It has been nearly 20 years since a 2-year-old boy vanished from his Florida home, but his family and community continue to honor his memory.
Trenton Duckett was last seen around 7 p.m. on Aug. 27, 2006, according to a bulletin from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
His mother, Melinda Duckett, then 20, reported him missing the same day. She died by suicide one month later.
On Wednesday, the Leesburg, Fla., community gathered for a vigil at City Hall to mark the 19th anniversary of Trenton’s disappearance, NBC affiliate WESH and CBS affiliate WKMG reported.
At the time Trenton went missing, his father Joshua was 21 — the same age Trenton would be today. Despite the years that have passed, Joshua said he has never lost hope.
“It’s always hard every time you hit a birthday, every time you hit an anniversary,” Joshua told WKMG. “Day by day, it’s challenges. But I still have hope that one day we’ll get answers.”
Lieutenant Shannon Walsh of the Leesburg Police Department said investigators remain committed to the case.
“Every time the vigil comes up, I think those emotions are reinvoked within our detective division,” Walsh told WESH.
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Back in 2020, Trenton’s grandmother, Beth Eubank, told PEOPLE that the family believed he was still alive.
“It has been hard,” she said then. “But we’re never going to give up looking for Trenton. He’s alive out there somewhere.”
Five years later, that hope has not faded. Joshua remains determined to one day uncover the truth.
“There’s information out there somewhere,” he said. “Somebody knows something; it’s getting that information that will piece all the puzzles together and eventually solve it.”
According to NamUs, Trenton is of Asian and White descent and has a small mark above his left eye. He was last seen in denim shorts and a green-and-blue striped shirt.
An age-progressed photo of Trenton was released in early 2024, FOX affiliate WOFL reported.
