Found Deceased CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 *Arrest* #51

[Pink2017]

But from my understanding, "probable cause" still needs to be established, of a crime having been committed. Being a runaway wasn't a crime. A person isn't contraband.

According to the officer's own testimony nothing seemed initially untoward or suspicious.

Thank you for this information.

 

[Pink2017]

But from my understanding, "probable cause" still needs to be established, of a crime having been committed. Being a runaway wasn't a crime. A person isn't contraband.

According to the officer's own testimony nothing seemed initially untoward or suspicious.

Thank you for this information.

Relative to the Fourth Amendment, in the early days of the automobile, the Court created an exception for searches of vehicles in Carroll v United States.

That vehicles may be searched without warrants if the officer undertaking the search has probable cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband. The Court explained that the mobility of the vehicles would allow them to be quickly moved from the jurisdiction if time were taken to obtain a warrant.
[..]
_______________

Rule of Vehicular Searches is more extensive but I wanted to point out how a suitcase inside a vehicle would be easier to search than a suitcase located inside a house where an individual is afforded the reasonable expectation of privacy.

Vehicular Searches

I appreciate your input. Very informative.

 

[NCWatcher]

I really *like* your common sense post. I’ve amended my stance on HH and her involvement over the last few days. Reading she was along for the ride to Florida upset me. I thought to myself - how could she not know Gannon’s remains were in the vehicle? Thinking back to my own kids and particularly my granddaughter at that age - pondering how young, naive and inexperienced 17 really is - just barely old enough to drive: Idk, I’m not ready to pass judgment on that minor. We don’t have all the facts yet. The sour cherry on top is the unique influencing factor of Tecia. Can you imagine being raised and spending a whole s e v e n t e e n years with that woman? A warped sense of right and wrong might result. Loyalty and compliance probably trumped all commands and demands. HH was taught to trust with no questions asked. Why would she believe her mother killed her brother, stuffed him in a suitcase and loaded him in the trunk along with the rest of the luggage? Why would she question her mom wanting to get out of town to avoid the press?

Thanks @imstilla.grandma! You've made excellent points too!

Being raised by LS would have had to have affected HH. Even if LS's "evil side" wasn't apparent, her impulsiveness and self-centeredness had to be.

Being an only child for years and her father dying when she was around 11 had to have affected HH too. Then about a year later LS married AS. While LS and her first husband had been divorced for several years before his death, we don't have any way to know how HH felt about her mother's 2nd marriage. We don't really know anything about the relationship between AS and HH. I'm not suggesting HH had strong animosity towards her stepfather and/or step-sibs (or vice versa) as there's certainly no evidence of that. But blending families can be difficult. And a remarriage and sudden appearance of two sibs just as HH was entering adolescence and likely still grieving for her father had to be stressful for her. Then not too long after that big change in the family dynamic the family moved across the country away from whatever familial support system HH had on the east coast.

It would seem those factors would tend to lead HH to bond even more closely with her mother.

I don't see how the odor of decomposition could be missed either unless the suitcase was packed in dry ice. (And that could have been hazardous because of the CO2 unless all windows were left open.) But we still don't know (I don't believe) the exact model of cargo van that was rented. It's possible the passenger cabin air/heat/AC was separate from the cargo area. That could maybe keep much of the smell separate and I guess it could maybe allow dry ice to be used.

I would have thought LS would have returned the van to the rental agency pretty soon after arriving in SC. I wonder if the agency noticed an odor? While I've never had the odor of decomp in my car, I know other odors linger--smoke, fast food, pet smells...and speaking of pets, I'm guessing the dogs didn't ride with LS & HH? I don't see how LS could take that chance.

JMO

 

[A2FMNST]

I really *like* your common sense post. I’ve amended my stance on HH and her involvement over the last few days. Reading she was along for the ride to Florida upset me. I thought to myself - how could she not know Gannon’s remains were in the vehicle? Thinking back to my own kids and particularly my granddaughter at that age - pondering how young, naive and inexperienced 17 really is - just barely old enough to drive: Idk, I’m not ready to pass judgment on that minor. We don’t have all the facts yet. The sour cherry on top is the unique influencing factor of Tecia. Can you imagine being raised and spending a whole s e v e n t e e n years with that woman? A warped sense of right and wrong might result. Loyalty and compliance probably trumped all commands and demands. HH was taught to trust with no questions asked. Why would she believe her mother killed her brother, stuffed him in a suitcase and loaded him in the trunk along with the rest of the luggage? Why would she question her mom wanting to get out of town to avoid the press?

