Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Investigation Into 2-Year-Old`s Disappearance Continues
Aired October 02, 2006 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, mystery surrounding a missing Florida 2- year-old, Trenton Duckett. The mystery goes on. A parent`s worst nightmare, a 2-year-old tucked into his crib, mom in the very next room with a video. Next the baby`s bedroom window screen found slashed. With the FBI en route to the house, the mom commits suicide, police almost immediately declaring her the prime suspect.
What were the mom, Melinda Duckett`s, footsteps the last day she was with her son? Where does the investigation go from here? Three suicide notes, two 911 calls, and a map tracing her footsteps. That`s what we`ve got. Tonight, the search by land and water for 2-year-old Trenton Duckett.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Scared, just hope that Trenton`s returned safely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A desperate grandmother pleads for the safe return of her grandson. Two-year-old Trenton Duckett is missing. He was last seen in at the Windemere (ph) Apartments on Griffin (ph) Road in Leesburg. And the FBI has been called in to help find him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s only 2 years old. He`s precious. He`s really fun, lovable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Trenton`s mom put him to bed at 7:00 o`clock on Sunday night. When she went in to check on him two hours later, he was gone. Detectives believe Trenton may have been taken from his bedroom window. Investigators say they also found signs of forced entry into the apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking at this from all angles. We`re not going to leave any stone unturned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have canvassed the neighborhood and they`re questioning all family and friends, including the toddler`s parents, who are separated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s very loving. And he`s just so sweet, you know? I couldn`t see anybody wanting to harm him. You know, he`s precious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a good look at his picture. Trenton was last seen in a blue and green striped shirt with blue denim shorts, a diaper, and no shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lake water is so murky, so cloudy and so full of weeds, divers can`t see their hands in front of them. What they can see, thoroughly searching the Faro`s (ph) Lake here in the Ocala National Forest, is incredibly difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to do this part of the cove, probably the rest of this week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since divers cannot use their sight, they must use their sense of touch, reaching between the thick weeds and grabbing the mucky bottom. They`re only a third of the way through and not sure at all if they`re looking in the right place. Search dogs have not been able to pick up a scent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s not a point where they actually alerted on anything, but just an area where the dogs went and said, you know, Hey, something is interesting here, I`m not sure what it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A trapper was called in to handle another obstacle -- alligators, as large as eight feet. But now deputies have decided to leave the gators alone since they haven`t bothered divers and they haven`t been linked to Trenton`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: However, the alligators aren`t going anywhere. They`re going to be out there. And if the decision is made to go ahead and try to trap some of the larger alligators are out there, we`ll be ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police want to swim the lake because of a tipster who says he spotted Melinda and Trenton Duckett here the weekend of his disappearance. But now two other tipsters have come forward, it seems, contradicting that timeline, saying Saturday, August 26, they saw Melinda and Trenton in the villages. Sunday morning, Melinda was spotted alone at a Leesburg business and again alone Sunday afternoon at her Leesburg apartment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re still trying to reconstruct the timeline of Melinda and Trenton from, basically, about the 30 hours before he was reported missing. And they`re still working on that timeline, asking people to come forward and if they spotted either Melinda or Trenton in those two days, to please come forward and tell police where they saw them.
GRACE: What can you tell me about this ad that Melinda Duckett allegedly placed in the local paper, trying to sell the kid`s car seat before the kid even went missing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, she placed the ad -- she actually placed the ad on Trenton`s second birthday. And we have not been able to verify whether or not she did purchase another car seat for him because Florida law states that a child must be in a car seat, some type of restraint, until they`re 3 years old.
GRACE: When did the ad run?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It ran -- it started running on August 11 and ran, I believe, for 10 days after she placed it.
GRACE: And the day he went missing was August 27.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. So it stopped running before he actually went missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s go out to Mike Brooks, former FBI. Mike, what can you tell us about the possibility this child was actually sold?
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: There`s always that possibility. I mean, there is a big market all over this country for young children like Trenton. But you know, it`s hard to tell whether or not he was sold. Putting together that timeline, Nancy, is going to be crucial because that is going to tell them exactly where he was between 4:00 PM on August 26 and 9:00 PM on August 27, when his mother reported him missing.
And she wasn`t cooperating with police. She wouldn`t take a polygraph. And you know, to me, that says a lot. You know, by her not saying anything, to me, that says quite a bit.
