Letecia Stauch Murder Case Timeline

Gannon Stauch (left); Letecia and Al Stauch (right)

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First Published: 7:34 AM PDT,March 22, 2023

The Colorado woman is accused of murdering her stepson, Gannon Stauch, and then reporting him missing to authorities, which kicked off a massive six-week search that ended with the discovery of his body 1500 miles from home under a Florida overpass.

Letecia Stauch will soon have her day in court as a jury selection is underway in her murder trial.

The Colorado woman is accused of murdering her stepson, Gannon Stauch, and then reporting him missing to authorities, which kicked off a massive six-week search that ended with the discovery of his body 1500 miles from home under a Florida overpass.

Letecia has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Here is a look at the timeline in the case:

Jan. 27, 2020

Letecia Stauch calls 911 to report her stepson, Gannon, 11, missing just before 7 p.m., according to the probable cause affidavit. She is instructed to call a non-emergency number and when she does so she cannot name any Gannon's friends or their parents, says the affidavit. She is also allegedly unable to recall where any of these friends live.
Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office arrive at the home around 10 p.m. and Letecia gives them permission to search the property.
Investigators write in the affidavit that they believe Letecia murdered her stepson shortly after 2 p.m.
The affidavit says that just before 5 p.m., Letecia asked her daughter Hayley to pick up carpet cleaner, trash bags, and baking soda from the store.

Jan. 28, 2020:

Letecia drives her car to a short-term parking lot at the airport and rents a Kia from the Avis dealership, according to the affidavit. She then uses the rental vehicle to pick up Gannon's father, Al Stauch, at the airport around 9 a.m.
Letecia returns to the short-term lot at 7 p.m. and allegedly moves Gannon's body to an unknown area to hide the body, says the affidavit. Investigators believe that Gannon had been in the car because Letecia wanted to avoid her husband discovering his son's body, the affidavit says.
Hayley then picks her mother up in her own car at 10:30 p.m. investigators believe, based on cellphone records, according to the affidavit.

Jan. 29, 2020

The rental car is returned at 9 a.m. by Letecia, says the affidavit.
Letecia meets with investigators at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. She arrives two hours late according to the affidavit, and with her vehicle freshly washed.
The affidavit says that Letecia arrived with sheets of paper and proceeded to tell investigators that she had been held at gunpoint by a man named Edguardo on the day Gannon went missing from their home. Letecia then allegedly said that the man raped her and then abducted Gannon. Letecia says she then cleaned up the area before reporting her son missing, according to the affidavit.
Investigators seize Letecia's cellphone and apply for a warrant to take DNA samples. The affidavit says that Letecia then begins to stick tissues down her pants and says she is struggling to breathe and having heart problems. She's rushed to the hospital.
Letecia has no life-threatening health concerns says the affidavit, and upon being released she slips out of the building without telling any members of law enforcement that are present. Because she is not under arrest that is completely legal.

Jan. 30, 2020

Gannon's status is changed from runaway to endangered missing child.
That status change allows the EPSO to reach out to both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to assist in the search efforts.
Massive search efforts get underway in El Paso County.

Feb. 1, 2020

Letecia and her daughter Hayley begin to drive cross-country, according to the testimony of Sgt. Rosario Hubbell of the EPSO, who said in a September 2021 hearing that Letecia rented a van for the drive. Sgt. Hubbell said that he believes Gannon's remains were also in the van at the time.

Feb. 3, 2020

A neighbor comes forward and claims that his home surveillance footage contradicts Letecia's version of events. His video shows an adult and a younger person getting into a car outside the residence, but later only the adult is seen getting out of the car when it returns home.

Feb. 4, 2020

Letecia arrives in Florida and checks into a hotel just three miles away from where Gannon's body is later discovered by a group of construction workers.

Feb. 13, 2020

Search efforts for Gannon expand into neighboring Douglas County.

Feb. 14-15

Letecia tells her husband five different versions of events that occurred in the hours before Gannon went missing according to the affidavit:
"When EPSO came to the house on January 27, 2020 the abductor was still in her residence and that she tried to signal the EPSO deputies that there was somebody in the residence."
"She was raped by [a man] at her residence, and [he] abducted Gannon. She knew [the man's] identity because she saw a paper and his identification card fall out of his pocket that had his name on it."
"[A man] followed her from Petco, and at some point, was laying in the middle of the road in front of a car. When Letecia stopped to avoid running the man over, he jumped into her car and made her take him home and raped her."
"Letecia and Gannon were near County Line Rd / Hwy105 in northern El Paso County on January 27, 2020. Gannon is riding a bicycle in the area and fell off, hit his head, and was then abducted by [a man]."
"Letecia stated that the blood in the corner of Gannon's room was a combination of hers and Gannon's. In this explanation, she stated that the abductor anally penetrated her and Gannon with an object. Additionally, she was tied up at some point in the abduction, and the abductor was still present during the EPSO visit that night."

Feb. 18, 2020

Letecia calls a company called fakepolygraph.com, hoping to get the results of a test she took sent to her, but is told "her report was blocked by management based on the content of the questions," according to the affidavit. She is also told by an employee that with "illegal activities they reserve the right to not to send the report."

Feb. 21, 2020

Search efforts are suspended.

Feb. 28, 2020

A judge signs off on the arrest warrant.

March 2, 2020

Letecia Stauch is arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for the murder of Gannon Stauch.

March 4, 2020

Letecia makes national headlines after she allegedly attacks a deputy while being extradited back to Colorado.

March 5, 2020

Al files for divorce from Letecia, and says the marriage is 'irretrievably broken' in his filing. He also states that his wife is "in South Carolina awaiting extradition to Colorado charged with first degree murder of [his] son."

March 11, 2020

Letecia is formally charged with first-degree murder in an El Paso County courtroom.

March 17, 2020

Gannon's body is discovered in Florida, according to testimony provided by Sgt. Jason Yoder, of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, in a September 2021 court hearing.
Bridge inspectors with the Florida Department of Transportation found a suitcase under the bridge while doing construction, and upon opening it found what appeared to be a boy's body wrapped in blankets, said Sgt. Yoder
Sgt. Yoder said that Gannon had been shot in the jaw, stabbed in the chest and back, and suffered a skull fracture,
Gannon also had defensive wounds covering his arms and legs and a bullet lodged in his skull, according to Sgt. Yoder.

June 4, 2020

A probable cause affidavit reveals that Letecia attempted to escape from jail,and had allegedly devised a plan to break through the window of her cell using a broom handle.

Jan. 19, 2021