Nancy Grace NEEDS TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Maggie]

Mother of Missing Boy Commits Suicide
Sep 13 2:30 PM US/Eastern

By TRAVIS REED
Associated Press Writer

LEESBURG, Fla.

Two weeks after telling police that her son had been snatched from his crib, Melinda Duckett found herself reeling in an interview with TV's famously prosecutorial Nancy Grace. Before it was over, Grace was pounding her desk and loudly demanding to know: "Where were you? Why aren't you telling us where you were that day?"
A day after the taping, Duckett, 21, shot herself to death, deepening the mystery of what happened to the boy.

Police have refused to say whether she left a suicide note, and said nothing they have found so far in their investigation of her death has shed light on the whereabouts of her 2-year-old son, Trenton.

Investigators have stopped short of calling her a suspect but have focused increasing attention on her movements just before the boy vanished and the notes, computer, camera and other items seized from her house.

Duckett's family members disputed any suggestion that she hurt her son. They said that the strain of her son's disappearance pushed her to the brink, and the media sent her over the edge.

"Nancy Grace and the others, they just bashed her to the end," Duckett's grandfather Bill Eubank said Tuesday. "She wasn't one anyone ever would have thought of to do something like this. She and that baby just loved each other, couldn't get away from each other. She wouldn't hurt a bug."

Janine Iamunno, a spokeswoman for Grace, said in an e-mail that Duckett's death was "an extremely sad development," but that the program would continue covering the case.

"We feel a responsibility to bring attention to this case in the hopes of helping find Trenton Duckett, who remains missing," Iamunno said.

Duckett had told police that after she finished watching a movie Aug. 27, she went to check on Trenton in his bedroom, and all she found was an empty crib _ and a 10-inch cut in the window screen above it. At the time she was living her son, wading through a messy divorce with the boy's father and trying to get her life back on track after getting laid off from her job with a lawn care company.

The boy's disappearance in this town of 19,000 people about 45 miles northwest of Orlando stretched the 75-member police force to its limits. Fliers were posted on gas station doors around town, asking for information from anyone who might have seen the boy, a brown- haired youngster wearing denim shorts and a diaper.

Trenton's father, 21-year-old Josh Duckett, was closely questioned after the boy disappeared. Newspapers reported that his wife had taken out a temporary restraining order against him. But Josh Duckett took a polygraph test and has answered all police questions satisfactorily, Capt. Ginny Padgett said.

On Sept. 7, Melinda Duckett gave a telephone interview to CNN Headline News' Grace, a former prosecutor known for practically cross-examining her guests. Duckett stumbled over such questions as whether she had taken a polygraph _ she said she refused on the advice of her divorce lawyer _ and where, exactly, she was shopping with the boy before his disappearance.

Hours before the interview aired, Duckett shot herself Friday with her grandfather's gun at her grandparents' house, up the road from where she was living.

Investigators are still trying to piece together a timeline of where she and Trenton were 24 hours before she reported him missing. On Tuesday, they released the make and model of her car, a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse, and asked anyone who might have seen it during that period to call them.

Also on Tuesday, a newspaper reported that she bought a shotgun from a pawn shop two days before Trenton vanished. Padgett said police could not confirm that.

On Monday, agents used dogs and digging equipment to search an outlying area that someone had called about, but found nothing. Investigators continued to field tips.

"We're following up," Padgett said. "Hopefully they'll bring in something to help us firm up the timeline."

[Maggie]

This is part of the interview which aired on September 8.************************

GRACE: Out to Melinda Duckett. This is Trenton`s mom. 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 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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH DUCKETT: I`ve given my whole story. I`ve cooperated. Everything that I have, that I`ve been doing, they checked it out, and so far, they`re satisfied with what they`ve found.

To me, it would have to be somebody that`s cold-hearted, I mean, to take somebody`s little kid away from them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Can you help us find this little boy, Trenton Duckett, apparently taken from his own home in Florida, his mom watching a movie in the next room, between the hours of 7:00 and 9:00 PM on a Sunday evening, the window screen found slashed about 10 inches.

To Melinda Duckett, Trenton`s mom. Could they tell if it was slashed from the outside? Have you asked them?

MELINDA DUCKETT: No, honestly, that never came to mind. I mean, there wouldn`t have been anyone in my house.

GRACE: Are they taking prints on it?

MELINDA DUCKETT: They`ve already -- right, they did two. One the police department did and then I believe one the FBI did.

GRACE: Melinda, my producers tell me police say they offered you a polygraph and you haven`t taken it yet.

MELINDA DUCKETT: Well, I`m not sure what the police are doing. I`m not working with the police. But everything with the FBI is being handled.

GRACE: Have the FBI offered you a polygraph?

MELINDA DUCKETT: I beg your pardon?

GRACE: Have the FBI offered you a polygraph?

MELINDA DUCKETT: Everything that they have done (INAUDIBLE) and asked and everything, we`ve cooperated with. Just like with my husband, obviously, you know, there`s nothing coming up with anything.

GRACE: To Josh Duckett. That`s Trenton`s father. You say the FBI poly-ed you?

JOSH DUCKETT: Yes.

GRACE: Did they offer it to you or tell you you had to do it?

JOSH DUCKETT: They offered it to me. They asked if I`d do it voluntarily, that they couldn`t make me do it, and I voluntarily done it.

GRACE: Let`s go out to Mark Lunsford and Marc Klaas, two tireless victims` rights advocates, both of them having lost their little girls, both of them having their child taken from the home, very similar to this case.

Friends, thank you for being with us. I know -- to Mark Lunsford -- you have actually been helping in the search for Trenton Duckett. What have you been doing, Mark Lunsford?

MARK LUNSFORD, FATHER OF ABDUCTED AND MURDERED GIRL: Yes, Nancy. I`m mainly here just to show support to the families. I understand what it`s like to walk into a bedroom and not find your child, and I understand what it`s like to have to go out and put up flyers as a father. That`s what I`ve been doing with Josh. But you know, I`m here for them, if they need someone to talk to that understands how it feels and what they`re going through.