But the possibility of him being sold, that`s one of the things they should be looking into, if they`re not. And you know, her computer will hold a lot. And the FBI unit up in Quantico that deals specifically with these kind of things, they are some of the best in the business, and they`ll go back and that hard drive and they`ll look at every piece of communication, every key-type on that particular computer, and they will come up with something, if there is any evidence to be found in that -- inside that hard drive.
GRACE: Marc Klaas is with us, president from Beyondmissing, Marc Klaas not only victims` fights advocate but crime victim himself. Much like the story Melinda Duckett gave about her child being taken from her home, Polly Klaas was take from her home, molested and murdered. Since that time, Marc has worked tirelessly for victims` rights.
Marc Klaas, a lot has been made about the cut, the slash in the screen. Have you taken a look at this, Marc. I mean, 10 inches for the screen is this much. That`s it, 10 inches. She says, and the police have said the slash was 10 inches. And in this much space, Marc, her story was, an adult could reach through, lift the window all the way up, get in, get the baby, and pull the baby out, through this much, Marc, 10 inches. And I don`t believe that.
MARC KLAAS, BEYONDMISSING.COM: You know, Nancy...
GRACE: I just don`t believe it.
KLAAS: ... Nancy this is but one of numerous red flags that point to Melinda. And I was very struck by the interview that she gave to you that was aired last Friday and how cool and calm and collected she seemed to be. Yet in her writings, she emotes heavily and shows this very conflicted nature of hers. And I agree that probably a lot will be found in her writings, and hopefully, that will lead people to where the little boy is.
And I think people have to be very cognizant of the fact that this was a very striking young woman. It`s a very striking boy, and it`s a very obvious vehicle. And they should search their minds to see if they saw that combination at all over that 30-hour course last Saturday and Sunday, so that they can start to put this together.
Now, I also understand, Nancy, that they -- that cadaver dogs have alerted three times in one location, at this construction site. So I don`t know that they`re turning away from that at all. I think that they probably may continue to search that location.
GRACE: Marc, I have been told as we went to air tonight, the latest is they`ve left. They`ve left the construction site. They started digging very deeply with heavy machinery. Then there was a change in the search and they started skimming the top of the dirt, which indicated to me they were searching for a more shallow grave. And since that time, they have stopped the search on the construction site. That is the very latest on the construction site.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Would you like to take a couple more and pass them out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ll hand them out in my neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mark Lunsford, whose daughter, Jessica, was kidnapped from her Citrus County home, raped and murdered, hits the streets with Josh Duckett, the father of missing 2-year-old Trenton Duckett.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody out there knows something, and somebody needs to call and say what`s up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two are plastering the villages with flyers of Trenton, who disappeared 10 days ago from his mom`s apartment in Leesburg.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to get this across Florida. Trenton`s not any different than Jessie or Sara or Carly. We need to get this out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As detectives try to verify the parents` whereabouts the weekend of Trenton`s disappearance, investigators tell Local 6 they`re baffled by a quote Melinda Duckett posted on the Web site Myspace just days after she reported her 2-year-old missing. The quote reads, "Machiavelli vigilante." Machiavelli was a 15th century philosopher best know for the concept "the ends justify the means," often referring to someone who deceives and manipulates. A vigilante describes a person who takes the law into their own hands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A vigilante is someone who, just like Robin Hood, does the right over the wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Melinda Duckett tells Local 6 she thought the quote meant something else.
MELINDA DUCKETT, MISSING BOY`S MOTHER: Well, Machiavellian, from what I had learned in school, is someone that, you know, pushes through, does whatever it takes to get, you know, their goals or dreams or anything, you know, done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to Jean Casarez, Court TV news correspondent. Jean, we have all taken a long, hard look at Melinda Duckett`s blogging. In between raising her child and making a living for herself, she managed to blog quite a bit and -- volumes and volumes of blogging, I might add. And all these sentences, for the most part, rhyme. Have you take a look at the blogs, Jean?
JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: You know, I have. And Nancy, this is on Myspace.com. And this space -- this is where you can meet people, but you can also correspond with people. And it appears as though that was one of the things she did was correspond with her friends. There was an entry in May of 2006, not too long ago, that she heads, "Light of my life," and it`s all about her son and how much she loves her son.
