The stepmother of an 11-year-old boy who went missing in Colorado was arrested Monday morning and is accused of first-degree murder.
Authorities arrested Letecia Stauch, the stepmother of Gannon Stauch, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on multiple charges, including first-degree murder in connection with the boy’s disappearance.
Gannon has not been seen since January 27, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.
Letecia is being held in South Carolina without bond on the following charges until she is extradited to Colorado:
- First-degree murder of a child under 12 by a person in a position of trust
- Child abuse resulting in death
- Tampering with a deceased human body
- Tampering with physical evidence
Gannon is still missing, although authorities believe that he may no longer be alive.
Letecia told investigators she last saw Gannon at his home on Monday, January 27, between 3:15 p.m. and 4 p.m., and told deputies Gannon told her he was going to a friend’s house.
Nobody had seen him since.
On that same day, a neighbor’s surveillance video appeared to show Gannon getting into a truck belonging to Letecia, KRDO reported.
Her neighbor told the Denver Post that the footage proved that Letecia was lying to the police.
“I mean, it blows her story out of the water,” Roderrick Drayton, 49, told the Denver Post. “She came back at 2:19 without him.”
Al Stauch, Gannon’s father, was out of town for training with the National Guard when his son disappeared, KOAA reported.