COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The family of missing Colorado boy Gannon Stauch released an emotional video statement on Wednesday, pleading for any information in the 11-year-old's disappearance.
"This week has been awful. It's been more than a roller coaster ride," Stauch's mother, Landen Hiott, said in the video, which was posted on the El Paso County Sheriff's Office YouTube page. "It's been more than an emotional mess. I don't have answers for my feelings, other than I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'll never hear his voice, that I'll never hear him run and say, 'Mommy!'"
Hiott was joined on the video by Gannon's father, Albert Stauch, and his sister, Laina Stauch.
Watch the full video:
Gannon's parents pleaded for any credible leads in the case.
"If you're too afraid because you know something — a kid just doesn't disappear and no one sees him. It's not how this works," Hiott said. "So if you have anything that's credible — if you're afraid, don't worry about it. Imagine my son, how afraid he is. Imagine how afraid Gannon is."
The video from Stauch's family came two days after Roderrick Dayton, a neighbor of Stauch’s, shared surveillance video from his home that captured footage of what he says shows Stauch and his stepmother, Leticia Stauch, getting into a red truck in the driveway of their Colorado Springs home on Monday, Jan. 27 – the day the boy went missing.
Later, the video, Drayton said, shows the truck returning hours later but with only the stepmother appearing to get out.
Drayton told KMGH he went back to review his surveillance camera video from that day as the search for Stauch intensified over the past week.
Leticia Stauch reported the boy missing just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 27, and told police at the time that she had last seen him between 3:15 and 4 p.m. that day, when he left to play at a friend’s house down the street.
Drayton said the surveillance video shows what he says is Gannon and his stepmother getting into the truck at 10:13 a.m. that day and Leticia returning, apparently alone, at 2:19 p.m.
Drayton said he gave the videos to police to aid in their investigation.
In the video released on Wednesday, Stauch's mother said she was afraid she would never hear one of her son's jokes again — but she wasn't giving up hope.
"Every single day, he has to tell me a joke," Hiott said. "He looks forward to telling me something silly. And I’m afraid that I won’t ever see that again or hear it. I don’t want to believe that, because that means that I’m giving up hope and I’m not giving up hope, because my son is full of hope."
Albert Stauch, Gannon's father, described his son as a happy child who "brings life to every party."
"His smile, even today, is keeping us going," Albert Stauch said. "His smile brings me joy every time I think about it."
This story was originally published by Ryan Osborne at KMGH.