Listen to this. "One component extremely valuable is my son. His name is Trenton. Many people I talk to do not know him. They are trying to date me instead of being friends and do not want a child involved." She goes on to say, "I have had to fight to keep my son, who I am extremely proud of." And she ends that by saying, "I live for my son now."
But Nancy, the month after that, in June 2006, the emotion seems to be in another direction. She talks about, "I can`t understand the burdens I hold within my hand. So many issues I have to hide." Then 15 days later, she talks about moving on, which seems to be moving on from a relationship, because her expectations are too high. And then, finally, Nancy, it hasn`t been released, but she blogged the day before she died. It was a very emotional blog about a very, very unhappy lady.
GRACE: You know, I noticed quite a bit in these blogs she talks about death. She talks about funerals. Did you see that, Jean?
CASAREZ: Yes. Yes. There are so many emotions, Nancy, extreme highs, extreme lows.
GRACE: Here`s one. "Can`t understand. Why can not anyone understand the burdens I hold within my hand. Life can not be all fun for I, so many issues that I have to hide. They hold me down from dreams I`ve had. They kept me moving when I`m sad. Obstacles I face at every bend. The pain I endure you can not mend. Stay out of my affairs and let me be. You think I only live in misery."
We`ve got quite a few blogs from Ms. Duckett. And you know, blogging, bloggers out there, power on, people. I just want to see if there`s any connection, from what we are seeing in these blogs to the disappearance of this little boy. Tonight, we are all about finding Trenton Duckett, if that is possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are thoroughly investigating all possibilities. We have no reason to change our investigative focus onto a singular person or group of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are always hopeful, always hopeful that the child is still alive, and that`s the way we approach it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know that most of these police officers are fathers and they have children, and they feel that personal touch there that they will do whatever it takes to try and explore every lead as quickly as they possibly can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Coming up: suicide notes, a 911 call, sonogram and photos of baby Trenton thrown in a trash dumpster, along with baby food, toys, the toy box the very day Trenton reported gone. So far, the evidence in the search for Trenton Duckett has come up dry. More on the investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELINDA DUCKETT: All four of those agencies, Leesburg police, Waite (ph) County sheriff, the FBI from Quantico and the FBI from Ocala, none of them are on the same page. The FBI out of Ocala specifically told me to only speak to them and to deal with them so that all of them could be on the same page with everybody. And it was ridiculous because people were getting their facts wrong. They were misinterpreting things, and they weren`t getting the information across correctly. That was their fault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Missing toddler Trenton Duckett`s mom refuses to account for her whereabouts before Trenton vanished. Almost immediately after her suicide, police declare her the primary suspect in Trenton`s disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Melinda, have you taken a polygraph?
MELINDA DUCKETT: I`ve spoken to the investigators, and Joshua is on the outside loop of it. And as far as the investigative techniques are concerned with polygraph, stress test, physical searches, interviews, et cetera, my family and I have fully cooperated with local law enforcement and...
GRACE: Have you taken a polygraph?
MELINDA DUCKETT: ... the federal and everything...
(CROSSTALK)
MELINDA DUCKETT: And locally, they don`t have enough necessary experience, and that`s why the FBI was called in to begin with. I`ve been instructed to only speak with them, with their unit, and anything that they release to the media or the public is up to them. Now, as far as...
GRACE: Have you taken a polygraph?
MELINDA DUCKETT: ... or anything -- like I said, I mean, anything that I do or anything is in cooperation with them. I`m doing everything they want me to. But as far as details and everything, I mean, I`m leaving everything up to them.
GRACE: Right. Have you taken a polygraph?
MELINDA DUCKETT: I`ve done everything they`ve asked me to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Melinda, where had you been with him that day?
MELINDA DUCKETT: All we had basically been out is driving around. There`s something about a convenience store. I don`t know where that came into play because whenever I go out somewhere, you know, I always have gas. I`m not short-handed with anything and I`m always prepared for it all. So...
GRACE: So where had you been that day?
MELINDA DUCKETT: We had been, gosh, all through Waite County and up into Orange.
GRACE: Doing what?
MELINDA DUCKETT: Basically just shopping, going around, driving...
GRACE: Shopping where?
MELINDA DUCKETT: Well, we didn`t go anywhere specific.
GRACE: Well, I mean, if you went shopping, you had to go into a store. What store did you go into Sunday?
MELINDA DUCKETT: We went throughout the county.