GRACE: Where have you been searching?

LUNSFORD: What we`ve been doing is putting out flyers yesterday. Yesterday was my first day here. I was called by a friend of mine and asked to come to show support.

GRACE: Right.

LUNSFORD: So I came out and helped hand out flyers yesterday. Today, you know, of course, we`re here in the studios, doing your show, or this evening. Sorry. And -- but -- and then tomorrow, I have to leave for Indiana for the initiative on Jessie`s Law.

GRACE: To Marc Klaas, president of Beyondmissing. What should be being done right now? And I remember you, when Polly went missing, you begged for a polygraph.

MARC KLAAS, BEYONDMISSING.COM: Well, yes. I mean, you just do what you have to do. I see so many similarities between all of our situations, the child taken in the middle of the night, or the child taken at night in a house full of people, and so that`s entirely possible.

I think what we might be looking at here are two perpetrators. I`m finding it very difficult to see how somebody could grab a little sleeping baby and then get out of a window.

I`ll tell what you I think the public can do right now. They can log onto our Web site, Beyondmissing, download the PDF poster of this child and then create their own distribution list, like a chain letter, and get this all around the country really quickly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two-year-old Trenton Duckett is missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s only two years old, he`s precious. He`s really fun, loveable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Trenton`s mom put him to bed at 7:00 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.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, CNN ANCHOR: Can you help us find this little boy, Trenton Duckett, taken from his own home as he was sleeping. His mom in the next room watching a video movie. This occurred between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday night. There is a $5,000 reward, tip line 1-800-call-fbi. Back out to our victims` advocates, Mark Lunsford and Marc Klaas. Marc, before we went to break, you were describing what you think needed to be done. Marc Klaas, also, what clues jump out at you?

KLAAS: The thing that really strikes me is the fact that this window screen had only been cut 10 inches and it hadn`t been removed. And I`m struggling with how somebody gets into a room, takes a little baby and somehow struggles out the window with that child all I guess at dusk when there may or may not be other people around. It seems kind of inconceivable although obviously not impossible.

GRACE: To Melinda Duckett, Trenton`s mom, was it already dark at 7:00 p.m. there?

MELINDA DUCKETT: Honest to goodness I don`t remember. But I do know that when the investigators came in to do the visuals and everything, when they leaned in through the window they could hit the bed. God forbid if Trenton was up or something like that and he was standing up or what not. Nobody would need to crawl in the window. I don`t know if that would be a possibility or not, they`ve already gone over that. But the people, I mean they`d stretch in there and they`d be perfectly fine getting in and out.

GRACE: I want to go out to Vito Colucci, private investigator with Colucci Investigations. Vito, when does the FBI get brought in on a case like that?

COLUCCI: Well in this case they got brought in right away and I`m glad because when you have, sometimes if you have a smaller police department like you know Nancy, they throw up their hands, they say we`re in over our head, come in and help us. You know, so that`s what`s going on. I`m very glad of that. And even the police department -- don`t forget, there`s 50 sex offenders within five miles of this house. They`re interviewing them, re-interviewing them. They`re not locked in on any tunnel vision. These cops are doing a good job. They didn`t graduate from the Boulder Colorado Police Academy. These people are good, they`re doing a good job. But I`m telling you Nancy, one and one is not adding up to two on this case.

GRACE: What do you mean by that?

COLUCCI: Well what I mean is, I`ll give you one possibility that I know the police are looking at. There`s a possibility the child wasn`t in that bed to start with. The two adults that were in that house that night did not see the child at all. So if I`m the lead investigator I`m going to interview everybody, like I said, not pointing the finger at anybody. Father, mother, relatives, I want to know if there is any drug use, I want to know everything that`s going on, on both sides. This is a bitter nasty divorce but these people need to get on the same page. Father says the child is a light sleeper that would cry and scream. The mother says a heavy sleeper, would go with anybody. You have to answer a lot of questions for me if I`m the investigator on this.

GRACE: To Melinda Duckett, Trenton`s mom, who were the two guys that came over that evening?

MELINDA DUCKETT: All they were, were friends. In fact one was going off in the military for years afterwards, the next day.

GRACE: Have they been questioned?

MELINDA DUCKETT: Yes, they have.

GRACE: Did they take polygraphs?

MELINDA DUCKETT: I don`t know.

GRACE: Have you spoken to them since they were questioned?

MELINDA DUCKETT: One of my friends I have, the other one completely disappeared.

GRACE: Where did he go?

MELINDA DUCKETT: I have no clue.

GRACE: Is that the one that went overseas?

MELINDA DUCKETT: No.

GRACE: What about that to Josh Duckett, Trenton`s dad. Did you know one of these friends had disappeared?

JOSH DUCKETT: No, not to my knowledge.

GRACE: Let`s go out to the lawyers, David Schwartz, Nicole Deborde, both of them veteran defense attorneys. Joining us out of the New York and the Houston jurisdictions. To David Schwartz, how do you approach a case like this? And are you surprised that everybody hasn`t lawyered up?

DAVID SCHWARTZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yeah I`m very surprised. Especially I`m very surprised that Melinda hasn`t lawyered up. I mean her answers to your questions are elusive at times and one in particular is that she`s not working with local police. You know you`re in this situation, it`s a horrible tragic situation, now you`re going to pick and choose what law enforcement agencies you`re going to work with and what you`re not going to work with? This is a desperate situation for desperate measures. You`re going to be working with everybody. That answer makes absolutely no sense to me, Nancy.

GRACE: Explain, Melinda. I`m sure you have an answer. Melinda Duckett, Trenton`s mom.

MELINDA DUCKETT: All four of those agencies, Leesburg Police, Lake 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 everything. 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.

GRACE: Did you also get that same lecture, Josh Duckett, to only deal with one entity?

JOSH DUCKETT: No, not at all.

GRACE: Have you been working with local police, as well?

JOSH DUCKETT: I`ve been working with local police, FDLE and the FBI.

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. I`m actually physically doing things.

GRACE: Tell me what you`re doing?

