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E029: Trenton Duckett
1.6k Plays6 years ago
Children should feel safe with their parents. But what happens when the woman who is supposed to guarantee your safety, your mother, may be the reason you are no longer tucked away safely in bed?
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Transcript
Pandemic Impact on Podcast Format
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to Coffee and Cases. Sadly, Allison and I are still practicing social distancing, so this week's episode will be done solo yet again. In my fantasy world, we would have been back to normal by now, but it appears that'll just be a dream for a little while longer.
00:00:17
Speaker
So if you're new to coffee and cases, please know that our podcast has changed slightly as our world is adjusting to a global pandemic. While we're being asked to keep our distance from others, to stay inside when possible, and to not gather in large groups, we ask that you bear with us as our podcast has changed a little as well.
00:00:35
Speaker
Until we can return to normal, take care of yourselves. Do something creative today. Take a moment to just breathe. Call up an old friend to catch up. Share a podcast when you do. Write a letter to someone who means something to you and imagine the joy on your loved one's face when she receives that note.
00:00:52
Speaker
It's the small moments of happiness that we create that can change our perspectives right now. Thank you for bearing with us and for understanding. We care about you. We love you guys. Stay together, united in human spirit, even if not physically. Stay safe now onto this week's episode.
00:01:10
Speaker
We are facing uncertain times, sleuth hounds. Worldwide, we are still trying to overcome an illness that has killed so many and is still claiming victims today.
Societal Challenges and Personal Reflections
00:01:19
Speaker
Right now in the United States, we are also battling racism and oppression, a fight that should have been settled long before 2020. It amazes me that we live in such an advanced world, yet people still fear for their safety when they walk up and down the street.
00:01:33
Speaker
Safety. The thing our government is supposed to guarantee us. Safety. The thing our parents are supposed to guarantee us. I by no means had a perfect childhood. I think I've touched on this before. But I always felt safe in the presence of my mom. And that was her job, right? To protect me when I couldn't protect myself. To make sure that I stayed safe.
00:01:54
Speaker
It's hard for someone who was lucky enough to have that to imagine not being safe around their mom. But sadly, there are many kids who feel fear when they're around their parents. As someone who can't wait to be a mom. I imagine caring for someone that I literally gave life to. Someone that is half me and half Anthony. I understand that being a parent is the biggest blessing I could ever receive. But sadly, not everyone gets that.
00:02:18
Speaker
If you're a long time listener of our show, you know that Anthony and I had a miscarriage in September. I'm sure every person's experience with that's different. But for us, it was several weeks of nearly daily doctor's appointments. To have blood work taken, my levels read, doing another ultrasound just to make sure. I remember one particular follow-up appointment.
00:02:39
Speaker
Anthony and I were walking into the hospital two days after being told I was likely having a miscarriage for blood work and an ultrasound. Our family spent 24 hours praying for a miracle. As we walked hand in hand across the parking lot silently praying for my hormone levels to rise, I saw a young man about our age carrying a two-year-old towards the designated smoking area.
00:03:01
Speaker
As we round the corner, I saw who he was walking towards. Mama, the toddler exclaimed as she ran over to the lady in a hospital gown. When the woman turned, I felt my blood boil. There she was in her hospital gown, belly protruding. The doctor said, when I get back up, we can start the epidural. She told her husband as she puffed on her cigarette. Did you get my Mountain Dew? She asked as he handed her the biggest bottle of Mountain Dew I've ever seen.
00:03:27
Speaker
There she was, the one who had everything I was praying for, smoking a cigarette in between gulps of Mountain Dew. And there I was, the woman who only drank water, the one who took her prenatal vitamins, the one who exercised daily, walking into the hospital to hear the doctor confirmed I was losing my baby. As long as I live, I'll never forget how angry I was, and yet jealous at the same time of this woman.
00:03:51
Speaker
Please, Blue Towns, don't think I was judging her. Was I at the time? Of course I was, but looking back on that day, we all made different choices. And hopefully she made the best decisions she could for her and her family. And the same can be said about the mom and her story today. I pray that despite how the facts look, she made the best decisions she could to protect her child. But I truly believe that being a good parent is a calling. Just because you can conceive a baby doesn't make you a good mom or dad. Sadly, our story today is about a baby who deserved the world.
00:04:21
Speaker
A baby who deserved safety but was denied that.
Trenton Duckett Case Introduction
00:04:24
Speaker
Today's story is about a mother who may have had something to do with her son's disappearance. This is a story of Trenton Duckett.
00:04:47
Speaker
Oh.