GRACE: Any store. I`m thinking of videocameras, Melinda. I mean, maybe they have a picture of someone watching you, following you back out to your car. I mean, what store did you go to, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney`s, what?
MELINDA DUCKETT: I`m not going to get into any specifics.
GRACE: Why?
MELINDA DUCKETT: Because I`m not dealing with media very well.
GRACE: Well, can you remember where you were that day?
MELINDA DUCKETT: I can remember perfectly well where I went that day, just like I`ve spoken to the FBI with it. But as far as anything else goes, we haven`t had very good dealings with...
GRACE: Well, don`t you think it would be a great idea, for instance, if you at a local J.S. Penney`s or Sears Roebuck, to tell the viewers right now, This is where we were, did you see anything, did you notice anything? Here`s your child`s picture. Here`s my picture. Help me. I mean, where were you? Why aren`t you telling us where you were that day? You were the last person to be seen with him!
MELINDA DUCKETT: And we`ve already gone out and distributed the flyers and...
GRACE: Right. Why aren`t you telling us and giving us a clear picture of where you were before your son was kidnapped?
MELINDA DUCKETT: Because I`m not going to put those kind of details out.
GRACE: Why?
MELINDA DUCKETT: Because I was told not to.
GRACE: Ms. Duckett, you`re not telling us for a reason. What is the reason? You refuse to give even the simplest facts of where you were with your son before he went missing. It is day 12!
MELINDA DUCKETT: Right, with all media. It`s not just there. Just of all media, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: So Melinda, do you feel that you are being given different instructions than your husband?
MELINDA DUCKETT: Well, obviously, that is the case. But I mean, I`m all hands in the pot with this whole deal. I`m not sitting down either crying my eyes out in my house, not doing anything or gluing myself to the police department door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We also have to look into the more likely possibility that she may have had something to do with the disappearance of Trenton. And that`s something right now that we are looking very much into and we`re going to continue looking into it until we can disprove it or have to look otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Was he sleepy that night? Was he ready to go to bed or did he resist?
MELINDA DUCKETT: No, extremely -- he was tired. He had had a long day out. And my son is not a light sleeper whatsoever. You can move him from room to room and he`ll still be asleep. And on top of that, he is very friendly and very outgoing to everyone. He can walk in a room full of strangers and make friends with people. And so I mean, if he met someone new, he would start playing with them. He wouldn`t cry. He never had tantrums or anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Just days after committing suicide, Trenton`s mother named the primary suspect in his disappearance. What is the evidence? Can it help police solve the mystery?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MELINDA DUCKETT: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: Hi. What is Trenton wearing, honey?
MELINDA DUCKETT: I don`t know. He was ready for bed.
911 OPERATOR: You don`t know what you dressed him in before he went to bed?
MELINDA DUCKETT: He might have had his shoes off and his shirt off -- no shoes. I know who friggin` did it!
911 OPERATOR: No shoes, no shirt. He`s an Asian male.
MELINDA DUCKETT: He`s wearing jean shorts. He`s 2 years old.
911 OPERATOR: He`s wearing jean shorts?
MELINDA DUCKETT: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: And he`s 2 years old. And how long has he been gone?
MELINDA DUCKETT: I don`t know!
911 OPERATOR: You don`t know?
MELINDA DUCKETT: I was watching a movie that was two hours long. I had checked on him before anyone came down to the house.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s go out to our G-men joining us tonight, all former federal agents, Jack Trimarco, Mike Brooks and Harold Copus, all veteran and well respected when they left the FBI. Gentlemen, take a look at this screen that my staff so kindly cut for me to the tune of 10 inches. Liz, if you could take that banner down so the men can see this? Ten inches on this cut is exactly that. I mean, when you see this, it`s very hard to imagine getting a baby through from here to here. It`s just -- it`s very difficult to conceive of that.
Out to you, Mike Brooks. Not only your comments on the screen cut, but also the difficulty of a search that huge, that expansive in the Ocala National Forest.
BROOKS: Well, I`ll tell you, Nancy, on the cut, it almost seems impossible to me that they could anybody out of there, especially a 2-year- old out of that little cut. I mean, that seems impossible, whether it be from the inside or outside.
And going with the search, it`s an 11-mile-by-200-yard area that they`re going to search. And we just saw the pictures of the forest. It`s extremely thick. And we heard Captain Rockefeller said that they only had two K-9 teams. Now they`re supposed to have between 15 and 18 K-9 teams tomorrow.
