On January 27, 2020 Gannon was reported missing by his stepmother, Letecia Stauch who claimed he had left home around 3:15–4:00 p.m. to walk to a friend’s house and never returned. 

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Initially considered a juvenile runaway, the case was swiftly upgraded to missing/endangered child triggering a massive search. 

Search and rescue ramped up immediately: the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office logged over 8,400 staff hours and more than 637 tips with help from agencies such as the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team, NCMEC, and others. 

Efforts deployed drones, K‑9 units, horses, and helicopters.

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Early Clues That Didn’t Add Up

A neighbor’s surveillance video recorded Letecia loading Gannon into a truck in the morning of that day and returning without him hours later. Authorities retained this footage as critical evidence. 

Eyewitness statements and recorded tracking extended the timeline of events. Meanwhile, Letecia provided conflicting statements ranging from a kidnapping to improbable accidents. These versions were later dismissed as lies. 

Gannon’s Body Found

On March 20, 2020 Gannon’s remains were discovered sealed inside a suitcase under a bridge in Pace, Florida over 1,300 miles away. Investigators believed Letecia had transported his body across state lines

The autopsy revealed death resulting from blunt force trauma, sharp force injuries, and a gunshot wound. Forensic evidence showed a violent crime scene in Gannon’s bedroom: blood spatter on walls, a soaked mattress, and carpet stains. 

These findings contradicted Letecia’s initial reports of him walking away

On March 2, 2020 Letecia was arrested in South Carolina and extradited to Colorado. She was charged with multiple offenses, including first-degree murder of a child by a person in a position of trust, child abuse resulting in death, and tampering with a body/evidence. 

The Trial: Denials, Defense, and Verdict

Letecia entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, citing dissociative identity disorder and trauma from her childhood. 

The defense included famed psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Lewis, who argued Letecia had a psychotic break labeled as an alternate personality named “Maria.”

State psychiatrists evaluated her and found her legally sane, asserting she understood her actions and intent rejecting her insanity plea. 

May 8, 2023 the jury convicted Letecia on all charges. She received life in prison without parole, plus additional consecutive sentencing terms totaling over 170 years for tampering and related crimes. 

Judge Werner called the crime “the most horrific I have ever seen.” 

What stunned me was how cunning this betrayal was on the very day Gannon vanished, his stepmother claimed he left voluntarily. 

Then she altered truth through the weeks after. This wasn’t disorientation it was premeditated orchestration, from washing evidence in the home to shipping his remains nearly 1,500 miles away. Her inconsistencies and deliberate deception dispelled any reputable claim of insanity.

This case remains horrific.

-AJ