Lake County, Florida

Melinda Duckett is dead; Local6 says she committed suicide

In the latest twist to the Trenton Duckett abduction, the 21 year old mother Melinda Duckett has turned up dead.  Local6 says she committed suicide.  Just earlier today we had reported to Melinda Duckett refused to take a lie detector test.  What gives?  Was she just cracking under the pain of losing a child or is something else at play here?

Duckett's: Father Joshua passes lie detector test, mother Melinda refuses to take lie detector test, and toddler Trenton still missing - to be discussed on Nancy Grace

As an update to our story "Someone's hiding information about the missing Leesburg toddler" about the 2 year old missing toddler Trenton Duckett, the father Joshua Duckett has passed a lie detector test while the mother Melinda Duckett has refused to take the lie detector test.  However, a friend of Melinda Duckett who was with her at the house of the time of the supposed abduction did take a lie detector test that apparently shows that her friend didn't see the toddler Trenton Duckett at their house that night.

For the moment, Leesburg police are unsure of where Melinda Duckett is but say that declining to take a lie detector test doesn't mean she's guilty.  Also, investigators are looking more deeply into the Ducketts' rocky past including allegations that Joshua Duckett threatened to kill Melinda Duckett and Trenton Duckett and also that Melinda Duckett was forced to go through a psychological evaluation given allegations of neglect regarding her son Trenton Duckett.

The Trenton Duckett case will be presented on CNN tonight (Fri 9/8) on Nancy Grace's show at 8pm.  Of note, Trenton Duckett's father James Duckett is on death row for being found guilty of sexually abusing and killing an 11 year old girl in 1987.  Some feel that he is innocent given an apparent mis-steps regarding how his DNA was tested.

As a final note, people in this country are innocent until proven guilty.  While we would all like to jump to conclusions, let's do our best to leave this case up to the investigators and courts.  But by all means, if you have ANY information relevant to this case, please contact detectives Jim Dunagan or Richard Giles of the Leesburg department at 352-787-2121.

Someone's hiding information about the missing Leesburg toddler

A 2-year old toddler has gone missing in Leesburg and all finger seem to point to estranged husband Joshua Duckett, who last month allegedly threatened to kill the 21 year old mother Melinda Duckett and her 2 year old son Trenton Duckett.  It was so bad that she had to get a restraining order against Joshua Duckett.  An article on the Orlando Sentinel also reveals an interesting fact:

Joshua Duckett is the son of James Duckett, the former Mascotte police officer who is on death row for raping, strangling and drowning an 11-year-old girl in 1987.

Some question whether or not James Duckett really killed the 11 year old girl, but in any something smells fishy about Trenton Duckett especially due to the restraining order.  Here's more info from the Orlando Sentinel:

Police said they suspected several individuals with "pertinent" information haven't come forward, but they provided few other details Tuesday.

The likely conclusion is that Trenton Duckett is hiding something, but it could also be that someone is trying to set him up.  If anyone has any information, please call detectives Jim Dunagan or Richard Giles of the Leesburg department at 352-787-2121.

Clermont: Man butts head through police cruise windshield

Could resist providing a link to this WFTV article Man Accused Of Smashing Head Through Cruiser Windshield.  During a scuffle with police outside of the Crown Restaurant and Lounge near US27 and US50, Russell Collins head butted the police cruise windshield and ended up smashing his head through it.   That's using your head!

A message for all smokers in Lake County: STOP LITTERING YOU IDIOTS!

Keep America Beautiful is a program designed to stop smokers from littering.  I can't believe how many people in Lake County smoke - and it's disgusting how many idiots throw out their cigarettes (still lit) onto US27.  I wish cops would prosecute you idiots.  By they way, your litter can cause brush fires, so STOP!!!!!!

Experience with an aggressive driver on US192 and US27

Just a quick note.  Tonight I spotted an idiot aggressive driver driving on US192 and US27.  He drives a low-riding pickup truck that is purple or violet.  He likes to take sharp corners, making his wheels screech, and aggressively changes lanes (of course, without using a turn signal).  The weird thing is that, once this driver hits the speed limit, he doesn't go any faster.  At this point, he goes slow in the high speed lane.  Oh yeah, I also saw him weaving in and out of cars on Black Lake Road by Disney's Animal Kingdom.  There are no passing lanes there and the yellow line is solid, so this person was breaking the law there, too.  If this person is a Disney Cast Member, he should be ashamed of himself.  What a rude idiot.

Finally, I witnessed this driver turning onto Hook Street in Clermont.  So if you live anywhere near Lakeshore Drive, please watch out and avoid this idiot.