MELINDA DUCKETT: In addition to all the flyers and everything, we`ve done -- we`ve dealt with the media many, many, many times, with the FBI on this case, with obviously the chain letters that are going through across the internet and everything trying to spread it out as far as we possible can. Not only that, but with our local churches, there`s prayer groups and everything like that. Also, one other thing, as far as the lawyers go, we have been ongoing for two years with this. Joshua does have a lawyer and I also have one.

GRACE: For your divorce?

MELINDA DUCKETT: No, for the entire thing. For the custody and everything and for the injunction.

GRACE: Ok. Josh, it`s my understanding you guys have had a very, very bitter split but I`m talking about lawyers as they relate to the disappearance of your son. You don`t have a lawyer for that, right, Josh?

JOSH DUCKETT: No. I don`t have a lawyer for anything to do with the disappearance of my son.

GRACE: Let`s go out to Nicole Deborde. Nicole you and David and myself have all seen more kidnapping and assaults on children cases than any of us want to remember. What`s your take on the facts?

NICOLE DEBORDE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know this is a very confusing case. For the same reason that the guests on your show have already pointed out. I think a show like yours Nancy does a huge service in finding a child in a circumstance like this because you put the spotlight on the case. That`s exactly what this circumstance needs. His picture needs to get out there. The facts need to be turned over and over and people need to think back to that day. What do they remember? What did they see? Did they see a strange car outside? Did they see a parent taking the child away? Did they see the child go willingly with someone or did they see the child in another location? And your show provides a huge service by focusing on those things. It`s going to be really hard for facts that don`t line up like -- kind of like we`re hearing in this case to not be spotlighted. And when we can focus in on those things they just might give us a clue to where this little boy is.

GRACE: To Angeline Hartmann, "America`s Most Wanted" reporter. Have they taken a look at all of these sex offenders in the area? What do we know about that?

HARTMANN: Investigators say there`s a long list, Nancy. We`ve heard the number dozens, we`ve heard more than 50 and so they are taking a look at that. So far nothing has come up but they are still investigating that portion of this.

GRACE: Out to Lillian Glass, psychologist. Dr. Glass, you have taken a hard look at the facts in this case. What`s your opinion?

LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, one of the things that the father said that was very powerful. He said it cook a cold hearted person to do this, to take this boy from his home. And in child development the first five years are so important and this child will suffer the rest of his life for this.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELINDA DUCKETT: He`s very loving, he was sweet. I couldn`t see anybody wanting to harm him. You know he`s precious, just like the picture (INAUDIBLE).

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. Tonight won`t you help us find a 2- year-old missing boy out of Florida. Trenton Duckett, reportedly taken from his own home as he lay in his crib. His mom in the next room watching a movie. With us on the phone, his mom, Melinda Duckett. Melinda, tell us about the baby. Tell us about him. You say he`s friendly and he would have gone with someone?

MELINDA DUCKETT: Extremely. He`s great with any kind of people, old, young, even little kids. He`s very playful and very, very intelligent. He learns on the drop of a dime.

GRACE: You stated you`ve been putting up fliers, where?

MELINDA DUCKETT: We`ve been putting up flyers in restaurants and stores. We recently went down to discount and they`re doing a television ad throughout the nation on their commercials like that. Where I used to work we have trucks that go out and they`re putting flyers on the back of the trucks laminating them, different things like that. And even at church we`re putting fliers in the bulletins.

GRACE: Melinda, where had you been with him that day?

MELINDA DUCKETT: All we had basically been out is driving around. There is 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 shorthanded with anything. And I`m always prepared for it all.

GRACE: So where had you been that day?

MELINDA DUCKETT: We had been all through Lake 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 on Sunday?

MELINDA DUCKETT: We went throughout the county.

GRACE: Any store? I`m thinking of video cameras 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, JCPenney`s, what?

MELINDA DUCKETT: I`m not going to get in 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 have spoken to the FBI with it. But as far as anything else goes we haven`t had very good dealings with any of them.

GRACE: Well don`t you think it would be a great idea, for instance if you were at a local JCPenney`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. 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 have already gone out and distributed the fliers and spoken to --

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 are 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: (INAUDIBLE) with all media. It`s not just there, just all media. Period.

GRACE: Let`s go to Dr. Lillian Glass, psychologist. Weak spots?

GLASS: This doesn`t make any sense to me. And the fact that she`s skirting around the issue and can`t get to the point concerns me a lot. Her reaction is not the typical reaction of a mother who has a missing child, whose child was taken from the bed when she says I don`t cry my eyes out. Most people would be emotional about it and the fact that she`s been skirting the issue through this entire interview concerns me.

GRACE: Rosie, do we still have Ms. Duckett with us? Joining us shortly will be her mother, Nancy Eubank, who says that she saw little Trenton the day before. Ellie wasn`t it on Saturday that she saw him? Rosie let me know when we get hooked up with her mom. I want to go back out right now to Marc Klaas? Marc, thoughts?

KLAAS: Well yeah, you know Nancy, there is some really petty stuff going on here right now and I think --

GRACE: I don`t think it`s petty. I`m sure I understand what you`re referring to, but not giving details about the disappearance of your child that could help find him if I may add, if he is still alive, I have a big problem with that.

KLAAS: Nancy, in these kinds of cases the media is never the problem. The media is always a friend, it`s about sharing information. It`s about transparency, it`s about working with the authorities. It`s about working with the media and it`s about getting over that hump that people are looking at you. And quite frankly, Melinda is not doing that very well at all.

GRACE: Marc, let`s just get real. And I don`t want to bring up any painful memories for you or Mark Lunsford. Ok, you know that, I would never do that to you. But the reality is, this is day 12. The reality is this child statistically is very well dead. And for that mother not to cooperate and not to give a timeline doesn`t make sense to me.

KLAAS: It`s devastating to the entire case. I think the only bright light might be that if the mother is implicated in some way in the child`s disappearance it`s very likely that he is alive. Let`s hope so. But let`s not forget Susan Smith.

