The Disappearance of Trenton Duckett – TRUE CRIME REPORT

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Trenton Duckett is a toddler who went missing from his home in Leesburg, Florida at age 2 in 2010. He has been missing for more than 16 years.

Trenton Duckett was born on August 10, 2004. His parents were Joshua Duckett and Melinda Eubanks Duckett. Melinda Eubanks was born in South Korea on August 14, 1985, and moved to the U.S. on Christmas Eve of 1985 after being adopted by an American couple. She lived in New York before eventually moving to Florida at 17 to live with her grandparents. Melinda met Joshua Duckett while attending South Sumter High school together. The couple went on to have Trenton soon after graduating, and later got married in 2005.

In April of 2005, Melinda was involuntarily committed under the Baker Act after Joshua claimed that she threatened to harm Trenton. She was then diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, but it was determined that there were no psychological reasons that she was incapable of being a loving parent. Joshua and Melinda’s marriage became tumultuous and they separated several times before Melinda eventually filed for divorce in July 2006. Melinda also got a restraining order against Joshua after claiming her threatened both her and Trenton’s lives.

Throughout the divorce and custody battle, Joshua and Melinda both accused each other of harming Trenton. This led to young Trenton spending several times in foster care or staying with his maternal grandparents.

On August 27, 2006, Melinda Duckett called 911 to report Trenton missing. She claimed that after finishing a film, she went into Trenton’s room and discovered he was gone. It was found that the window screen about Trenton’s crib was cut. Because of the circumstances and lack of evidence, Melinda was the prime suspect in Trenton’s disappearance.

A few days after Trenton’s disappearance, Melinda was interviewed for an episode of Nancy Grace that would air on September 8, 2006. During the interview, Nancy Grace harshly accused Melinda of hiding information about Trenton’s disappearance after refusing to take a polygraph test and gave vague answers to questions.

A day after taping the show, Melinda wrote a 2-paged letter addressed to the public in which she expresses her love for Trenton and her anger for being accused and ridiculed by the public. She then left the letter in her grandparents’s car, went into their house, and committed suicide in one of the closets using a gun.

Following Melinda’s suicide, her family blamed the media and Nancy Grace for scrutiny. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Nancy Grace, accusing her of inflicting emotional distress on Melinda. In an interview with Good Morning America following the lawsuit, Nancy Grace stated, “If anything, I would suggest that guilt made her commit suicide To suggest that a 15- or 20-minute interview can cause someone to commit suicide is focusing on the wrong thing.” In 2010, Nancy Grace reached a settlement with the estate of Melinda Duckett to create a $200,000 trust fund dedicated to finding Trenton.

Joshua Duckett speaking with Nancy Grace

Trenton Duckett is still missing and is considered an endangered child. Although years have passed, Trenton’s family and many others have not given up hope that he is alive somewhere. Joshua Duckett continues to actively search for his son and holds vigils every year on the anniversary of Trenton’s disappearance. I hope that Trenton can be found soon to bring closure and end the search his family has been on.

Trenton has brown hair, brown eyes , and a small mark above his left eye. He would now be 18 years old.