Got the damn thing out after more than a struggle. And here is my current diagnosis which I would like to confirm with my local dealer. One of the guys there knows the Duratec in and out so I'm hoping he'll be able to check it out.
If you know how a starter works then you know that the gear moves forward, engages with the flywheel, turns the motor, and when you release the ignition, the gear disengages and moves back away from the flywheel and that should all happen smoothly and flawlessly. So now comes the explanation of the start up noise. I can move the gear forward to its engaged position, but it does not return to the disengaged position all the way. It just moves back a little bit. That explains the sounds from that part of the engine. The starter was not disengaging fully and was hitting against the flywheel until it eventually kicked it back.
Now for my reasoning as to why it won't start the car. After so long of sticking against the flywheel on almost every cold start, I believe that the starter is no longer engaging fully. I believe that only part of the the gear is making contact with the flywheel and is therefore slipping and not turning the engine properly. You can kind of tell this is happening by the location of the wear marks on both the flywheel and starter.
Again I will try to confirm this with a dealer or other "knowledgeable" mechanic tomorrow or ASAP.
Now we must wait...