GRACE: And I`d like to point out that according to police, there is no person of interest. There is no formal suspect tonight. We understand that. Police have told our producers that they know where both of the friends are that were with Melinda Duckett the night her child, her 2-year- old boy, went missing. Police have confirmed in contrast to what Melinda has just told us that they know where both of the friends are. Let`s get some illumination. Let`s go out to Nancy Eubank, this is the grandmother. Ms. Eubank, thank you for being with us. Why won`t your daughter give us details about what happened that day?

NANCY EUBANK, GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING TRENTON: She`s my granddaughter, Melinda is my granddaughter, Trenton is my great grandson. And I can tell you why she probably isn`t and I don`t have her thinking but the media, local media has not been very nice to her. And maybe I understand why because he did go missing from her apartment but Melinda is grieving deeply and then when all of this comes in your lap, she`s 21 years old, it`s just about more than she can handle right now. And I can tell you where Trenton was on Saturday from about 9:30 a.m. until probably 4:00 both Trenton and his mother was right here in this house.

GRACE: So until 4:00 Saturday we know that Trenton was alive and well, right?

EUBANK: They were in this house and she was doing laundry. He was playing with us. They took a long nice nap in the afternoon, had lunch, etc. In this house. Melinda has not hurt this baby. I heard immediately from a couple of detectives someone told me that they think she hid him to hide him because of this injunction against the father. We were the only people that babysat for Melinda. She would not leave him with anyone else because she never trusted anybody else and I don`t have him. I love him dearly and I would love to bring him home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more important, the people who touched all of our lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The family attorney of six year old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey`s confessed killer John Mark Karr who claims Karr poses no danger to children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the first 37 years of his life he never harmed a child, never threatened a child and has never being accused of hurting a child.

GRACE: Other than the 13-year-old and 16-year-old he married.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn`t hurt her. It`s not unusual for -- in the rural south for girls to get married at 14 years old.

GRACE: I beg your pardon, I`m from the rural south and I have never seen anybody get married at age 14.

O.J. Simpson back in court, at stake the NFL hall of famer turned murder suspect`s multimillion dollar empire. The legal battle over full ownership of Simpson`s celebrity publicity rights.

UNDIENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) around his neck and it`s taking away his ego. His celebrity. That`s what set him free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this renders him some pain that`s great.

GRACE: A mother`s worst nightmare. She tucks her 2-year-old into his crib, settled onto the sofa in the very next room for a video, now the bedroom screen is found slashed we think from the outside and the baby is gone.

JOSH DUCKETT: It would have to be somebody that`s cold hearted, I mean, to take somebody`s little kid away from them.

GRACE: Breaking developments in a case that sent shockwaves through the U.S. real estate business, the stabbing death of a Texas beauty, a realtor found dead inside a model home she was showing to sell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Through forensic evidence, through witness statements, through dogged detective determination, we were able to put together a complete picture that led us into only one direction in this case. Unequivocally we believe that we have the killer in jail.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight we stop to remember Marine Staff Sergeant Benjamin Williams, just 30, Orange, Texas, third tour of duty. He loved the military signing up straight from high school receiving multiple service medals. He leaves behind a large and loving family. He phoned and emailed all of the time from Iraq. Benjamin Williams, American hero. Thank you to all of our guests especially to Josh Duckett, Trenton`s father. Thank you to you for being with us, inviting us into your home. Nancy Grace signing off again for tonight. See you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp eastern. And until then, goodnight friend.

[Maggie]

This is from the show on Sept. 11.

***************
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is, you are such a good interviewer and everything. I just wonder, with the pressure that you put on the mother with your questions your last show, is there any possible way that you feel you might have somehow pushed her over the edge or contributed to her suicide?

GRACE: You know, Stan, speaking as one that knows firsthand, when you suffer a tragic loss, you look for somebody to blame. You look hard. I do not feel that our show is to blame for what happened to Melinda Duckett. The truth, Stan, is not always nice or polite or easy to go down. Sometimes it`s harsh, and it hurts.

I`d like to also point out that Melinda committed suicide before that interview ever aired. It had never gone to air. The purpose of this show is all about finding Trenton Duckett. That`s what we`re about. And I`d like to also point out that, seemingly, police agreed with my line of questioning. You`ve got to know that we are deeply saddened to learn about her death, Melinda Duckett`s, the mother of Trenton, the day after she taped our program. It was last week.

I hope the viewers keep in mind that this show is one of the single most active in looking for missing children. And as part of that, I often -- always, I would hope, I ask parents the same questions I would ask any mom and dad about an investigation in a missing child case, where they were when the child went missing, what happened, what`s the timeline, anything to help find that missing child. I also ask whether the parents have taken a polygraph, as I did with Melinda. And at that point, and at this point, Trenton is still missing, and our focus is on finding him.

[Maggie]

NANCY GRACE

Aired September 13, 2006 - 20:00:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight: a parent`s worst nightmare. The mom says she tucks her 2-year-old into his crib, settles onto the sofa in the very next room for a video. Next, the bedroom screen found slashed, we think, from the outside, and the baby is gone.
Refusing to take a polygraph or help police construct a timeline, Trenton`s mom found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, suicide.

Tonight: another bombshell. We learn Trenton`s mom, Melinda Duckett, actually put an ad in the local paper to sell her baby`s car seat -- repeat to sell her baby`s car seat before he goes missing.

We investigate the clues left behind.

And tonight: Cover girl Anna Nicole Smith`s 20-year-old son suddenly passes away. Tonight, criminal investigators called in.

But, first tonight, the disappearance of 2-year-old Trenton Duckett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Members of the Leesburg Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and FBI continue to work tirelessly in their efforts to find little Trenton and bring him home. These are dedicated personnel, who will not stop until Trenton is found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight.

The search goes on for 2-year-old Trenton Duckett, even in the wake of his mother`s suicide and the disturbing development that she placed the child`s car seat for sale in an ad in a local paper before he went missing -- still, no sign of Trenton Duckett.

Out to Marilyn Aciego, reporter with "The Daily Commercial."

