Melinda Duckett thought she had finally won the battle. In February 2006 Melinda was granted child support in the amount of $403 per month. In May 2006, Melinda was granted sole custody of Trenton by DCF, with Josh having standard visitation. In June 2006, Melinda filed for divorce. That should have been the end of the nightmare of retalliation by Josh and his mother Carla Massero against Melinda.
But that was only the "eye of the storm".
This battle was a series of retalliation tactics by mostly Carla Massero and her spineless son Josh Duckett. In April 2005 Josh became "mad at Melinda" and left their Bushnell apartment. The next day, under direction of his mother, he made accusations against her to DCF. Melinda filed for child support the middle of April 2005. Carla hired an attorney to determine paternity, custody and child support (from Melinda). They accused Melinda of arsoning their porch on their flower shop. They accused Melinda of having sex with a Bushnell police officer for a favorable report about Trenton's care. They called Bushnell police chief and had her listen to a phone conversation in order to have Melinda baker acted so they could win custody of Trenton in court. And this was just April. The months that followed continued with more harrassment.
During the summer, Josh and Melinda married in July, Carla Massero had her friends and husband Kevin constantly harass Melinda and Josh at the Leesburg apartment. Even to the point of having Laurie Konnerth and her teenage daughter Danae hide out near the apartment to spy on them. Laurie later said (as part of the campaign against Melinda's reputation) she wanted to make sure Josh and Trenton were "alive" as Melinda had knives and could murder them. Kevin, Josh's stepdad, threatened to beat up Josh outside his job at Pat's Sales in Leesburg.
During the fall, Josh and Melinda had continual arguments, mostly about Josh's lack of responsibility toward Trenton and Melinda. More accusations by Josh. DCF again involved. Trenton bounced around, foster care, the grandparents home.
During the Chirstmas holidays, Kevin Massero was arrested for cocaine. Carla kicked him out. Then she takes in her new "companion" 26 year old Jason Wayne Fort (who also has a criminal history). All the DCF court hearings that ensued during 2006, Carla was accompanied by Jason Fort. Melinda told her grandparents that she knew Jason as someone who used to ride dirt bikes with Josh.
DAYS PRIOR TO THE ABDUCTION
August 12, 2 days after Trenton's birthday, Josh Duckett visited his father James Duckett, who is on Death Row in a Florida State Prison. They discussed the threatening myspace email sent to Melinda from Josh. James advised his son that email could add up to a lot of time in prison. The porn video was mentioned by Josh to his dad during that visit as well.
Why would Josh visit his dad whom he had only seen one other time (with Melinda) on that particular Saturday? Wouldn't Josh have wanted to be on his bike, or with his friends? Why the 2 hour trip to Starke with his uncle? And then to discuss the email and the porn?
And then, how/why would James Duckett get a message to Melinda to not come and visit him on the 27th of August (the day Trenton was abducted) then write her a letter stating how funny it was that he "got his dates mixed up". I would think that a man in prison for 22 years would remember every single day.
The night of the 12th (early on the 13th Sunday) Melinda frantically called her friend Nicole Diaz and stated she needed thousands of dollars because she wanted to keep she and Trenton safe from Josh Duckett. Was Josh threatening to release the porn video of him and Melinda and wanted money? Was Josh threatening to take Trenton and Melinda would never see Trenton again? (At this time Josh had a restraining order against him and he could not see Trenton) Why did Melinda need the money in days. Was Melinda going to use the money to have thugs "talk some sense into Josh"? But then why would there be a time limit? Unless something was going to happen if Melinda did not comply?
Around this same time, Melinda called her grandfather to come to her apartment and put a secure lock on her sliding glass doors. Billy Eubank thinks she also changed the locks on her door. She asked Billy if anyone could come into her apartment through the attic ceiling panel. Billy told her there was a firewall and that would prevent anyone from entering. Melinda screwed the ceiling panel shut. Billy Eubank said that after Trenton went missing he realized that Melinda was scared to death. He also believes that Melinda had it on her mind to move out of that apartment. When he and Nancy arrived that night he was surprised to see so much of Melinda's furnishings gone. She told him that night through tears that it was "her job to protect Trenton". And now he was taken right under her nose.
THE ABDUCTION
During her frantic search for Trenton, then realizing he had been kidnapped, Melinda called police friends for help while Danny Bass was calling 911. This was when Melinda called her ex-boyfriend John "Lucas" Brown who was a deputy sheriff with Sumter County Sheriff's Department. She asked him the last name of Carla Massero's boyfriend because she was filling out the missing child report. He didn't know it at the time. But told her later. She wrote the name on the inside of an Orbit gum box.
FORT. As in Jason Wayne Fort.