A lesson for stupid people who smoke

Here's something I wrote in a health blog I maintain, but I think it's an appropriate message for Lake County (and for Central Floridians in general) since so many smokers are so careless that they throw their cigarettes out their car windows.  Smoking is a stupid habit for millions of different reasons, since millions of acres of forest have been devastated by careless smokers, and millions upon millions die of primary or secondary exposure to cigarettes smoke each year.

Authorities believe the Texas and Oklahoma wildfires may have been started by a careless smoker, yet another reason why smoking is a bad idea.

Lake County blogger confesses to role in death in blog

Blake Ranking, a senior at Eustis High School, has confessed to his role in a drunken driving incident which killed one of his friends and apparently paralyzed another.  Blake Ranking and his high school friends had been drinking and driving when Mr. Ranking grabbed and pulled the steering wheel which ended up killing his friend and paralyzing the other.  In his own words:

It was me who caused it. I turned the wheel. I turned the wheel that sent us off the road, into the concrete drain.

The Blank Ranking story actually made it to the front page on Digg.com.  Digg users were able to dig up Blake Ranking's blog posting (warning: raw language).  The confession has now been removed and has been replaced with something that basically says he doesn't remember what happened:

People say I "contradict" myself since I "already admitting pulling the wheel". I didn't "ADMIT" anything. I went on a guilt trip, and I posted the story that I WAS TOLD. I don't remember what happened, and that's what I've said since DAY ONE.

Once again, I want to caution readers since Blake Ranking uses extremely foul and derogatory language.

This is one of the very few times a person has confessed to a crime on a blog.  One other one that comes to mind is the pervert Joseph Edward Duncan who blogged about his obsessions and confessed to giving in to them just before kidnapping Shasta Groene (who survived) and her brother Dylan Groene (who didn't survive).

Addendum (12/28/05):  Ranking was senteced today to 5 years in prison and has had his driving license revoked for life.  That's a bit bizarre given he wasn't driving when he yanked the steering wheel.

Loud booming cars are illegal in Florida (and Lake County)

I hate loud cars.  To me, the only thing more disturbing than hearing a loud, booming car drive by is smelling someone smoking in a car followed by them throwing the cigarette out the window.  (This would likely cause a brush fire or forest fire out west.)  I only wish they would have included something about those annoying modified mufflers that make cars sound like a powerful sports car (when the cars themselves are actually quite cheesy and nothing to be proud of).

Anyway, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Florida now has one of the toughest loud car ordinances in the country.  In fact, the law says that anyone who is playing a car stereo loud enough so that it can be heard within 25 feet can be cited by the ordinance.  As a person who hates loud cars with a passion, I applaud our law.  I wish it would go further since, to me, loud cars are an invasion of my privacy.  Thus, I wish we could prosecute drivers of loud cars with trespassing.  But oh well, at least we've made one step.

Since links to the Orlando Sentinel typically don't remain active for very long, here are the key bits from the article:

Armed with a tougher law, police are cracking down on Florida drivers who cruise the streets with their stereos blaring.  The stepped-up enforcement began this summer after the Legislature tightened an anti-noise statute to make it among the strictest in the nation.  Motorists playing a car radio or stereo loud enough to be plainly heard from 25 feet away could wind up with a $70 ticket. The old buffer zone was 100 feet.

The crackdown is sweet music to the ears of many Floridians, who routinely bombard law-enforcement agencies with complaints about so-called "boom cars."  "We have people complaining that they can't hear their own TV sets when some of these vehicles go by," said Warren Van Vuren, spokesman for the Titusville Police Department, which just this month launched "Operation Silent Night" to crack down on drivers who blatantly defy the law.

The new law has led to an increasing number of noise-violation tickets in Central Florida and throughout the state. For example, the Orlando Police Department has written nearly twice as many tickets since the law took effect July 1 -- 96 -- as it did the first half of the year: 50. The pattern is similar in Osceola County, where deputies have issued 89 citations since July 1, compared with 39 from January to June.  In Seminole County, the number of citations from the Sheriff's Office went from 33 the first half of the year to 65 since July 1. And in Brevard, tickets by the Sheriff's Office went from 85 to 107 in the same period.  Statewide, 6,896 people were ticketed during the first half of this year. From July 1 to Dec. 14, at least 8,304 people were cited, said Frank Penela, spokesman for the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

I think the police should enforce this law much more than they are currently doing, since I haven't noticed a decrease in the number of times I see and hear a punk driving around with a loud stereo.  It's just not right.

Map the locations of sexual predators in Lake County

SquirrelNet.com mentions a website that maps the location of sexual predators, namely PervWatch.org.  This mapping service ties into the same Florida sexual predator database I mentioned in a previous article.  Here are some shortcuts:

Map of sexual predators in Minneola

Map of sexual predators in Clermont

I noticed that their search by county is incorrect since it shows 0 sexual predators in both Lake County and Orange County, which can't be true.