It’s been nearly a month since Colorado boy Gannon Stauch mysteriously disappeared. His mother maintains hope that the will be home safe soon but as the days go by without him, she says she can’t help from thinking something tragic may have happened.
“The more time that goes by, if he did wander off, whatever happened, how can you … it’s snowing and you have them looking in snow and sifting through snow, you can’t help but have bad thoughts come in,” mom Landen Hiott told ABC News.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Gannon’s stepmother, Tecia Stauch, told police that she last saw him between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on January 27, after he asked to go visit a friend. According to Stauch, Gannon left on foot from their home off of Mandan Drive in the Lorson Ranch neighborhood, near Colorado Springs.
So far, police have not disclosed any publicly-known sightings since he disappeared. Police initially investigated security footage at the Kum & Go convenience store at Mesa Ridge Parkway after following a tip, but it turned out to be a false lead.
Gannon’s friends reportedly did not see him at all on Monday. According to Tecia Stauch, he missed school the day he disappeared.
Hiott, of South Carolina, arrived in Colorado on January 28, after learning of her son’s disappearance. She told ABC she’s absolutely confident that her son would not have run away.
“100% without a shadow of doubt, my boy would not run away…For it to be said that he has behavioral issues, and it to be blamed on him, that’s what makes me sick about this. … It is not Gannon’s fault. He is a child.”
“This is the longest time that I have not heard his voice, and the only thing I could do is just keep playing video’s back and forth of, ‘Mommy, I love you,'” Hiott added.
Watch the interview below.
Meanwhile, the search for Gannon resumed Thursday afternoon at a private property in Southern Douglas County near Noe Road, off of Highway 105. According to El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, Sgt. Deborah Mynatt, the search area is based on tips and leads authorities have received.
Mynatt told CrimeOnline that no one has been named a suspect in Gannon’s disappearance. She added that if they had any indication of abduction, however, they would have let the public know. Gannon was initially listed as a runaway, but it was quickly changed to “endangered” and missing, given the weather, his age, and special medications that he is supposed to take.
READ MORE: Timeline of missing Colorado boy who mysteriously vanished over 20 days ago
Gannon is described as a white male who stands 4-feet-9-inches tall and weighs around 90 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue hooded jacket, jeans, and athletic shoes.
Anyone with any information on Gannon’s whereabouts is urged to contact the El Paso SO’s “Investigations Tip Line” at 719-520-6666. or the El Paso County SO 719-390-5555.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Feature Photo: Gannon Stauch/Handout]
