Person of Interest & Friend of Melinda Duckett, Chai Chen, Being Investigated by Police
Did Melinda Duckett conspire with another individual and give Trenton Duckett away to another individual? The Marion County investigators seem to think so. Is it a coincidence or a conspiracy? What are the odds on the very day that Trenton Duckett was reported missing the following occurred:
- Trenton Duckett reported missing on August 27, 2006
- Just before noon, two workers at a Belleview Wendy’s reported seeing her with the boy.
- Minutes later, at 12:08 p.m., authorities confirm that she made a phone call to close friend, Chai Chen, 25.
- Chai Chen works across the highway from the Wendy’s at a Rent-A-Center
“We believe that it was an original location where there was a drop-off,” said Maj. Chris Blair of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. (WESH)
Chai Chen has also been given a lie detectors test.
Marion County investigators call Chen a person of interest but not a suspect. He voluntarily answered investigators’ questions this week and took an FBI polygraph last week.
According to law enforcement officials, the only thing that Melinda Duckett told him during that critical 12:08 p.m. phone call was that she invited him over to her Leesburg apartment to watch videos that night.
Deputies investigating friend of Melinda Duckett
The man is an employee of the Rent-A-Center store across the street from the Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in Belleview, where two employees reported seeing Melinda and Trenton the day the boy was reported missing, officials said.
You can classify it as a person of interest, but every person connected to Melinda Duckett is a person of interest, said Maj. Chris Blair of the Marion County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit. They’re thinking he’s a person of interest because of all the activities in the Belleview area.
Cell phone records indicate that Melinda Duckett called the man at 12:08 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27, Blair said. (The Villages Daily Sun)