What`s the latest, Marilyn?

MARILYN ACIEGO, "THE DAILY COMMERCIAL": Hi, Nancy.

The latest is, 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?

ACIEGO: 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?

ACIEGO: 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?

ACIEGO: Yes, so it stopped running before he actually went missing.

Joe -- Joe Lawless is with us, a veteran defense attorney out of the Philadelphia jurisdiction.

Joe, this is eerily reminiscent of the Scott Peterson case. Remember, Scott Peterson...

JOE LAWLESS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The timelines.

GRACE: ... put his wife`s Land Rover, I believe it was, up for sale before her body was found. She had only been gone a couple of days.

LAWLESS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: And he put the car up for sale?

LAWLESS: It does -- it does raise an eyebrow, Nancy. When you have something like this taking place before the child`s disappearance, clearly, there`s a problem.

When you have someone who is at least a suspect not cooperating and giving you information to establish a timeline, which you will recall from the Peterson case was also important, it certainly at least raises an eyebrow, and makes you want to focus on the mother as being involved in the disappearance. They have really got to look at this closely.

GRACE: Well, another question out to Marilyn Aciego with "The Daily Commercial."

Marilyn, they are stating that, while they`re not calling the mom -- everyone, as you know by now, you legal eagles -- Marilyn, wasn`t it a self-inflicted gunshot wound? Melinda Duckett committed suicide last Friday.

Are they calling her a suspect or a person of interest, or are they saying they are narrowing their search to her?

ACIEGO: Basically, they -- they still will not call her a suspect, Nancy, but they are saying that they are focusing the investigation more in her direction. She is definitely at the top of the list.

To Jean Casarez, Court TV news correspondent.

Jean, we have all taken a long, hard look at Melinda Duckett`s blogging. In between raising the child and making a living for herself, she managed to blog quite a bit, and -- volumes and volumes of blogging, I might ad -- and all these sentences, for the most part, rhyme.

Have you taken 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 up 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."

And 15 days later, she talks about moving on, which is -- 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 cannot anyone understand the burdens I hold within my hand? Life cannot be all fun for I. So many issues that I have to hide. They hold me down from dreams I have had. They kept me moving when I`m sad. Obstacles I face at every bend. The pain I endure, you cannot mend. Stay out of my affairs and let me be. You think I only live in misery."

We have 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.

Joining me here into the studio, Andrea Macari, Dr. Macari, instructor of psychology.

Andrea, what do you make of these blogs and Melinda`s suicide?

ANDREA MACARI, INSTRUCTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY: Well, it definitely speaks to the inner turmoil that`s going on.

And this rhyming that`s going on is actually a symptom of mental illness. Nancy, it`s called clanging. It`s a symptom of psychosis. We sometimes see it in schizophrenia. It`s just not plain old rhymes, like poetry. She`s not doing Shel Silverstein over here. This is a symptom of mental illness.

GRACE: Take a listen what police had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in the 18th day of our investigation to find Trenton Duckett. We continue to explore new leads and reinvestigate previous leads, as time permits.

Our number-one mission has always been and continues to be finding little Trenton. Members of the Leesburg Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and FBI continue to work tirelessly in their efforts to find little Trenton and bring him home.

Many of the investigators are parents with small children of their own. Some of the investigators working this case have worked 15, 16, and 17 straight days, working 16-hour days in many cases. Those investigators were asked who would voluntarily agree to take time off to refresh themselves. We had no volunteers. These are dedicated personnel who will not stop until Trenton is found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to Marilyn Aciego with "The Daily Commercial."

Marilyn, I understand there was a search at a local construction site that has been given up. What happened?

ACIEGO: Police were acting on a tip that was received some time last week that -- that Melinda and Trenton and her car were spotted about a week before Trenton was reported missing in this area. And it`s a very big construction site. It`s going to be a very big housing development. And being that there`s lots of dirt there and lots of places to hide things, police went out and searched, but were unable to find anything that linked Trenton to the area.

GRACE: Take a look at this. This is a construction site police were interested in. There you see cadaver dogs now brought out.

Tell me about her car, Marilyn, the car that police believed she was in the last days of Trenton`s life.

ACIEGO: It`s a silver 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

GRACE: Is this the car she committed suicide in?

ACIEGO: She did not commit suicide in the vehicle. She committed suicide in her grandparents` home.

GRACE: In the home.

Marilyn, what can you tell us that was taken by police as evidence?

ACIEGO: There were several personal writings taken both from her apartment and from the grandparents` home. And they also took a digital camera and her computer. The computer is currently at the FBI lab, and they are trying to get through it and find out what`s in it, to see if there`s any type of journal or diary.

GRACE: Let`s go to the lines, Liz (ph).

Let`s go to Ella (ph) in New Jersey.

Hi, Ella (ph).

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. I love your show.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

CALLER: Since she tried to sell his car seat, do you think it`s a good possibility she -- she sold him?

GRACE: You know what, Ella (ph)? That thought has crossed my mind more than once.

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, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: 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 the timeline, Nancy, is going to be crucial, because that is going to tell them exactly where he was between 4:00 p.m. on August 26 and 9:00 p.m. on August 27, when his mother reported him missing.

And, no, 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 -- 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 will go back on that hard drive, and they will look at every piece of communication, every key type on that particular computer, and they will come up with something, if there`s any evidence to be found in that -- inside that hard drive.

Marc Klaas is with us, president from Beyond Missing -- Marc Klaas not only victims` rights advocate, but crime victim himself. Much like the story Melinda Duckett gave about her child being taken from her home, Polly Klaas was taken 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. I just don`t believe it.

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT, BEYOND MISSING: You know, 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 writing, she -- 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 -- 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 have left. They 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.

Marc, you mentioned that Melinda Duckett seemed very conflicted, in her interview with us, very conflicted.

Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Two-and-a-quarter hours...

MELINDA DUCKETT, MISSING BOY`S MOTHER: Right.

GRACE: ... is all that had passed since you had checked on him. Now, it`s my understanding thought he was hiding, and you started looking for him.

