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Gannon Stauch's Stepmom Maintains He Returned Home With Her Before Vanishing, Despite Rumors
Letecia Stauch said she is being harassed and threatened because of rumors about her missing stepson Gannon Stauch.
The stepmother of Gannon Stauch, who has been missing now for more than two weeks, says surveillance footage from the day he vanished doesn’t show the full story.
Stauch, 11, vanished on Jan. 27 after he left his home that afternoon to walk to a friend’s house, his stepmom Letecia Stauch maintains. She was the last person to see him.
Roderrick Drayton, who lives a few houses down from the Stauch family, said footage from his home surveillance possibly contradicts Letecia’s account.
He told the Denver Post that footage he uncovered showed the boy and a female relative get into a truck the morning of his disappearance. The truck returned about four hours later, but only the woman got out, according to Drayton. The footage reportedly prompted Gannon’s father, Albert, to break down crying.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has told Oxygen.com that Drayton’s footage is part of the investigation but they would not comment on its contents.
News of the video fueled internet rumors that Letecia had lied to investigators.
In a statement provided to local outlet KDVR, Letecia maintained that she and Gannon returned home together that day from a shopping trip, even if the video doesn’t appear to show it.
“Please don’t think for a second that there isn’t enough of technology to determine shadows and movement around the truck,” she stated. “There was also proof from my phone that we had taken a selfie in the truck in our driveway that was time stamped. We always send pictures to Albert when we are out and about or when he is away. That can be scanned for actual time verification.”
She also claimed Gannon cut his foot in the home’s garage two days before he vanished due to the amount of tools around.
“He sat on the edge of the car and we bandaged it up,” she stated.
Letecia said in her statement that she is being harassed and threatened as a result of Gannon’s disappearance.
“Let’s Do what Gannon would do. Be Kind to one another!” she stated. “We all have engaged in something crazy online at some point but Gannon would want everyone to get along and to focus on finding him.”
The El Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sunday update that 385 tips have received and 2,656 hours of investigative work and over 3,600 staff hours have been put into finding Gannon.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office's Investigations Tip Line at 719-520-6666.
