Melinda Duckett Story: Investigators Thought Sex Videos Held Clue to Son's Disappearance
Photo: Melinda Duckett in a homemade erotic video.
On Aug. 27, 2006, Duckett reported Trenton missing, telling police she found a cut in his bedroom window screen when she checked on him.
Police focused their investigation on the 21-year-old mother after some of Trenton's toys, photographs and a sonogram photo were found in a trash bin in her apartment complex a day after she reported him missing, according to CBS affiliate WKMG. Duckett refused to take a polygraph test, apparently on the advice of her lawyer, but that only increased interest in the young mom.
Photo: Melinda Duckett with her son, Trenton.
Then, investigators looking into Duckett's background, hit upon an unusual clue. For two years, Duckett had been filming erotic and sometimes pornographic videos of herself and selling them to a Web site.
Police found naked photos of Duckett, pornographic tape, and a sexually explicit video in which a crying baby can be heard in the background.
Photo: Melinda Duckett in a homemade erotic video.
Investigators began to wonder if someone involved in the sex trade had played a role in her son's disappearance, according to WKMG. Had she made enemies in the industry, police wondered. Did she give her son to someone while making movies?
In the end, police could not find a link between the videos and the boy, reported WKMG, and since then the mystery has only grown.
Photo: Nancy Grace.
In September of 2006, Duckett taped an interview with CNN's Nancy Grace in the hopes of bringing attention to her missing son.
Grace quickly zeroed in on the inconsistencies in Duckett's story.
"Where were you? Why aren't you telling us where you were that day? You were the last person to be seen with him," Grace asked Duckett.
Duckett shot and killed herself the day the taped interview was scheduled to be broadcast on Sept. 8, 2006. The family blames Grace, but the anchorwoman said Duckett may have been racked with guilt over her son, not stress from the interview.
Melinda Duckett's family is now suing Grace for inflicting emotional distress on Duckett. Police still consider Duckett to be the prime suspect in Trenton's disappearance.
Reporting Contributed by CBS Affiliate WKMG
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