Found Deceased CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, Colorado Springs, Lorson Ranch, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 *endangered* #9

[meatballmama]

The other option is they hiked somewhere very different than GOG and she wants to keep throwing it out as a red herring.

For some reason my mind keeps going to the man in the background of one of the hiking photos. Didn't LE find this person and he confirmed he was at GOG at that particular day/time?

 

[Wolf Mother]

I thought he did a good job too. He recognized a good story and let her go. She controlled that narrative all on her own - and what a horrible story she told. Good job, I say. Part of reporting is knowing when to stay out of the way of the story, and he did just that.

Though, I do miss the days when the reporter also had a camerman/woman on the job too.

jmo

He was no investigative journalist, that's for sure. But, she was allowed to dig her own grave, and that was real good.

 

[SalMAnder]

Sounds wonderful. i hope he recovers fully and soon.
What would a newish local know about which areas were most likely to be sparsely populated on a Monday morning? GOG seems to be too populated from reading lots of posts here... I'm not sure about the other areas you named tho'

The thing is, I don't consider folks living here two years new-ish, especially military families. We're retired military. There is not one place we lived that we didn't know like the back of our hand within a six month time frame. It's been my experience that military families get out and explore and travel because you want to get as many experiences in as possible because you know you're probably moving again in 3 years, or so.

Do any locals know whether the Blodgett Peak Open Space is very crowded? It would look to be way less popular than GoG and has access to mountain trails.

I am assuming they've searched all local park areas near to parking lots, but of course, he and an LS could have walked a bit.

Blodgett Peak always has cars in the parking lot when I drive by. Same with Ute valley Park.

 

[NuttMegg]

True. I've always deactivated those on the passenger side. They can kill a full grown woman, and have. But, the one or two times my boy has been in the back, I felt like an Uber driver or policeman, you can't reach out and touch him, see his smile and face. We are so close and when he was 11, he was already almost as tall as I.

My pickup is nearly 16 years old, yet the rear view mirror readily catches the smiles and faces of those in the back seat.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Maybe she made him walk out on ice until he fell in. That seems like it would make the monster in her feel better.

 

[musicaljoke]

I seriously doubt on the Monday morning when Gannon got in the backseat, that the first thing on the Stepmom mind was airbags in the front seat. I could be totally wrong, but that's my opinion.

I'm sure it wasn't on her mind either. Seeing a child get into the front seat of a vehicle would certainly raise alarm bells in our part of the world, and very likely there would be calls made to 911. Children who grow up with strict car seat laws automatically get into the back seat where they have been safely buckled in since the day they came home from the hospital.

Had Gannon been seated in the front, I'm sure that there would have been a flood of outraged WSers.

 

[Boxer]

Maybe she made him walk out on ice until he fell in. That seems like it would make the monster in her feel better.

How? By pointing rifle at him?

Your theory fits.
Call in a runaway and if he is found having fallen through ice, it is an accident.
To be a viable plan means that she did it just prior to returning home to keep TOD close to the time he supposedly left the house.

 

[SalMAnder]

There was a case in the UK some years back where a serial killer was traced via license cams to prove he was in the area when one of the victims vanished. I can’t think of his name right now but there was a dramatic show made about it and it was amazing how they worked. And this was at least ten years back I think. Made me wishing for the same here. ETA show was called Manhunt made in 2019.

I was watching something about that recently. He was killing people at bus stops and they used the CCTV cameras to connect two vehicles he had used.

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

Yes!! My first thought was how high is she??

I'd get stoned too if I had to go do an interview that thousands and thousands of people are going to see on TV. Then again, I'll get stoned just to WATCH an interview on TV.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

How? By pointing rifle at him?

Thinking like a monster, I'd throw his video game accidentally towards the ice and then have him go get it....

 

[ChuckMaureen]

...wondering how many miles TS drove the red truck that Monday, and how many were put on the other vehicle car(s) in the day(s) afterward.

 

[prima.facie]

I used to live in Monument and we'd drive up to GOTG occasionally. I can attest to the fact that there are multiple rock formations with hundreds of feet deep NARROW crevices that she could have carefully lowered him into with a rope or cable. If she threw in some debris on top of him, no one would ever be able to tell he was down in there via visual inspection from above. There simply MUST be a way to check these. It's been my gut feeling all along that she may have put him in there. Law enforcement needs to get serious and start lowering cameras into these super deep crevices. If they wait, and he's in there, they risk losing valuable forensic evidence, such as whether he was poisoned. I truly hope they follow up with this. This woman wouldn't make it easy, if not impossible to find, part of her plan was making SURE of that!

Ive been there a zillion times. Legit question: Have you ever been there when it is not crowded? I have not. Maybe I have super bad luck (very possible LOL). How could she do that with the crowds and Park Rangers all around? Especially when that weekend was like Spring - 70s and super sunny. That is when the crowds come alive at GOTG and even the road alone is super backed up and slow.

Even if she parked along side the road - there are cars constantly driving the road. That's a lot to haul out of a car out in the open. I mean, the park is not secluded. It is literally many people's back yard.

 

[Truthbetold77]

The other option is they hiked somewhere very different than GOG and she wants to keep throwing it out as a red herring.

You know, I was thinking that too because she kept mentioning that place over and over and over like she wants to focus on Garden of the Gods it when he's actually at the opposite side. Of the city or something.

I'm sure it wasn't on her mind either. Seeing a child get into the front seat of a vehicle would certainly raise alarm bells in our part of the world, and very likely there would be calls made to 911. Children who grow up with strict car seat laws automatically get into the back seat where they have been safely buckled in since the day they came home from the hospital.

Had Gannon been seated in the front, I'm sure that there would have been a flood of outraged WSers.

