten us Trenton," Rockefeller said.

After she flunked the voice stress test, Melinda Duckett went to an attorney and that lawyer told her to only talk to the FBI, sources told WESH 2 News. But she never formally agreed to take a lie-detector test, even with the FBI.
WESH 2 has also obtained a copy of Melinda Duckett's will. It was signed on June 6, 2006.

Police said they wonder why a 21-year-old would have a will. They said they wonder if that shows some sort of plan on her part.

Anyone with any information that could help in the search for Trenton is urged to call CrimeLine at 800-423-TIPS.

Investigators said even the smallest detail could be a big help.

[Jacqueline]

There is a great op-ed in the latest Entertainment Weekly written by horror raconteur and American gothic spiel meister, my fellow New Englander, Stephen King.


King is upset with Georgia legal pit-bull, CNN's Nancy Grace.  His complaints stem from her unbridled use of the bully television pulpit that damns anyone silly enough to get caught in her cross-hairs.

The subject setting him off involved missing 2 year old Trenton Duckett and his mother, the now deceased Melinda Duckett.   Melinda crawled into a closet with a shotgun and blew her head clean off the day after Grace had cross examined her  supervision of her missing child.

King fumes in his assessment of the southrn legal eagle ratings queen and beneficiary of the now coined media termed dead mother bounce:  "And before you accuse me of writing about news in your favorite entertainment magazine, let me assure you Nancy Grace is entertainment...if, that is, you're the sort who watches NASCAR for the crashes and Survivor hoping no one will. In the increasingly weird world of infotainment, she is the belle of the Freakers Ball...[Grace] conveys by body language alone the idea that we're all guilty of something...and she knows it."

There is a dividing line between real reporting, and sensationalized pap, and pap sadly seems to be winning more viewers than the truth.  King further claims the Grace phenomenon that permeates every level of media and reporting is immoral, and too close to his own horrific imagination that spawned his “Running Man” novel about live execution on television.  

[Carnut]

Different strokes for different folks.

I still like NG and think she does a good job, even though I have a difficult time watching her expressions and attitudes on occasion.

I don't blame NG for the Duckett suicide.

[Jacqueline]

Different strokes for different folks.

I still like NG and think she does a good job, even though I have a difficult time watching her expressions and attitudes on occasion.

I don't blame NG for the Duckett suicide.

I don't blame her either Carnut.

I'm just posting everything I can find on this story...

[Jacqueline]

LEESBURG, Fla. -- Trenton Duckett's father is taking charge in the search for his son.

Six weeks after the 2-year-old disappeared, Josh Duckett told WESH 2 News reporter Kathy Marsh that he's opening his own command center to field tips on what happened to Trenton.

"I feel, if anything, she stashed him somewhere. Somebody has him. It's just a matter of finding him," he said.
 

Duckett said he never believed his son was abducted or that he is dead. Now, he's announcing bold new moves to find the child, including hiring a private investigator.

"It would give somebody that hasn't been directly involved in it, who's got a fresh view and fresh opinion on it. I think it could definitely help," he said.

Duckett said more money has to be raised before the private investigator can come on board, but he's willing to work on it. Thanks to cash donations so far, Duckett is opening an office next week to take tips on Trenton.

"Mainly it's to give the community another phone line away from law enforcement to contact anonymously and give their tip," Duckett said.

Duckett, his family and friends are going to open up their own command center in Leesburg. Starting next week, anyone can walk into the Team Trenton Headquarters and give them a tip. They also set up a Web site, www.helpfindtrenton.com, to solicit tips.

A new phone number is also up and running for tips at 877-TRENT-65, and tips can be e-mailed to tips@HelpFindTrenton.com. All tips will remain anonymous.

"We'll turn it over to law enforcement no questions asked. We need the information that's out there," Duckett said.

People can also still call CrimeLine at 800-423-TIPS with tips about Trenton.


 To comment on this story, send an e-mail to Kathy Marsh.


Previous Stories:
October 6, 2006: I-Team: Melinda Duckett

[sharon]

Thanks Jacquie!

I hope he is sincere. I hope he doesn't already know all the answers because he was part of it.

I saw my sister last weekend and asked again about the news in the area about him.

Her school (she's a teacher in Marion County) had been in lockdown all last Friday due to an anonymous phone call that someone in school had a gun -- she said that got more publicity than Trenton.

How sad.

Thanks for posting what you find.

[Jacqueline]

Thanks Jacquie!

