Gannon Stauch's Stepmom Allegedly Killed Boy In His Bedroom The Day He Vanished, According To Leaked Arrest Report

The stepmother of Colorado 11-year-old Gannon Stauch allegedly killed the boy in his bedroom the day he was reported missing, according to a newly surfaced arrest report.

Letecia Stauch, 36, told investigators “many lies” during the investigation into her missing stepson, authorities alleged in an arrest report obtained by 9 News in Denver. She had originally claimed that Gannon disappeared near his home in El Paso County on Jan. 27 as he walked to a friend’s house nearby.

The arrest report alleges that he was killed inside the home that afternoon instead. El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jacqueline Kirby told Oxygen.com that the arrest affidavit is a sealed document that is supposed to be unavailable.

“Physical evidence recovered from the residence and inside Gannon’s bedroom supports that a violent event occurred in the bedroom,” the document states, according to 9 News. Evidence of blood was allegedly found on and under his bed, on his walls, bedroom carpet and carpet pad. Investigators believe Letecia used a knife or another sharp instrument to kill him, according to charging documents. 

After Gannon's death, Letecia allegedly took his body to the garage and loaded him into the back of her Volkswagen Tiguan. Investigators believe his body was in the car when the house was initially searched. Gannon’s father was not home at the time as he was on National Guard duty in Oklahoma, according to 9 News.

Letecia then allegedly enlisted her 17-year-old daughter to help by purchasing carpet cleaner, trash bags and other cleaning supplies. Letecia allegedly dumped Gannon's body off Highway 105 in Colorado’s Douglas County. Blood, which matches Gannon’s DNA, was found in that area on a piece of particle board, according to 9 News. It’s not clear how investigators think his body was then moved to Florida.

The remains of a boy were discovered in March by a Florida Department of Transportation road crew doing work on the Escambia River Bridge in Pace, Florida, a spokesperson at the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office previously told Oxygen.com. The remains were tentatively identified as Gannon, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado has said. The sheriff’s department has asked anyone who may have seen Letecia in Pace or Pensacola between Feb. 3 and Feb. 5 to contact them.

While Letecia told 911 and media outlets that Gannon vanished en route to a friend’s, the leaked document claims that she changed her story at some point. She allegedly claimed she was held at gunpoint and raped by a man who then went on to kidnap Gannon.

Letecia was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina — where she is originally from — in March before she was extradited back to El Paso County. She was then charged with first-degree murder of a child under 12 by a person of trust, child abuse resulting in death, tampering with a deceased body, and tampering with evidence.  

Letecia’s public defenders Kathryn Strobel and Kim Chalmers, both of whom work at the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, are not available for comment per office policy. Letecia previously maintained her innocence in an interview with local outlet KKTV.