car Died, is it Dead Forever?

I have a 1993 Mercury villiager, It has been making a ticking sound off and on, Today it started again, not real loud but ticking, It went away and the car was running smoothly.. I turned it off came out of the store and it started slughish < like the battery was low > but started,.. I drove home and it was running smoothly with no noise,.. I turned it off and when I went to start it again, It didn't turn over,.. I had the battery checked and they say it's ok,.. it has a starter that was replaced a few months ago, guess my question is can the motor be bad or seized up even though it was running smoothly when it was shut off, and is this vehicle salvagable or not, could it be a starter problem even though the starter is practically new, or an engine problem..