COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors have formally charged a Colorado woman suspected of killing her missing stepson.
Letecia Stauch appeared in court for an advisement hearing in Colorado Springs on Wednesday on several charges, including first-degree murder of a child, in the presumed death of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch.
The document laying out the reasons for Letecia Stauch’s arrest is sealed, and investigators and prosecutors have declined to discuss the details of the case. She also faces charges of child abuse resulting in death, tampering with a body and tampering with physical evidence.
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Sheriff’s officials have said Stauch reported Gannon missing Jan. 27, saying he left to go to a friend’s house in the afternoon. Authorities initially called him a runaway but three days later said he was considered missing and endangered due to his age, the amount of time he had been gone and his dependence on medication.
The boy remains missing.
Stauch was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on March 2 and was extradited to Colorado. She is being represented by the state public defender’s office, which does not comment on cases.
FBI Denver special agent Dean Phillips has said “all evidence points to the disappearance of Gannon being foul play.”
