Colorado police say they don’t believe that 11-year-old Gannon Stauch, who has been missing for more than two weeks, was kidnapped as his stepmother suggested.
“If there was a threat of some sort of public safety statement, if there was an abduction of some sort, if that information was revealed to us… we would absolutely put that out,” Sgt. Deborah Mynatt of the El Paso County Sheriff’s office told People magazine.
Mynatt added that there is “no threat to the community.”
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Gannon’s stepmom, LeTecia Stauch, was the last person to see the boy. She told police he left their Colorado Springs home at 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 27 to walk to a friend’s home—and that when he didn’t come home two hours later, she reported him missing.
Stauch’s account has come under scrutiny because a neighbor of the family says his home security video showed her leaving the house that morning with Gannon but coming home hours later without him. And it turns out he did not go to school that day.
In a statement released to Fox 31, Stauch says she’s faced “harsh comments, speculations, threats, cyber bullying,” and even people trying to run her off the road or stalking her outside the hotel where she is staying.
She said she felt compelled to go against police advice and release details of her movements before Gannon’s disappearance—including what appeared to be an explanation of why his blood might have been found.
“Saturday Night, G was helping me unload in the garage and cut his foot because there are a lot of tools because Albert does woodworking,” the statement said.
“He sat on the edge of the car and we bandaged it up. He was good to go. He always loves helping his dad in the garage build things like his LEGO tables and the flower pot they built for me as a gift. After this, I noticed G kept going to the side of the house.
“He told me he was checking to see if the gate was locked because he was the only one with a gate key. It made him proud to be the man of the house while Albert [his father] was away.”
She said they took a hike on Sunday and went shopping on Monday, and took a selfie in the truck. “That can be scanned for actual time verification,” she said.
She added, “I encourage you to think of any suspicious cars that may have been in the area watching a few days prior and keep praying for G!”
Police have received more than 400 tips and were searching Wednesday in northern El Paso County and southern Douglas County. They have not named a person of interest in the investigation.
