Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Trenton John Duckett
Trenton, date, approximate 2006; Age-progression to age 15 (date, approximate 2019); Melinda Duckett; Joshua Duckett; Melinda's car
Date Missing 08/26/2006
Missing From
Leesburg, Florida
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Asian, Biracial, White
Date of Birth 08/10/2004 (18)
Age 2 years old
Height and Weight 3'0, 35 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue and green striped shirt, denim shorts and a diaper.
Associated Vehicle(s) Silver 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Biracial (Asian/Caucasian) male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Trenton is of Korean descent.
Details of Disappearance 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.
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 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. 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 images 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 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 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.
On September 8, thirteen days after her son vanished, Melinda was found shot to death in a closet in her paternal grandparents' home in Lady Lake, Florida. She had taken her own life at the age of 21. She left two notes, one of which was addressed to "the public" and expressed her love for Trenton and complained about being ridiculed and criticized. Neither note disclosed any information as to what happened to the child.
Melinda's family cited the stress of her son's disappearance and the subsequent media scrutiny as the reason for her suicide. She had a history of depression and two previous stays in mental hospitals, mostly recently in 2005, after she either harmed herself or threatened to.
Melinda's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Nancy Grace, a television talk show host, and CNN, her network, in December 2006. Grace conducted an aggressive interview with Melinda shortly before her death and her parents argued that she had been pushed over the edge as a result. Melinda died by suicide before the interview aired. In November 2010, the lawsuit was settled out of court; CNN agreed to set up a $200,000 trust fund to finance the search for Trenton.
On September 21, nearly a month after Trenton went missing and two weeks after Melinda's death, police officially named her as the prime and only suspect in Trenton's . They stated they did not necessarily believe she had harmed him, however.
Authorities investigated the possibility that Trenton had been sent to his mother's native South Korea. Melinda had been adopted by a New York couple shortly after birth and never knew her biological parents, but she said she'd like to locate her Korean relatives and get Trenton in touch with his roots. Police found no evidence that the child had ever left the United States, however.
Almost a full year after Trenton disappeared, investigators stated they had ruled out several theories in his : they no longer believe he was abducted by a stranger or that his mother gave him to another individual to hide from Joshua. Authorities remain hopeful that Trenton is alive, and continue to actively investigate his disappearance. His remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Leesburg Police Department
352-787-2121
Other
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
America's Most Wanted
News4Jax
WFTV
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Local 6
About.com's Crime and Punishment
The Villages Daily Sun
WESH 2
The Lockport Union-Sun and Journal
The St. Petersburg Times
The Crime Library
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Orlando Sentinel
Marion County Sheriff's Office
Fox News
The Ocala Star-Banner
People Magazine
Bay News 9
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