Am I missing something here all this talk about the back seat and car seats? Does something that has to do with airbags or car seats have to do with this investigation right now? I would imagine the WS's would be P****d off at the fact that he never came back Monday. Nothing to really do with front seat or backseat. In my opinion if she did something to this child. Him getting in the back seat was more than likely because she didn't want him to sit in the front seat next to her and I doubt he ever did. They also have a younger child who probably also has to sit in a booster seat, but I'm not really sure what this has to do with the investigation.

IMO

 

[prima.facie]

Thinking like a monster, I'd throw his video game accidentally towards the ice and then have him go get it....

Pretty sure there was no ice (or super duper thin) in that area - that weekend/Mon morning. The weekend was warm. And Id actually say HOT because while the air temps may have been 70 - the sun here makes it feel much hotter. Snow/ice does not last with quick melts at these elevations (and im at a much higher elevation that the Springs).

 

[10ofRods]

Along these same lines, when my son was 11, something would have to be seriously wrong for him the be crying, sobbing and moaning. Even if I lost my cool and was yelling at him, he would mumble under his breath, head off to another room and slam the door. I'd take the cords to his electronics, he'd say I hate you. I'd be like good, I'm doing my job.

'
I wonder if it's true that Albert "handled the spanking." This is how I was raised (the "wait until your father gets home model") and nearly everyone I knew was raised the same way. Among my students, it's still a common model. Spanking is a way of physically abusing a child without leaving marks in visible places. At any rate, both parents need to be carefully interviewed and I expect that they have been. There's probably a whole other story the police know, other than the one we know, as we are getting most of it from LS.

As this case goes along, I expect LS to continue to maintain her innocence and to open full throttle on blaming Albert as much as possible. If there were to be found injuries on Gannon's body, she will likely blame Albert (who was perhaps riled up by LS implying that Gannon set the house on fire; MOO). In fact, I assume the reason DA May went to the house was to inspect the degree of damage (at least that's one reason), which helps him assess LS's truthfulness as a witness and the seriousness of the situation Gannon might be in. Since LS insists he ran away (will she now insist he ran away from a parked car?), the DA has to assess the value of that statement, can't just ignore it.

 

[musicaljoke]

Am I missing something here all this talk about the back seat and car seats? Does something that has to do with airbags or car seats have to do with this investigation right now? I would imagine the WS's would be P****d off at the fact that he never came back Monday. Nothing to really do with front seat or backseat. In my opinion if she did something to this child. Him getting in the back seat was more than likely because she didn't want him to sit in the front seat next to her and I doubt he ever did. They also have a younger child who probably also has to sit in a booster seat, but I'm not really sure what this has to do with the investigation.

IMO

Is it possible to infer the step mother's level of care for Gannon by where he sat? I think it's a valid point that has been debated.

 

[JTR1973]

My current theory is he fell and hit his head Sunday on the hike. It didnt seem that serious but Monday he wasnt feeling well. He threw up and she decided to take him to the doctor but before they got there he died and she panicked because she couldnt think of an excuse to give to the doctor or hospital, so she drove until she found a place to dump him. Other theory would be he may have threw up in the truck and she got angry and hit him harder than she meant to, which killed him. Again she didnt want to be bothered with having anyone question her so she dumped him, but in this case she would have had to clean the truck out so there will be footage of her at a carwash somewhere

Even if this were close to the truth or something similar happened, it would in no way make me think any better of SM. Who would DO something like that?!? If she loves him like she claims to, she would take him somewhere ASAP for help. No normal, feeling, decent human would just dump a child. Nope. She would still be responsible and Gannon would deserve justice. I just can't think of any scenario that she is let off the hook. Every single scenario she holds some piece or part of the responsibility. I'm sure time will tell. I just want him to come home.

 

[LietKynes]

In her defense, as others have said, who knows what was edited out. It is still odd, though.

Could it be that the tv station intentionally didn't do TS any favors?

MOO

bbm
You have a good theory there as by keeping the topic on TS LE and the media are keeping the heat on the last person to see Gannon.

Especially interesting is that the reporter brought up the question of discipline.
The babysitter stumbled over that question and it looks like they backtracked on what they were going to say.
"Really didn't spank them..." doesn't mean never spanked them.
And it's a given that TS wouldn't do anything particularly egregious when a sitter or the bio dad was there in the home.
This was well thought out on the reporter's side.

 

[Wolf Mother]

Thanks , it's great to get local knowledge.
What are the local people you know thinking about his location?
They have lived there for over a year, possibly 2 yrs, depending on which media one reads... so a certain amount of local knowledge-terrain would have been gained from outside pursuits, but not a whole lot. Locals would know better which areas a newcomer would be most likely to have explored first?

Places most newbies visit are:
Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods, Palmer Lake, Woodland Park, Monument Lake. You can literally drive right up to the shore at Monument Lake and gangbangers from Colorado Springs like to go there and hang out in summer. It's never closed, but quite empty this time of year. There is also a hidden reservoir and pond a mile or so hike West of Palmer Lake. There's a large dirt parking lot with a rustic playground. You can drive right up to the trail head and be at water within 5-10 minutes, unseen, as the trail is enclosed by hills and trees. It is quite isolated in winter, and my boys were able to build a shelter off trail, which has been undisturbed for 2 years! Lots of people from Colorado Springs crowd that trail in Summer.

 

[LietKynes]

I'm more curious than ever why they wanted the keys to the sisters car. I wonder what car TS took to Burger King. I wonder if the daughter is still in school.

I have some theories that can wait but it doesn't appear that LE have treated this this as a runaway aside from the first few hours.
They'd want the car to swab for evidence; imo.