00:05:07
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:05:26
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
Family Conflict and Custody Battles
00:05:44
Speaker
Trenton Duckett was a lovable and happy two-year-old living in Leesburg, Florida. His parents, Melinda and Josh, did not always see eye to eye. In fact, many would have described their relationship as tumultuous. The couple was young and had been dating since high school. Despite several rumors of domestic violence, the couple randomly got married in 2005, about a year after their son was born. They separated not long after that.
00:06:10
Speaker
Trenton did not have the ideal childhood. In fact, during his first two years of life, Trenton was shuffled back and forth between his parents, his paternal grandmother, his maternal great-grandparents, and even into foster care. Melinda was adopted but came to live with her adoptive parents as a baby from Korea. In December 2005, Melinda was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
00:06:33
Speaker
but she was never ruled as an unfit parent, despite often using Trenton as a pawn in her constant chess game with his dad. The Department of Children and Families, or the DCF, release an article called DCF Releases Timeline of Trenton Duckett's Turbulent Life. That article gives extensive details about various incidents where Melinda would threaten to harm Trenton to scare Josh or even to try to manipulate Josh. Sleuthhounds, let me name just a few of those incidents for you.
00:07:02
Speaker
One incident happened on October 31st, 2005. The DCF received a report from Lake County that said Melinda scratched Josh during an argument in their car. Then she allegedly threatened to kill Trenton and held a gun against the baby's leg. Trenton was taken from his mother, but against DCF's objections, the judge returned Trenton to her. And according to that article, they said that a judge can feel compelled to return a child to a home
00:07:30
Speaker
even though they might have a gut feeling saying like, you know, I'm not sure this is the best idea, but I really don't have a choice. And I think that was kind of the situation that Melinda found herself in. Joshua Duckett, or Josh, which is Trenton's dad, had told reporters that he tape recorded his wife's threats and abuse of Trenton. He said he called the DCF and gave them those tapes. In the article, he's quoted to say, quote,
00:07:56
Speaker
It was typical stuff that I reported all along that she was squeezing him and making him cry, holding him upside down, things like that, threatening to harm him and I called the hotline and it took them five and a half hours to get out there." Melinda, though, ended up winning a temporary restraining order against Josh in July of 2006.
00:08:16
Speaker
after accusing him of threatening her and Trenton's life. But then in my research, the more I went into this case, I actually found out that Melinda ended up hacking into Josh's Myspace, which for our young users is like
00:08:32
Speaker
a combination kind of Instagram and Facebook and she used his MySpace account to send herself a threatening message and then she literally went the next day to the police filed the complaint and then obtained a court order limiting Josh's contact with his son Trenton.
00:08:48
Speaker
I talk a lot about not judging people who are different from you or live differently than you do, but come on now. I cannot believe that despite all of this, Trenton was returned to his mom given just those few incidents I mentioned above. So this brings us to August 27, 2006 at Windmere Apartments in the 1400 block of Griffin Road in Leesburg, Florida.
00:09:10
Speaker
According to the Charlie Project, Melinda stated that she put her son to bed at approximately 7 pm so that she could watch a movie with some of her friends, but that when she went in to check on him, he was gone.
Trenton's Disappearance and Investigation
00:09:23
Speaker
Now, when I first started researching this case, I thought that Melinda was the one who placed a 911 call, reporting her son as missing, but as I did more research, I actually found out she wasn't who placed a 911 call. According to an article I read by Martin Commas, Melinda Duckett and an unidentified man reported the toddler's disappearance, and here is a portion of their 911 call.
00:09:47
Speaker
Melinda took its sons missing. He was in the bed sleeping. She went in to check on him and he's not there. Said an unidentified man calmly to the dispatcher. And this man actually remains unidentified for a while with sleuthounds. The dispatcher, according to this article, then asked to speak to Melinda and the man can be heard calling for her three times. She comes to the phone and when she finally gets to the phone, she's panting like she's out of breath. The dispatcher asks her what her son was wearing and she says, quote,
00:10:17
Speaker
I don't know. He was ready for bed. He might have had his shoes off. His shirt off. He had on a pair of jean shorts. He's only two years old." She then tells the dispatcher, I was watching a movie that was two hours long. I checked on him before anyone came down to the house. So a couple things stick out to me here.
00:10:42
Speaker
one he might have had his shoes off how is there even a might there she did just put her kid to bed correct so wouldn't she have naturally taken his shoes off another thing he had on jean shorts
00:10:58
Speaker
Really? Your baby sleeps in blue jean shorts? I mean a nap, sure, cause like those are quick, right? And they're just in whatever they have on for the day. But to be put down to bed, I just don't see a mom leaving her baby in blue jean shorts to go to bed. But perhaps I'm wrong.
00:11:16
Speaker
When police arrived at the scene, they go into Trenton's bedroom and apparently the screen had been split. And this led police to believe that Trenton had been abducted from his bedroom and carried away. Melinda later told police that she was watching the movie lock stock in two smoking barrels with her friends when Trenton was abducted from his room. Police interviewed the two guys that she was referring to that were at her apartment at the time of his abduction. One of those guys names was Chris.