And I can guarantee you right now, they are planning how they`re going to go about this search. It`s an extremely thick-wooded area. They are going to have the rangers with them, who know that forest better than anyone else. And when they go in there, they`re also going to have some folks that will be able to tell whether or not anyone has been through that area recently.
They`ll have some trackers with them because some of the rangers are actually taught to be trackers. They will go through there, look at that area, most likely a grid-type search, and look for anything at all -- cigarette butts, clothing, anything at all that could be of evidentiary value.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Coming up: The dumpster just outside Melinda Duckett`s apartment holds key evidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON CLARK, FORMER HEAD OF FBI HOUSTON OFFICE: Nothing that Melinda has done here that I`ve seen has seemed to be consistent with a mother grieving about her kid being missing. And I don`t think throwing away valuables, food, clothing and that type of thing would do anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DISPATCHER: 911, do you need police, fire or ambulance?
BILL EUBANK, GRANDFATHER OF MELINDA DUCKETT: My granddaughter just killed herself. My wife and I just came in from -- we went to lunch and brought her some lunch back. And when I came in, she was in the closet. She shot herself.
DISPATCHER: And you`re at (INAUDIBLE)
EUBANK: There`s no need to rush. She`s in the closet. We`re going to leave everything as is, OK?
DISPATCHER: What`s your name, sir?
EUBANK: Bill Eubank.
DISPATCHER: Stay on the line with me.
EUBANK: OK. And I`ve got a call to the FBI because there`s one man I`ve been working with, so I`ll give him a call, OK?
DISPATCHER: OK. Say on the line with me sir, OK?
EUBANK: What`s wrong?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She killed herself. She do it twice.
DISPATCHER: Sir?
EUBANK: Yes?
DISPATCHER: OK, what type of weapon was used?
EUBANK: I don`t know -- I just...
DISPATCHER: Where is she?
EUBANK: I`m going to let you talk to the FBI.
DISPATCHER: All right. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, a baby boy disappears. More than a month later, still no sign of 2-year-old Florida boy Trenton Duckett. During that time, his mom commits suicide. Almost immediately, police name her primary suspect in Trenton`s disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still trying to firm up the time line for Trenton, firm up the time line for Melinda. But this time, we do have a little bit more specific information, and it`s based on that tip, and it`s based on a possible sighting of Melinda and Trenton. It`s not confirmed, but a possible sighting of Melinda and Trenton in the area of the Ocala National Forest during the weekend of the abduction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): After three day of searching through the thick of the Ocala National Forest and after having divers jump into Lake Farrells (ph) for the past three days looking for any sign of Trenton, tonight, trappers will seek out an eight-foot alligator to see if the alligator shows any clues as to where Trenton may have gone.
Also this day, two new announcements of sightings of Melinda Duckett on the day Trenton disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These happen to be two possible sightings that did come in as a result of our pleas for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The first sighting, Melinda at a Leesburg business, 8:00 a.m. Sunday, the day Trenton disappeared. The second sighting, Melinda seen walking from her car to her apartment on Sunday, around 3:00 p.m., again without Trenton. And both these sightings contradict what Melinda originally told agents and detectives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this time, we`re asking any persons who were watching Trenton, babysitting him, or otherwise supervising him during either of these two time frames to please call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Meantime, tomorrow a huge planning session is scheduled for here at the police department, with the leaders of all the agencies involved in this investigation, including Lake and Marion County sheriffs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight back out to the g-men joining us tonight. Straight to Jack Trimarco, Jack, also, the search in Lake Farrells (ph) has now been called off. Nothing in Ocala National Forest. Does that suggest to you that police are now discounting the story she was ever there?
JACK TRIMARCO, FORMER FBI PROFILER: Well, Nancy, I`ve been on the show, as you know, several times, and I haven`t used this phrase, but I think we`re at that point now where we can say, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it`s probably a duck.
There`s no evidence -- there`s nothing that points me away from this troubled woman. She was probably depressed, certainly troubled, perhaps suicidal, before Trenton ever left his home.
And we have to keep in mind, there`s going to be multiple crime scenes here. We`re going to have the bedroom, if that bedroom was staged to make it look like the abduction came from that room. And, of course, we get that from her. And we, of course, have to find little Trenton. And that, sadly, will also be a crime scene.