M. DUCKETT: Yes. He had just learned how to open up the closet door that morning. And I thought that it was, you know, really a moment, like a Kodak moment, there.

So, that was the first place that I looked. The window, the rest of the room, there`s nothing there for him to hide or anything, so I didn`t even think about it. And he`s not one to go under the bed or anything like that.

GRACE: When did you notice the screen on the window slashed?

M. DUCKETT: Well, when -- after I checked out his room, I checked the bathroom and my room, which are right down the hallway, which he could have gotten to without me seeing him.

GRACE: Right.

M. DUCKETT: Like I say, he doesn`t ever do that kind of thing, so it would have been extremely unusual, but, you know, when you`re in A panic, you, you know, want to check every possible thing there is.

When I came back up the hallway, I looked in his room again, and there was actually a picture that had been on the windowsill and that had fallen. And that`s why I looked to the window, because there`s -- there`s curtains and everything else there. So, it`s not like, you know, it is just open to the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Joining us now is a very special guest. Trenton`s father, Josh Duckett, is with us.

Josh, again tonight, our show is all about trying to find your son, Trenton Duckett. At this juncture, what is your belief? Do you think the police will be able to find him?

JOSHUA DUCKETT, MISSING BOY`S FATHER: 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. 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. And we`re trying anything and everything we can to get his picture out there that much more to try and spark somebody`s memory, possibly, because we`re still having that lack of information, as far as the timeline. I mean, that`s -- that little bit of information means everything to us right now. We...

GRACE: Hey, Josh, did you...

J. DUCKETT: Yes.

GRACE: ... try to talk to Melinda yourself to find out where they had been that Sunday afternoon?

J. DUCKETT: No. I have had no contact -- I had no contact with Melinda, and I have had no contact with her grandparents.

I mean, I was more than willing to work with everybody. I feel that, at the time, even with the bad blood, to put everything aside, and work together, and get heads on straight, and get the same goal set.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still need to continue our search for Trenton. We still need to continue the effort with the flyers. We still need to keep his picture out there, because there still is this likelihood and this possibility that Trenton is with somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[Maggie]

GRACE: The search is still on for 2-year-old Trenton Duckett, reportedly taken out of his own baby crib, out of his own bedroom, a 10- inch slash in the window screen the only evidence we have.

Out to "Daily Commercial"`s Marilyn Aciego.

Marilyn, was it ever determined if that window screen was slashed from the outside or the inside?

ACIEGO: The last thing police told us was, it appeared to have been slashed from the outside, but it has not been sent back from the lab yet.

GRACE: You know, that`s a very interesting point.

Let`s go out to the G-Men tonight, all former feds, Don Clark, former head of the FBI Houston bureau.

Don, how is it that you look at a screen, much the way you would look at a broken window pane, and determine, was the screen cut from the inside or the outside? The first time the public really became familiar with this process is during the Elizabeth Smart case. You remember that?

DON CLARK, FORMER FBI INVESTIGATOR: That`s exactly right, Nancy.

And, you know, this is not necessarily brain surgery, but they know, if they take an object, and if you have to cut something from one way or the other, particularly with a screen, that you`re going to find that the little wires that are in there are going to be bent from the in -- in towards the inside, if it happens to be cut from the outside, and vice versa. So, that`s very easy for the police to do.

And if it is cut from the outside, then, clearly, it would say that, yes, there was somebody out there who tried to get the baby out.

Now, having said that, if you`re trying to bring something through that same object, that same orifice there, then you`re going to find that the screens may reverse themselves. But it won`t be all of them. And you will still be able to get a sense that it was cut from the outside or the inside.

GRACE: Absolutely, because, unless it`s a single slash with, for instance, a razor blade, you will actually see the working on the wire from the serrated edge of the knife.

And to you, Harold Copus, also former FBI agent, current private investigator, we now know that the search has changed. The search is now focused on dumps, to large land clearings. That says to me, they do not believe Trenton is still alive.

HAROLD COPUS, FORMER FBI AGENT: You know, that`s very unfortunate, but that really is the -- the focus now.

What you have to do, working that timeline, you want to go back, and you want to now see, is there a possibility we can place her car and then expand your search for little Trenton from that location.

GRACE: Mike Brooks, why is the car so critical?

BROOKS: Well, the car, they want people to take a look at this car, look at the tag number, and, you know, maybe refresh their recollection of, hey, I saw this car at a shopping center on the afternoon before it happened.

You know, that`s why they have put it out there, made it open to the public, because they`re going to need the public`s help in this, Nancy.

If anyone has seen any ground, new ground that`s been turned over, let the law enforcement officers know. You see anything at all that seems suspicious, anything at all that you thought -- think you may have seen on those days leading up to this, please let law enforcement know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Members of the Leesburg Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and FBI continue to work tirelessly in their efforts to find little Trenton and bring him home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The search is still on for 2-year-old Trenton Duckett. His mom, as you know by now, recently committed suicide, under intense scrutiny.

Tonight, with us, a very special guest, Trenton`s father, Josh Duckett.

Josh, where is the police search leading you? I mean, where are they looking now? Are -- they started looking in local lakes at all?

J. DUCKETT: Not to my knowledge.

I mean, they have just been doing the standard searches of properties and stuff, nowhere in particular, just the standard searches that they`re getting from tips.

GRACE: Josh, I understand that, this Friday, Melinda Duckett`s funeral will take place in a private ceremony. Are you attending that service?

J. DUCKETT: I had had full intentions on attending. I mean, regardless of the bad blood, I mean, I still want to show my respects and stuff.

But, out of respect for her family, I won`t be at that service, due to the circumstances.

GRACE: You mean the fact that there had been bad feelings over the divorce and the custody?

J. DUCKETT: Yes, bad feelings from her family towards me.

Out of respect for them, I won`t attend the service.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anybody has any information, whether they think it`s important or not, just come to the police. They may have seen Melinda or Trenton, anything that could be helpful in the investigation, we just -- we want Trenton home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The search for this little boy goes on. Two-year-old Trenton Duckett reportedly taken out of his own home as he slept in his baby crib.