00:11:45
Speaker
Police actually say that he answered all the questions and cooperated with investigators He was able to pass a polygraph test and he claims that he never saw Trenton while in the apartment Police would not identify the man who made the 911 call because of their state privacy laws, which I don't understand but
00:12:05
Speaker
whatever. Later though his name is revealed as Danny. The Charlie Project's website said authorities initially announced that they they believed Trenton had been abducted and made an appeal to the public to help them search for him. But several days after his disappearance they kind of retract that statement and investigators said that they had no reason to believe the child was deceased or had been taken out of the local area and that his parents were now the focal point of the investigation.
00:12:35
Speaker
Honestly, are we really surprised based on Melinda's behavior so far? I hope you are shaking your head no with me. Melinda refused to take a polygraph test, which I know doesn't hold up in court, but like,
00:12:49
Speaker
If you didn't do anything, just take the polygraph test. She failed a voice stress test. Investigators actually found photographs of Trenton and sonogram images of Trenton, some of his toys and other belongings of his, and trash bins when they searched Melinda's apartment after her child's disappearance was reported.
00:13:14
Speaker
So basically, things are not looking good for Melinda right about now. I mean, I'm sure that she could explain how the toys ended up in the trash.
Media Pressure and Its Consequences
00:13:23
Speaker
Kids acquire a lot of stuff, I'm sure. So perhaps she was just maybe throwing out things that he didn't really play with anymore.
00:13:32
Speaker
but I'm not really sure how you can explain to police why your kid's baby pictures or your sonogram images of him are in the trash can. I don't like really know how you explain that. As you can imagine though, Trenton's case gained national attention, so much so that Nancy Grace invited Melinda onto her show for an interview.
00:13:53
Speaker
So if you have ever watched a Nancy Grace interview, you know that she can be ruthless. Like I would not want to be interviewed by this woman because she just literally does not give up. If you haven't seen her in action, I would definitely suggest that you look her up and watch one of her interviews. She just has this way about her that is honestly like super intimidating and she just keeps like pushing and pushing and pushing. And honestly, it can be a little unnerving sometimes.
00:14:21
Speaker
In an article called, Decade Case is Caused for Online Sleuths and Psychics by Christine Dillard, Dillard says, quote, Grace inspected the cut window screen from Trenton's room and reviewed photos of the room taken that night of the reported abduction. Grace said that the scene appeared to be, quote, staged, end quote.
00:14:42
Speaker
Now I've tried to put myself in Melinda's shoes and honestly because I have seen some Nancy Grace interviews, I really do feel sorry for Melinda in this kind of situation because I'm a nervous person just in general.
00:14:55
Speaker
I'm like, I hate doing interviews and my hands get all sweaty when I'm in interviews and it's just not a fun time. But I can only imagine how nervous and stressed out she must have been with a constant banter from Nancy Grace and having to try to defend herself. I think that that would be something that's very hard to deal with. And sadly, Sleuthounds, Melinda didn't just get criticism from people like Nancy Grace. The public was openly criticizing her as well.
00:15:25
Speaker
and we know that she was already diagnosed with a mental illness, and sadly, she could not handle the criticism from the public and enduring the loss of her son, and on September the 8th, she committed suicide. According to the article, Missing Boy's mother wrote suicide letter by Martin Commas. Melinda left a few suicide letters from what I could gather, and one she addressed directly to the public, and in it she said, quote,
00:15:51
Speaker
Your focus came off my son. I love him and only wanted him safe in my arms. You created rumors and twisted words." According to that same article, when she had finished writing the letters, police said that Melinda placed the neatly written unsigned two page letters on the dashboard of her car and walked into her grandparents' home. She got a gun from her grandfather's closet and went into another closet, placed it under her chin and fatally shot herself.
00:16:21
Speaker
The letter Melinda wrote was, quote, a last minute idea, but I felt myself sinking after the one week mark of Trent being gone. I love him dearly and he is all I was breathing for. He was and always will be my essence and as he grows, I want him to know that, end quote.
00:16:42
Speaker
Josh actually said that this was encouraging news to him regarding the part where she mentions her son growing up. He said, quote, this kind of stands out to me. It gives me a little bit of hope in quote. And I mean, it kind of does because she was the lead suspect in this case. And she refers to him growing up. So that kind of gives you hope that he is still alive. The article police release mother suicide note by Steven Huddick and Martin Thomas said the FBI was actually in route
00:17:11
Speaker
Her grandparents home on September 8th to talk to The grandparents and not to Melinda, but she ended up killing herself Apparently though police had been watching Melinda and
00:17:24
Speaker
Police had even considered using other surveillance techniques, but the young mom shot herself before police could get her to cooperate fully in their investigation. Sleuthounds, literally within hours of her death, people were combing through poems that she had put online and things that she had written and pictures she had posted, and some were even straight up at this point calling her guilty.