If we do a good job in those crime scenes, then we`ll have a resolution, when we get lucky. And in these cases, we always get lucky.
GRACE: And to Mike Brooks, Mike, what can you tell us about -- we know about cell phone triangulation, that if a cell phone call is made you can generally tell almost down to the block where the person was making that call. What about the ping, p-i-n-g? If your cell phone is on and you can get a time on it, it is emitting transmissions. Is that a way to tell where she was that day, if her cell phone was on? And what if, in Ocala National Forest, there was -- you couldn`t get cell service, does it still ping?
BROOKS: Well, absolutely, Nancy. As long as the cell phone is on, it is still going to be a record of where she was. As you go from pole to pole to pole, that`s where they actually goes on a computer and it goes right into your record. You don`t have to be talking on the phone. All it has to do is be on.
And even if she was up in Ocala National Forest, her cell phone was still on, so we would be able to have a time frame from the last pole she passed before she lost cell service to when she came back into cell service. That would give us a time line of how long she actually was in that forest. You know, was she actually there for that eight-hour odyssey that she says she was on? That would be able to shed a lot of light on that, Nancy.
GRACE: So even with no cell service, you still get a transmission, if the phone is on?
BROOKS: Right.
GRACE: OK.
BROOKS: It won`t be recorded, but as soon as you get back into service area, into that first on the way back, it will be recorded, in the record, in the computer.
GRACE: The mystery only becomes deeper as we find tonight police confirming baby Trenton`s toys, his toy box, a sonogram we believe of Trenton himself, his baby food, photos of baby Trenton, all thrown away in the dumpster next to his mother`s apartment.
Let`s go out to "Daily Commercial" reporter Marilyn Aciego joining us. Marilyn, what can you tell us about what was found in the dumpster?
MARILYN ACIEGO, "DAILY COMMERCIAL": Well, like you said, Nancy, there were several photos of Trenton found, including the sonogram photos, toys, a toy box. This isn`t something you would think a mother would throw away if she thought her son was coming home.
GRACE: Is it true that there was actually baby food, as well?
ACIEGO: Yes, there was. And police are saying that it was possible she may have just been cleaning out the refrigerator. They`re not -- they don`t seem to be holding too much ground to that because it may have been possible she was just cleaning out pantries, cleaning out cabinets and things of that nature.
GRACE: Oh, maybe I`m crazy, but I don`t keep baby photos in the pantry or the refrigerator. So how are they explaining that, Marilyn?
ACIEGO: The only thing they`ll tell us now, Nancy, is that that`s one of the things that definitely elevated their suspicion about Melinda`s possible involvement in his disappearance.
GRACE: And back to Michael Nuccitelli, Michael, I know you`re the shrink here. You`re the one that got the degree. But I just flat-out disagree with you. I mean, when was the last time you actually threw out photos? Think about it. What photo, what Polaroid, what photo did you throw out? Just tell me. Just answer.
DR. MICHAEL NUCCITELLI, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, OK, Nancy, let me answer. If we were to rewind, I wasn`t saying that that is the likelihood.
GRACE: You`re not answering. I asked you: What photo did you throw out?
NUCCITELLI: The only photos that I`ve thrown out recently are probably some photos of landscaping that I took when I redid my house about five years ago.
GRACE: Why did you throw them out?
NUCCITELLI: Because I didn`t need them.
GRACE: Good point. So what does this suggest to you, on the day, the day the baby goes missing, they`re going to the police station, and they pause to throw away photos of Trenton Duckett out of the house trash?
NUCCITELLI: What it suggests to me is that, when you look at all the inconsistencies, particularly with what you`re focusing on, Nancy, about the fact that these valuables were thrown away, to me, thinking about it, the fact that she took her life, it`s kind of like what the g-men were talking about as part of the possibility of an elaborate suicidal plan, either kind of like a Susan Smith to get back to somebody -- why throw these valuables out? It`s because she didn`t want somebody else to have those valuables.
If it was a suicide plan, in her borderline mind, it was to create a plan, premeditate it, take her child`s life, and then ultimately, in the big crescendo, is to take her own.