I hope he is sincere. I hope he doesn't already know all the answers because he was part of it.

I saw my sister last weekend and asked again about the news in the area about him.

Her school (she's a teacher in Marion County) had been in lockdown all last Friday due to an anonymous phone call that someone in school had a gun -- she said that got more publicity than Trenton.

How sad.

Thanks for posting what you find.

My gut is that he is sincere...

You have to be a pretty good liar to pass lie detector tests (Melinda was a good liar, and she didn't pass)

and although he is probably guilty of being too young to be a parent....I don't think he knows where his child is....

And you are more than welcome!

[Jacqueline]

Trenton Duckett's Father Hires Private Investigator


Trenton Duckett

 Oct 17, 2006
 

By WTSP-TV Tampa

LEESBURG, FL -- The father of the two-year-old Leesburg boy that disappeared from his bedroom in August is hiring a private investigator.

A few weeks after Trenton Duckett disappeared, his mother killed herself.

Now Joshua Duckett is setting up an office in Leesburg to take in tips about Trenton and he hired an investigator.

He believes Trenton's mother hid the boy's body somewhere.

[sharon]

Trenton Duckett's Father Hires Private Investigator


Trenton Duckett

 Oct 17, 2006
 

By WTSP-TV Tampa

LEESBURG, FL -- The father of the two-year-old Leesburg boy that disappeared from his bedroom in August is hiring a private investigator.

A few weeks after Trenton Duckett disappeared, his mother killed herself.

Now Joshua Duckett is setting up an office in Leesburg to take in tips about Trenton and he hired an investigator.

He believes Trenton's mother hid the boy's body somewhere.

He believes Trenton's mother hid the boy's body somewhere

What happened to:

"I feel, if anything, she stashed him somewhere. Somebody has him. It's just a matter of finding him," he said.  

Something is not right at all.

[mrs. red]

I agree Sharon, something is not right... what a sad, sad case this is... such a beautiful little boy.  It really angers me that people have kids and don't care about them... why not just use birthcontrol?  

[Red]

Josh Duckett to Open official “Team Trenton” headquarters today in Central Florida for Missing Son

http://missingexploited.com/2006/10/18/josh-duckett-to-open-official-team-trenton-headquarters-today-in-central-florida-for-missing-son/


Josh Duckett, the father of missing Trenton Duckett, is opening the official “Team Trenton” headquarters in Central Florida. The office space was donated to Josh Duckett by a local marketing company.

As well as setting up a headquarter and hiring a PI, Josh Duckett and “Team Trenton” have created a web page for Trenton Duckett. As the police department scales back on man power and the media attention wanes, parents of missing children need to get more creative in finding ways to get the information out and to get new leads.



http://www.helpfindtrenton.com

[Jacqueline]

The Search For Trenton Duckett
Leesburg Police say they've received results from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab in connection with the Duckett case, but there appears to be nothing that helps get any closer to finding the two year old boy.

Police say the results could not determine whether the screen to the child's bedroom window was cut from the inside, rather than the outside.

 Nor could they pinpoint what instrument was used to cut the screen.

Police say computer information from Melinda Duckett's home is still being studied for possible evidence.

Trenton's mother Melinda was named as the prime suspect in the child's disappearance, but that happened after the woman had already committed suicide some 12 days after the child vanished.

In addition, national television personality Nancy Grace is expected to bring her show on CNN Headline News to the area to try to keep the case in the spotlight of the national attention.

[mrs. red]

well I hope they get some answers.... I know it's probably too far gone to hope but I still do!!

[Jacqueline]

Duckett Investigation
National talk show host Nancy Grace is coming to Leesburg next month, hoping to keep Trenton Duckett's Case in the lime light.

Grace plans to air her show live November 16th and 17th from the new Leesburg command center that Trenton's father Josh opened last week.
     This weekend, Josh plans on attending the "Leesburg Trick or Treat on Main Street" this Saturday, with hopes of finding the boy.

The new publicity about the case comes just one day after Leesburg Police say test results from the FDLE Crime Lab have not helped them get any closer to finding the missing toddler.
     
Police say crime scene technicians could not determine whether the window screen in the toddler's bedroom was cut from the inside or outside, nor could they pinpoint what instrument was used to cut the screen.
   
Investigators say computer information from Melinda Duckett's home is still being studied for possible evidence.
   
Trenton's mother Melinda was named as the prime suspect in the child's disappearance, but that happened after she had already committed suicide after the boy vanished.