00:17:46
Speaker
Rumors began flying. There was one rumor that said she'd hired a hitman from New York to take out Josh and that the deal had gone bad and somehow Trenton got involved.
Ongoing Investigation and Public Involvement
00:17:56
Speaker
There were other rumors that said she had sent Trenton to Korea to be with her birth family to keep him safe from Josh.
00:18:03
Speaker
and several disturbing videos and photographs were found of Melinda in various sexual poses. Some were even of her doing things with a man while she was feeding baby Trenton. Investigators haven't really confirmed if it's Melinda in the photographs or maybe if they were like altered in some way, but they don't see any connection between those and Trenton's disappearance.
00:18:30
Speaker
Melinda's family actually filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Nancy Grace and her network CNN in December of 2006. In November 2010, the lawsuit was settled out of court and CNN agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund to finance the search for Trenton.
00:18:49
Speaker
On September 21st in 2006, nearly a month after Trenton had went missing, and nearly two weeks after Melinda's death, police officially named her as the prime and only suspect in Trenton's case. Still, Melinda's family says that the investigation lost traction when the police focused solely on Melinda. But can you really blame them? I mean, she didn't really make a good case for herself, honestly.
00:19:17
Speaker
Police urged people to come forward with information. They no longer believed that Trenton was abducted from his bedroom. They pleaded with anyone who had seen Melinda's car on the day of or near Trenton's disappearance to come forward. The article's sheriff, new evidence indicates missing boy may be alive, talks extensively about a witness that did come forward with information about Trenton. This witness was an employee at a Wendy's restaurant in Bellevue, Florida.
00:19:46
Speaker
And she said that she saw Melinda and Trenton come through the drive-thru several hours before Melinda claimed that her son had disappeared from her apartment when he went to bed. The employee was actually given a polygraph test by police and she passed that test. The woman actually said that she had been hesitant to come forward but that her family urged her to do so.
00:20:07
Speaker
She said that she saw the mom and Trenton come through the drive-thru around 1030 in the morning on August 27th, and she remembered specifically asking Melinda what her son's name was. She said that Melinda later came back through the drive-thru about 30 minutes after that, but this time she was alone. Police actually believe that it was possible during that like 30 minute time span that Melinda passed Trenton off to someone else so that they could take them take him somewhere.
00:20:37
Speaker
And police records do show that Melinda was in the area of that Wendy's restaurant on that same day. And sadly, Sleuthounds, this is where it ends. We don't really have any more leads or any significant information about the possible whereabouts of Trenton. We do have an age progression photo that was created and I am going to post that onto our social media accounts. That way you can see what police believe that he looks like now.
00:21:03
Speaker
Anyone with information regarding Trenton's disappearance, current whereabouts, or Melinda Duckett's whereabouts on the weekend of August 26th and 27th is urged to contact the authorities at 800-CALL-FBI or 800-225-5324.
00:21:24
Speaker
Our world's a scary place, but every child deserves to feel safe, especially in their own home. A child's safety isn't something that's up for discussion. Kids deserve safety, period. Trenton was denied that safety. He never got to experience what it was like to grow up in a safe home, and that's heartbreaking.
00:21:44
Speaker
In a letter to Trenton, his grandparents wrote, quote, you are a very special young man. Although you have been missing from our family since you were two, we have never ever given up hope in finding you and have never stopped loving you.
00:22:00
Speaker
Your mom has been watching over you in heaven every step you've taken all those years, and we just pray for the day to be reunited with you. There are so many memories, pictures, and stories of your mom we want to share with you. There are just so many people that have supported us, helped in searching for you all of these years, and we're just eager to meet you, hug you, and hear the words, Trent and Duckett has been recovered. They have never given up hope in your recovery, and neither have we."
00:22:30
Speaker
As the world around us continues to change, and as we're constantly plunged into one crisis after another, we owe it to the youth of the world to protect them. If you are keeping up with current events in the US, you know that this is a pivotal time in our history. This moment will define the future for so many generations to come. We owe it to those to come to protect them.
00:22:53
Speaker
On this podcast, we speak for those who can no longer speak for themselves. And today, I challenge you all to do the same. Speak for those who have lost their voice. Be the change. The Statue of Liberty reads, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Help us protect the tired, the poor, and those who long to be free.
00:23:18
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases Podcast, to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at casescoffee, on Instagram, at Coffee Cases Podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcast at gmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
00:23:48
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.