GRACE: Trenton Duckett`s father, Josh Duckett, remains determined to find his son. In a moment, we hear the dad, Josh Duckett`s, story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH DUCKETT, FATHER OF TRENTON DUCKETT: We`re still keeping our hopes high. I mean, that`s the only way to stay, is positive. Because I feel, if you get negative, you`re not really getting any progress done. You`re not getting out there, and you`re just kind of sitting there. So we`re keeping our hopes high and continuing to move forward and keeping our main focus, which is basically -- Trenton is our main focus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Josh Duckett, Trenton`s dad, outspoken, courageous throughout. Tonight, he begs you to help find his 2-year-old boy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Josh Duckett is with us. You`ve managed to up the reward to $10,000. How did you do that?
J. DUCKETT: Just through the community. I mean, it`s amazing how much the community has come together and helped us. And, I mean, that`s...
GRACE: You were out there washing cars.
J. DUCKETT: Yes, I mean...
GRACE: How much did you charge per car?
J. DUCKETT: Just donations. I mean, we had no set -- we just -- anything that we could get to help out.
GRACE: Let`s go to Alisha in Pennsylvania. Hi, dear.
CALLER: Hi. My question is: Have they checked with her family, any of her associates, to see if Trenton is with them?
GRACE: I`m sure they have, but answer that for Alisha.
J. DUCKETT: To my knowledge, they have. And they continue to search and go back and search through and continue to check them out.
GRACE: Do you believe she was ever in Ocala National Forest?
J. DUCKETT: I believe she was up there. But in my eyes, it may be just the thing to throw people off possibly.
GRACE: Tonight, we stop to remember Marine Lance Corporal Randy Lee Newman, just 21, Washington State, killed, Iraq. In a letter he just sent home, he called his father his best friend. He called himself a mama`s boy. Family was everything to him. Randy Lee Newman, American hero.
Thank you to all of our guests, but our biggest thank you, to you, for inviting all of us into your homes. Nancy Grace signing off again for tonight. See you here tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s very loving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. DUCKETT: In the start of the first week, the media was all about me. I mean, it was all pointed towards me. And I cooperated 110 percent, proved that it wasn`t me, that I had nothing to do with it. And the media turned from me and they turned to her. And then all she would have had to have done was cooperated 110 percent to prove that it wasn`t her. The media wouldn`t have been on her. They would have been moving on and focusing on something else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Josh Duckett on a tireless search for his son, Trenton. Trenton vanished over a month ago. The dad remains steadfast, focused on a mission, the mission to find Baby Trenton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And here`s why. On the day Trenton disappeared, which was Sunday, August the 27th, Melinda Duckett was seen at an unnamed Leesburg business about 8:00 in the morning, without Trenton. The second sighting, Melinda was seen walking from her car to her apartment, about 3:00 p.m., without Trenton. Again, this was on the day that he disappeared. Police want to find out: Was the toddler with a babysitter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you only have an idea of who might baby sit or who might watch Trenton, we`re still encouraging you, even if you have no direct information, about that specific time. If you know who she may have utilized to watch him, give us a call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Within the past hour, Josh Duckett commented.
J. DUCKETT: I can`t really make much of it. I mean, it just says that she was by herself. I mean, there`s still no word on Trenton. So, I mean, we`re still staying positive that somebody has him or something along those lines. I mean, because you can`t get negative at a time like this.
ACIEGO: Two media outlets in the Orlando, Florida, are today went before a judge in a court asking that all of the records of Trenton Duckett with the Department of Children and Family Services here in Florida be released to the public. And they said that, at this point, the rights of privacy are diminished because of the interest in this case and the public interest.
The court decided in the favor of the media outlets. They are going to be releasing all of the files. Only one file was released today, because they agreed that the public safety interest, and the interest in finding Trenton Duckett or leading to any information on him outweighs any interest in privacy at this point. However, they do need to get a release from the father in this case, Joshua Duckett.
GRACE: And speaking of Josh, he is here with us, in our Manhattan studios. Thank you for traveling up. Is this the first time you`ve ever flown on a plane?
JOSH DUCKETT, FATHER OF TRENTON DUCKETT: Yes.
GRACE: Were you afraid?
J. DUCKETT: Not really. I mean, my mind was on other things than just flying.
GRACE: Did you ever believe that you would be right here, right now trying to find your son?
J. DUCKETT: No, not at all. I mean, I never imagined anything like this happening to me.
GRACE: Josh, I want to hear what went through your mind when you first heard on the phone, "Trenton`s gone."
