It's been months of searching for Trenton Duckett with no new leads, but Trenton's father still believes his son is alive.
The last credible lead came in November 2006, when the Marion County Sheriff's Office says a potential witness stepped forward, claiming she saw Trenton on the day he disappeared.
If what this witness says is accurate, this will have been the first reported sighting of Trenton during the mysterious 12 hours before his disappearance, that until then had been unaccounted for. According to the the Sheriff's Office, a Wendy's Restaurant employee claims that Melinda Duckett went through the drive-through in Belleview, with Trenton in the car, on the morning before he disappeared. The same employee claimed that Melinda Duckett returned to the drive-through about half an hour later, allegedly without Trenton. This eyewitness account could be the spark that revitalizes the search for Trenton Duckett yet.
'Team Trenton' Searches For Answers
Joshua Duckett, father of Trenton Duckett, is not the kind of man to sit back and wait for things to happen -- especially when it involves his son. In October 2006, Joshua hired a private investigator and, along with help from family and volunteers, created the 'Team Trenton' headquarters. 'Team Trenton' will assist police in the search for 2-year-old Trenton, who has been missing since August 27, 2006.
A local company has donated three computers and phones, along with office area to 'Team Trenton.' Joshua, along with volunteers will take in tips, create flyers, and run their newly created web-site,
www.helpfindtrenton.com.
Joshua hopes that investigators, along with 'Team Trenton' can crack this case and find out what happened to his son Trenton.
Investigators are working with Interpol, as some have speculated that Trenton may have been sent out of the country.
Cops Suspected Mother from Beginning
Melinda Duckett claimed to "live" for her son Trenton in her MySpace blog posts. But investigators say it sure didn't look like it from the moment they first stepped into her apartment.
Inside, they say they found several suspicious items. Trenton's things were out back in the garbage: his toys, snacks, and lots of photgraphs, including his sonogram.
Investigators also discovered freshly painted walls in some places; they reported an "unknown stain" on a hall wall and "blood like stains" on some bedding.
Police said that Melinda Duckett's refusal to take a lie-detector test, and her reluctance to cooperate with authorities were also red flags that led them to look at Melinda more closely.
Intense Searches Turn Up No Sign of Trenton
Police spent several days using dogs, ATVs, and helicopters to search through the saw palmettos and slash pines of the Ocala National Forest. Dive teams searched muddy lake bottoms in zero visibility. They found a garbage bag that looked like it had teeth marks and blood on it, and called in alligator trappers. And still no sign of Trenton Duckett.
They were acting on an account provided by Melinda Duckett to her attorney, which would have placed her in or near the Ocala National Forest on the day Trenton went missing. She said that she set off for a shooting range in the Forest that she had frequented before, got lost, and wound up driving around central Florida for eight hours.
Investigators say her story conflicts with two tips that place her at a Leesburg business at at 8:00 AM, and walking into her apartment without Trenton around 3:00 PM.
Search Continues for Trenton After Mom Kills Herself
Melinda Duckett's grandparents found her body slumped in their bedroom closet on Sept. 8. Cops say she bought a shotgun in a pawnshop two days before Trenton went missing, but shot herself in the head with one of her grandfather's shotguns.
Melinda's grandparents blamed the media for her death, saying that reporters put too much pressure on the young woman. Suspicion mounted after a lawyer advised her not to take a polygraph test. Another revelation didn't help: police say her story about where she was during the 26 hours prior to Trenton's disappearance just wasn't adding up.
Cops are still trying to construct a timeline of Melinda, Joshua, and Trenton Duckett's whereabouts on August 25 and August 26. But now with Melinda's suicide, they're changing the direction of their investigation, moving away from the possibility that a stranger abducted Trenton, towards the idea that Melinda may have either hidden or murdered the child.
Detectives recovered several valuable clues from Melinda's grandparents' home and her apartment, including three letters written just before her death, and two laptop computers. Melinda also kept a blog on MySpace.com, which investigators are currently poring over to try get a better sense of Melinda's mental state during the days and weeks leading up to Trenton's disappearance. What follows below is an excerpt of one of her posts, dating from some time in June:
I HAVE LIVED FOR MANY THINGS THROUGHOUT MY LIFETIME, LIVED AND LEARNED LESSONS THAT HAVE MADE ME THE PERSON THAT I AM: WHETHER THAT BE A GOOD THING OR NOT IS LEFT TO YOUR OPINION. BUT THOSE LESSONS TRUELY HAVE SHAPED MY VALUES AND ONE COMPONENT THAT I HOLD EXTREMELY VALUABLE IN MY LIFE, IS MY SON. HIS NAME IS TRENTON AND I HAVE A FEELING THAT MANY OF THE PEOPLE I TALK TO DO NOT KNOW ABOUT HIM AND EVEN MAY STOP TALKING TO ME AFTER THEY READ THIS. (BEING THE FACT THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO DATE ME INSTEAD OF BEING FRIENDS AND DO NOT WANT A CHILD INVOLVED) OF COURSE THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SHALLOW AND I DO NOT WANT THEM INVOLVED IN MY LIFE ANYWAY.
No one knows for sure what, if anything, Melinda's ramblings on MySpace have to do with Trenton's disappearance. But investigators are still hoping that they can glean something from all this evidence that will lead them to Trenton, dead or alive.
I don't remember reading about this, or maybe I just forgot. It's been awhile since I've followed the case.
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