20 Years of Not Knowing: Trenton Duckett's dad still searching for his son

Twenty years after 2-year-old Trenton Duckett vanished from his Florida home, one of the nation’s most high-profile missing child cases remains unsolved.

Now his father, Joshua Duckett, is asking the public to take a close look at a new age-progression image released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), showing what Trenton may look like today at age 22.

Joshua Duckett said he and his family are still searching for answers.

According to investigators with the Leesburg Police Department, Trenton’s mother, Melinda Duckett, said she put her son to bed around 7 p.m. on Aug. 27, 2006. When she checked on him later, she said he was gone. Investigators found his bedroom window open and the screen cut, sparking an intense nationwide search.

Less than two weeks later, Melinda died by suicide. Two decades later, there are still no answers.  

Leesburg police Senior Detective Allen Carter says the investigation remains active.

Age progression shows what Trenton Duckett may look like at age 22.

“Look at the age progression,” said Carter. “Keep your eyes open. The family's not giving up, and we're not giving up either. This is still a very active case, and we intend to work it until it is solved.”

Our forensic artists have done more than 8,060 age progressions (APs) of long-term missing children like Trenton.

Using family photos, ideally from the same age the child would be now, our forensic artists merge features in these photos with the knowledge they’ve gleaned about how children’s faces develop and age over time, a process that takes about eight hours.

“We’ve seen long-term missing child cases solved many years later, sometimes because one person came forward with the right piece of information,” said John Bischoff, who leads the Missing Children Division at NCMEC. “We believe the same can happen for Trenton.”

So far, 2,120 children whose images have been age progressed by our artists have been recovered, some directly because of the AP. 

 APs of missing children are done every two years until the child would turn 18, then every five years because their features don’t change as much after reaching adulthood. Like many families, Trenton’s father has watched him grow up through these images. 

“The age progressions are always hard because it’s hard to imagine your child growing up and you’re not seeing that,” Joshua said. “We still remember him as a 2-year-old and from the last photos that we have. But we’re still hoping.”

Anyone with information about Trenton Duckett’s disappearance is urged to contact the Leesburg Police Department at 1-352-787-2121 or NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).