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'A Burden That I Will Carry With Me,' Gannon Stauch's Dad Files For Divorce After Stepmom Is Arrested For Murder
Albert Stauch reportedly filed for divorce from Letecia Stauch the same day that his wife arrived back in Colorado to face murder charges in the death of his son Gannon.
The father of missing and presumed dead Gannon Stauch filed for divorce the same week that his wife — the stepmother of his son — was charged with the Colorado boy's murder, according to a new report.
Investigators now believe that Letecia Stauch, 36, killed Gannon Stauch, 11. She was the last person to see him alive and is also the person who called 911 to report him missing. She was arrested early last week and extradited from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina — where she is originally from and where she was arrested — back to El Paso County on Thursday where Gannon vanished back on Jan. 27.
Gannon Stauch's body has not yet been recovered.
The stepmother already faces charges of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with a deceased human body, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Now, she’s also facing divorce proceedings.
Gannon’s father Albert Stauch filed for divorce the same day that his wife arrived back in Colorado to face murder charges in the death of his son, KRDO in Colorado Springs reports. He had previously addressed Letecia at a presser held earlier last week to announce the murder charge.
“The person who committed this heinous horrible crime is one that I gave more to anybody else on this planet, and it is a burden that I will carry with me for a very long time,” he wrote in a statement read by law enforcement officials at the presser.
The stepmother had claimed that Gannon vanished after he left their El Paso County home to walk to a friend’s house. However a neighbor challenged that claim and argued footage from his home surveillance system contradicted Letecia’s account.
The neighbor told the Denver Post that footage he uncovered showed the boy and a female relative get into a truck the morning of his disappearance; when the truck returned about four hours later, Gannon was absent. In a previous statement provided to local outlet KDVR, Letecia maintained that she and Gannon had gone shopping that day and returned home together, even if the video did not appear to show it.
Letecia additionally defended herself in an interview with KKTV stating "I would never, never ever hurt this child and I know there are some questions out there." In addition to proclaiming her innocence, she said she'd become the victim of internet vitriol and death threats.
Gannon’s biological mother Landen Hiott said during last week’s presser, “This stepmom, who I even trusted — she will pay 100 percent for this heinous thing she has done.”
It’s unclear how investigators came to believe that Gannon's stepmother killed the boy. If convicted on the charges she faces, Letecia could face a potential sentence of life in prison. She is also accused of attacking a deputy in Kansas while she was being transported across the country, Kansas authorities told the Gazette.
Letecia is now being held without bond. She has been appointed two public defenders, Kathryn Strobel and Kim Chalmers, both of whom work at the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. They are not available for comment, per office policy.
