The El Paso Sheriff’s Office called off a planned search for an 11-year-old Colorado boy planned for Friday as the hunt entered its fifth week.
Gannon Stauch was last seen between 3.15pm and 4pm on January 27 as he allegedly headed to a friend’s house in Colorado Springs.
The boy was originally categorized as a runaway, before his case was upgraded to that of a missing/endangered person.
No explanation was given for the cancellation of Friday’s search and a spokesperson from the sheriff’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The search for Gannon is not classed as a criminal investigation.
Gannon (left and right) was last seen at his home in Colorado Springs on January 27. His stepmom said she saw him leave to go to a friend’s house between 3.15pm and 4pm
Friday’s search was set to take place 30 miles northwest of his home but was postponed
Keith Lonnquist and Reggie Franklin (left to right), with El Paso County Search & Rescue, launch a drone to search an area for missing, endangered child, Gannon Stauch
The Metro Crime Lab were called in to aid the search but it is not a criminal case
Law enforcement and volunteers search snowy areas for 11-year-old missing Colorado Springs boy Gannon Stauch. He was last seen on January 27 as the search enters its fifth week
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office announced that on Friday a search effort for Gannon would be underway in the area of Highway 83 and Highway 105.
The area is about 30 miles northwest to Lorcan Ranch where the boy lived and lies to the east of the town of Monument.
No information was given on what the search was looking for.
Three hours later, the search was called off again.
‘As we have explained throughout this investigation, this is a very fluid investigation & it can change at any minute of the day,’ the sheriff’s office tweeted.
‘The scheduled search has been postponed. We will keep you in the loop as it happens & as we can release it. Our Tips to date are 801.’
As of February 21, the ground search for Gannon had been halted while the investigation continued. The slogan on many of the posters for the missing boy is ‘Leave no stone unturned’.
When the ongoing search was called off, the sheriff’s office stated that they would resume the physical search as soon as they had further information.
‘Although search efforts in southern Douglas County have been suspended, this investigation is not slowing down,’ the statement read.
‘As previously stated, investigative leads direct search efforts and we have teams available and ready to deploy should the need arise.’
A prayer wall is filled with handwritten prayers by those attending a vigil in the Lorson Ranch neighborhood for missing 11-year-old Gannon Stauch who is thought to be endangered
J.R. Betts, with El Paso County Search & Rescue, goes through a pile of rubbish near Drennan Rd. in the Lorson Ranch area near Gannon Stauch’s home in Colorado Springs
Gannon was reported missing on January 27 by his stepmother, Letecia Stauch, who is married to his father, Albert Stauch.
Initially classed as a runaway, he was updated to a missing person case on January 30.
Surveillance video from a neighbor’s home captured Letecia leaving the home with Gannon in her pickup truck at around 10.13am on January 27.
However, when she returned at 2.19pm, Gannon is nowhere to be seen
Footage from 2.19pm to the time Gannon was reportedly last seen is not available, but the sheriff’s office said earlier that officers had no surveillance video showing the boy leaving the property.
Roderrick Drayton, the neighbor whose camera picked up the footage, told ABC News that Gannon’s father broke down in tears after he saw the video.
Drayton said when he showed the clip to Albert Stauch, he burst into tears and accused Letecia of ‘lying’ about Gannon walking to a friend’s house.
‘[Albert Stauch] just broke down crying and said: “She lied, she lied about the time. He didn’t go to a friend’s house”.’
Surveillance footage shared by a neighbor allegedly shows Gannon entering a car with his stepmother that morning but not returning with her that afternoon (pictured)
Authorities say Gannon needs his medication but have not specified what it is needed for
Gannon’s mother, Landen Hiott, claims her son would never run away from his family
After news of the video broke, Letecia gave an interview to KKTV, insisting that she played no part in her stepson’s disappearance.
‘I took care of Gannon for the last two years in our home because his mother didn’t want to do it,’ she said.
‘I would never ever, ever hurt this child…these people have these conspiracy theories…I’m like: “Why are you saying Gannon is dead?” He is not dead. We are going to find Gannon’.
In a statement to KDVR, Letecia insisted that her stepson was, in fact, in her vehicle when they returned home from a shopping trip that afternoon, but he got out from the side of the truck that was not facing their neighbor’s camera.
In an interview with ABC News, Gannon’s mother, Landen Hiott, pleaded with the public for help in returning her son home.
‘I don’t want to wait another day,’ she said. ‘He is mommy’s little man. If he is not with me, he is hurting’.
Hiott added she is certain that her son would not run away.
Hiott lives in South Carolina and said that as soon as she heard the news of her son’s disappearance, she flew into Colorado.
‘This is the longest time that I have not heard his voice, and the only thing I could do is just keep playing videos back and forth of: “Mommy, I love you,”‘ Hiott told ABC News.
‘When I heard that he ran away, I knew that was the first sign,’ she said.
‘Like, that is not my boy…100 percent without a shadow of a doubt, my boy would not run away.’
Gannon’s mother, Landen Hiott (pictured) said she wants to keep sharing Gannon’s story in an interview with ABC and described him a jokester who loved to make everyone happy
Hiott said she wants to keep sharing Gannon’s story and described him a jokester who loved to make everyone happy.
‘I don’t know how to go forward without him,’ she told ABC News.
‘He’s my hero. He gives me life, he gives me energy. If a bad day is going bad, I just hear his voice and it makes it better.’
Gannon was last seen wearing a blue jacket, black jeans and sneakers. He has brown eyes, brown hair, weight 90 pounds and stands around four-foot-nine.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office also said the boy needs medication but did not specify what for.
If you have any information as it relates to Gannon’s case, please call the Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at 719-520-6666 or email Tips@elpasoco.com.
Gannon was last seen wearing a blue jacket, black jeans and sneakers. He has brown eyes, brown hair, weight 90 pounds and stands around four-foot-nine