Out to Court TV`s Jean Casarez. In addition to these MySpace postings, they`re voluminous, and they`re all talking -- a lot of them are talking about disappointment, death, funeral. Very disturbing, but what I also found interesting was that she wrote to her friends on her MySpace and stated that a lot of them didn`t know she had a child.

CASAREZ: Well, that`s true. But I think what will help her, because you know, her family stands behind her, Nancy. And on a lot of these blogs, she talks about her devotion, her love for her son, how she`s forsaking relationships for her son.

Listen to this one, Nancy, in terms of a breakup with a man. She says, "Because of a child, I search not only for I. The search presses on until the day that I die."

BECK: Let`s go to Andrea Macari, Dr. Macari, instructor of psychology. These MySpace blogs are very, very disturbing in that she states, "I know a lot of you don`t even know I have a child." I want to talk about that, and I want to ask you about what we know about suicide, Andrea.

MACARI: Well, unfortunately, we don`t know an enormous amount of suicide relative to other psychological concepts. We do know that suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. Women attempt suicide more, but men actually are more successful at it.

And the reason why is that women use methods like poisoning themselves, taking an overdose or cutting their wrists, which tends not to be a very lethal way to kill yourself. Whereas men use very lethal methods, like shooting themselves.

There`s also a difference in terms of ethnicity. Caucasians and Asians have higher rates of suicide. African-Americans actually have a very low rate of suicide.

In terms -- go ahead, Nancy.

GRACE: And another issue regarding these blogs, I mean, a 21-year-old girl. She`s beautiful. Raising a child, trying to work, trying to support herself, dating a lot of people, having an active social life.

Where the heck does she get the time to write all these dark blogs about how life cannot be fun, I`ve got so many issues, they hold me down from my dreams? A lot about death. And she`s 21 years old. You don`t usually expect that from such a young person.

MACARI: Well, it`s definitely the 21st Century`s version of the "dear diary." I think that`s really what`s going on here. You see the sadness, the turmoil and conflict she`s experiencing.

GRACE: Andrea, please, when you were 21, did you write on and on and on about death, about how miserable you were?

MACARI: No, but I wasn`t dying on the inside, literally. I`m not suffering from mental illness. We know that people who kill themselves, 85 to 90 percent have an underlying mental illness going on. And I think that`s what you`re seeing there in those blogs.

GRACE: Do you believe that people cave in to stress and commit suicide?

MACARI: There`s no one cause of suicide. There`s many, many predictors. The strongest predictor of suicide is whether the person has engaged in any self injurious behaviors like burning themselves or cutting themselves. We also see that people that commit suicide feel disenfranchised with the world, isolated and lonely.

GRACE: To Josh Duckett, this is Trenton`s father, still trying to find his son. Can you help us tonight? Josh appeared on our show at the very beginning. He has taken a polygraph immediately upon request. He`s had police search his home. He`s given an alibi that checked out with his friends. I gave him a grilling.

Long story short, he`s doing everything, from searching himself to handing out flyers and tonight, he`s asking for your help.

Josh, again, thank you for being with us. Josh, it`s my understanding that the police had taken Melinda into custody in the past for her own well-being. Is that true?

DUCKETT: Yes, that is. She had been Baker Acted before for threats that she had been made about ending it all in terms of committing suicide before. She was Baker Acted, taken to a mental behavioral center. The average time that they keep them is 72 hours, and they kept her less than 24.

GRACE: And Josh, how long ago was that?

DUCKETT: That was in April of `04, I believe.

GRACE: And I know that out of respect for her, even though you guys had a lot of bad blood going on during this divorce and custody, that you do not want to comment on that very much. So I appreciate you commenting at all.

To Renee Rockwell, veteran defense attorney. That jurisdiction is called the Baker Act where police come and take you. In our old jurisdiction, it`s called the 24. Explain, how the police manage to haul you off behind bars for your own safe keeping.

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, it`s just basically to protect the person, put him in the hospital, let the professionals look at them, and make sure they`re OK. Not only for themselves, but in the case like this, this woman may have had access a couple of years ago to young children.

But Nancy, what makes me interested in this contentious divorce the most is, could it be that she did not want her husband to have that child, therefore, she decided to kill herself and before she did that, maybe she did give the child away, or that`s my hope. And with this publicity, maybe this child can be recovered. I haven`t given up yet.

GRACE: You know what, Renee? Neither have we.

Looking at more of her blogging, and it`s three inches thick of all the blogs, the writings she wrote, Andrea, I`d like your take on this, our psychologist here tonight. Listen to this.

"I can paint a smile on my face. I can blend into a different race. I cry for all I`ve lost. I go on for all its cost." Listen to this. "I will hide the bruises on my arms. I will never admit my bodily harm. I will sink into myself. I will live on without anyone`s help."

Does this indicate some type of self-mutilation or what?

MACARI: It`s definitely possible now when she`s talking about bruises on her arm, does she mean literally bruises or maybe she`s talking about just figurative bruises? It`s really hard to tell.

I think, yes, it could certainly speak to the issue of some type of self-injurious behavior. Certainly by looking at your body, usually there`s scars when that takes place. Usually, people aren`t beating themselves, they`re punching themselves to get bruises. Usually, it`s more using knives and cutting themselves.

GRACE: OK. Let`s go to the lines. Sharon in Canada.

Hi, Sharon.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good. What`s your question?

CALLER: I`ve listened to this case from the very beginning, and I`m really beginning to wonder if little Trenton was ever put to bed in the first place in the home.

GRACE: Sharon, you are preaching to the choir.

Let`s go back out to our g-men. They`re all former well-respected FBI graduates. They all served with the federal government, with the FBI. So first, out to Mike brooks, former FBI and D.C. police detective.

You know, police are now saying they`re narrowing down the timeline from between 4 p.m. on Saturday, 9 p.m. on Sunday. That only makes sense. The grandmother saw the child till 4 on Saturday. He was announced missing 9 p.m. on Sunday.