J. DUCKETT: I mean, all kinds of feelings. You kind of come to a halt in your own mind. I mean, it`s like a feeling that no one could ever imagine. I mean, it feels like somebody stuck a dagger in my stomach, I mean, because he`s my pride and joy. He`s what I lived for. And, I mean, to know that he`s gone and nobody knows where he`s at, I mean, it`s just a feeling I would never wish on anybody in my life.
GRACE: Liz, let`s take a look at the time line about what we know tonight. Bit by bit, this time line has been pieced together, but this is what we know about the custody case. And, Josh, tell me if any of this is incorrect.
April 6, `05, Josh accuses Melinda of self-mutilation and threatening to harm Trenton. What did you mean by that -- was that to the police or to Department of Family and Children Services? What do you mean by self- mutilation?
J. DUCKETT: To both of them, to the police department and to the DCF offices. I mean, self-mutilation, she -- self-mutilation as far as cutting herself.
GRACE: Why?
J. DUCKETT: I have no idea. I mean, to me, to destroy your body is - - I mean, that shows some signs of instability. I mean...
GRACE: Did DFCS, Department of Family and Children Services, know about this?
J. DUCKETT: They knew about it. I told them. There`s reports of it. I mean, I told them everywhere that she had scars from it. I mean, her hips were covered in scars, her legs, her arms. I mean...
GRACE: When you went to bed at night, did you just lay there wondering if Trenton was going to be OK?
J. DUCKETT: Yes, I mean, that`s basically what went through my mind all hours of the night and day. I mean, if she`s willing to do that to herself, what`s she willing to do to somebody else?
GRACE: I mean, God knows I don`t mean disrespect for the dead, but the night when I first interviewed you, I asked you some very hard questions, and you answered them immediately. Did you ever ask Melinda these same questions I asked her, trying to get a time line or find out what really happened?
J. DUCKETT: No, I never had any communication with Melinda. I mean, I`ve tried to reach out to her -- I tried to reach out to her and her family, because we were supposed to all be working for the same cause. And I`ve gotten no response from her family even at this point. I mean, I`ve tried everything to my ability to reach out to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was going to hurt Trenton if Josh didn`t stop, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re listening to police audiotape of an interview given by witness Jeffrey Scott (ph) back on December 27, 2005.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she doesn`t get what she wants and things aren`t going her way, she likes to make little threats...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In chilling detail, Scott tells Bushnell police how he listened in on a Joshua Duckett phone call as Melinda Duckett threatened to hurt Trenton if Josh would not get back together with her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She threatened to, I guess, put her hands on Trenton and to make him cry, and some of that, just so Josh would hear Trenton cry and comply with her and whatever she wanted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The interview was part of an investigation into a suspicious fire at a business owned by Josh Duckett`s mother, an arson fire where Melinda Duckett was one of several suspects that Bushnell detectives were seriously investigating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, me and Melinda was arguing at the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joshua Duckett also talked to detectives as part of that investigation and admitted that, at the time of the fire, Melinda and he were, quote, "feuding."
J. DUCKETT: I told you that I was having problems with Melinda and we were feuding at the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Josh told a fire investigator on the scene that he was sure Melinda had set the fire, although he later took that all back.
J. DUCKETT: Melinda wanted child support stuff at that time. And if she was wanting child support, it wouldn`t benefit her or anything to do anything to that, because that was where my income was. That was my job. That was our life. That`s where every bit of money that we had came from.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on April 16, 2005, Josh was even more clear to police investigators. In an interview with Bushnell police, he told investigators that, quote, "he thought Ms. Eubank was going to hurt their child," and, quote, "that Ms. Eubank starts making their baby cry," and, quote, "he is afraid that Ms. Eubank will injury their child if he doesn`t tell her what she wants to hear."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
J. DUCKETT: There was bad blood between me and Melinda. But regardless of the bad blood, I mean, she`s still the mother of my child. And obviously you don`t stop loving someone overnight. So, I mean, that causes a little bit more hurt, and then the family feuding, between her family and me, basically, I mean, that makes it that much harder, because they`re not cooperating with me.
GRACE: When you see the videos of that Dumpster and you know the sonogram and baby pictures thrown away, what`s your reaction?
J. DUCKETT: I`m shocked. I mean, I don`t see where anybody would throw anything like that of that value away. It has no money value, but, I mean, it has memorial value throughout all of it.
GRACE: When we come back, details on Josh Duckett`s desperate search for his son, 2-year-old Trenton.
END