She was with the child all that time, Mike. All that time. Nobody else saw them. She would not give police a timeline. The police told me that themselves. She wouldn`t give me a timeline or even name a store, for Pete`s sake, they went to.

BROOKS: Very, very -- it`s unusual. And...

GRACE: Sharon is right.

BROOKS: Absolutely. And she also created an alibi for herself by inviting friends over to watch a movie with her at her house, and that is when she discovered, at 9 p.m., that Trenton was missing.

And the other thing, Nancy, that I hope law enforcement has done is taken all the tools that were in her house, because with that also with that torn screen, with that broken screen, they can do tool mark impressions at the lab to see what kind of tool was used to cut the screen, whether it was a knife, whether it was something that was clipped. And may possibly -- may be able to match that to some tool that she may have had in her home.

GRACE: You just mentioned something very important. What about it, Don Clark, creating your own alibi? This would not be the first time we`ve seen that.

CLARK: No, it wouldn`t at all be the first time that we`ve seen that. And that is a very distinct possibility.

But right now, Nancy, law enforcement is priority. There are two priorities, and I think they`re one and the same. One is to find this little boy. That`s No. 1.

And No. 2, which I also think is equal, is to do everything they can to try to figure out where Melinda was and what she was doing. Because I think that`s going to be part of being able to find what happened to the little boy, is to try to find out where she was and what she was doing.

That`s the difficult task. That`s how they`re going to have to split up their resources to see if it if they can come to some solution.

GRACE: Right. Let`s go out to the lines. Sunny (ph) in Ohio. Hi, Sunny (ph).

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. My question is, now, I don`t know if you`re familiar with Florida area. There`s I-4, and I-75. And along those highways, there are many different communities, development communities. And I just want to know if those areas have been searched, too, outside of Leesburg.

GRACE: Out to Jean Casarez, Court TV news correspondent.

Jean, I know that they are looking all through Lake County. What do you know about the scope of the search, Jean?

CASAREZ: Well, that`s right. Well, I think the scope is broadening. You know, Nancy, I`m in central Florida right now, and Leesburg is about two hours down. But I`m in central Florida. Central Florida is a very large area.

[Maggie]

The Grace of Wrath
I don't know why Melinda Duckett committed suicide. And I am not remotely willing to go so far as to say that Nancy Grace, the eternally angry and vigilantified cable talk show host, contributed in any way to Duckett's suicide by conducting an "aggressive" interview with the mother (who may or may not have been a suspect in the disappearance of her two-year-old boy, Trenton) the day before she took her own life.

Here is how the Associated Press covered the news: "Two weeks after telling police that her son had been snatched from his crib, Melinda Duckett found herself reeling in an interview with TV's famously prosecutorial Nancy Grace. Before it was over, Grace was pounding her desk and loudly demanding to know: 'Where were you? Why aren't you telling us where you were that day?' A day after the taping, Duckett, 21, shot herself to death, deepening the mystery of what happened to the boy."


There are plenty of other perfectly logical reasons why Duckett would have taken her own life including, obviously, the fact that she may have harmed her son and then couldn't live with herself. And, presumably, no one forced her to endure the Wrath of Grace's evangelical scorn during an interview. Perhaps soon we'll have more answers. In the meantime, Grace said on the air the other night: "I do not feel our show is to blame for what happened to Melinda Duckett" and, really, what else could she say?

Grace issued a statement earlier this week just after the suicide occured. It read: "We feel a responsibility to bring attention to this case in the hopes of helping find Trenton Duckett, who remains missing. Our goal in our continuing coverage of Trenton's disappearance is to enlist the public's help in finding him... While Ms. Duckett's death is an extremely sad development, we remain hopeful that Trenton will be found safe, and we will continue to cover the case until it is solved." Not a whole heckuva lot of compassion for Melinda Duckett (only 21, remember) in that statement, right? That's probably why Duckett's family feels that Grace "bashed" her into suicide.

Me? I am in a waiting mode. But if in the end it turns out that Grace did play a role in Duckett's suicide I would not be the most shocked person in the world. In fact, I'm surprised that violence hasn't surrounded her shtick already and more often. The combination of rage, revenge, accusation and innuendo that permeates her show and her television personality is precisely the sort of roiling, viscious, corrosive potion that leads people to think they are heroes when they are about to act as villians. I have often worried for Grace's own personal safety, figuring that it was just as likely that someone who was negatively affected by her show would try to take her out as it was conceivable that someone would in the end decide to allow Grace to become, literally, a femme fatale.

Ask any divorce or family law attorney and they will tell you that the most important thing they do is to ratchet down emotions when family and friends and reputations and lives are at stake. That's why that particular area of the law is almost always the one with the most personal peril for attorneys. But you only need to watch Grace's show once to know that she is racing to embrace and embellish what real-life working lawyers are scrambling to avoid. You just can't rev people up, all the time, and constantly bring more heat than light to a subject, without attracting the worst angels of our nature. It may make for good ratings. It may make a cadre of people decide to follow you like a prophet. It may even get you a book deal and a publicist. But in the end someone is going to get hurt.

Maybe that someone isn't Melinda Duckett, who may or may not have had other reasons for ending her short, already-tragic life. But as sure as I am typing this there will be more trouble for Grace if she continues to play prosecutor without a judge around to reel her in when she has gone too far. Her jury of viewers may dig her act. But that doesn't make it right. Just ask the Duckett family today.

By Andrew Cohen | September 14, 2006; 8:45 AM ET

Washington Post Blog

[skyloom]

Nancy Grace says she's all about the victim. Well, now she has two victims.

[pumpkinpie]

I dont like Nancy Grace either, but I still watch her show sometimes.
Melinda Duckett is now the prime suspect in this case. After the baby was reported missing, baby pictures including his sonogram pictures were found thrown in her trash, along with other things of his. I didn't think she was involved at first. Just because being a mom myself, I cant comprehend someone wanting there kid gone, but it happens. Melinda Duckett was suicidal, and unfortunately possibly homicidal too. I know Nancy Grace is a witch, but she just might have pegged this one right.