HH is serving a life sentence as her mother’s child. The most influential figure in a child’s life is their same sex parent. 17 years old is young. Not a child, but not a “lost cause” by any means either.

 

[Love Never Fails]

I really *like* your common sense post. I’ve amended my stance on HH and her involvement over the last few days. Reading she was along for the ride to Florida upset me. I thought to myself - how could she not know Gannon’s remains were in the vehicle? Thinking back to my own kids and particularly my granddaughter at that age - pondering how young, naive and inexperienced 17 really is - just barely old enough to drive: Idk, I’m not ready to pass judgment on that minor. We don’t have all the facts yet. The sour cherry on top is the unique influencing factor of Tecia. Can you imagine being raised and spending a whole s e v e n t e e n years with that woman? A warped sense of right and wrong might result. Loyalty and compliance probably trumped all commands and demands. HH was taught to trust with no questions asked. Why would she believe her mother killed her brother, stuffed him in a suitcase and loaded him in the trunk along with the rest of the luggage? Why would she question her mom wanting to get out of town to avoid the press?

I agree. But 17 today is so much smarter than 17 when I was young. That’s why I believe she was told some form of the truth by LS from the beginning but also threatened. Even if she has come clean with the prosecutor, she still is likely torn because of he way she was raised by LS. From all I have read, LS’s family are either just like LS or bought into her craziness, which won’t help HH at all. Thus, HH may be damaged for life and be a carbon copy of her mother.
Either way it all falls out, I believe HH had knowledge of what LS did and that LS was guilty.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Photobucket

Justice for Gannon section, Case Archive, is updated.

 

[Love Never Fails]

Thanks @imstilla.grandma! You've made excellent points too!

Being raised by LS would have had to have affected HH. Even if LS's "evil side" wasn't apparent, her impulsiveness and self-centeredness had to be.

Being an only child for years and her father dying when she was around 11 had to have affected HH too. Then about a year later LS married AS. While LS and her first husband had been divorced for several years before his death, we don't have any way to know how HH felt about her mother's 2nd marriage. We don't really know anything about the relationship between AS and HH. I'm not suggesting HH had strong animosity towards her stepfather and/or step-sibs (or vice versa) as there's certainly no evidence of that. But blending families can be difficult. And a remarriage and sudden appearance of two sibs just as HH was entering adolescence and likely still grieving for her father had to be stressful for her. Then not too long after that big change in the family dynamic the family moved across the country away from whatever familial support system HH had on the east coast.

It would seem those factors would tend to lead HH to bond even more closely with her mother.

I don't see how the odor of decomposition could be missed either unless the suitcase was packed in dry ice. (And that could have been hazardous because of the CO2 unless all windows were left open.) But we still don't know (I don't believe) the exact model of cargo van that was rented. It's possible the passenger cabin air/heat/AC was separate from the cargo area. That could maybe keep much of the smell separate and I guess it could maybe allow dry ice to be used.

I would have thought LS would have returned the van to the rental agency pretty soon after arriving in SC. I wonder if the agency noticed an odor? While I've never had the odor of decomp in my car, I know other odors linger--smoke, fast food, pet smells...and speaking of pets, I'm guessing the dogs didn't ride with LS & HH? I don't see how LS could take that chance.

JMO

They left CO in February, right. It is cold all through the south in February, they wouldn’t drive with windows down. It may have been a bit warmer in Florida but only during the day!

 

[NCWatcher]

They left CO in February, right. It is cold all through the south in February, they wouldn’t drive with windows down. It may have been a bit warmer in Florida but only during the day!

They certainly would not drive all the way with the windows down. I agree on that. But I'm not sure we know their route. If they headed south and then east, it honestly could have been fairly warm during the latter part of the drive. It's just hard to say. Where I live in NC it can be 65 on some Jan/Feb days and I'm quite a bit farther north than the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. LS easily could have said she needed the windows open to stay awake at other times. Plus I still think we'd have a better guess about what happened if we knew the actual style of vehicle.

JMO

 

[PhoneJockey]

Relative to the Fourth Amendment, in the early days of the automobile, the Court created an exception for searches of vehicles in Carroll v United States.

That vehicles may be searched without warrants if the officer undertaking the search has probable cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband. The Court explained that the mobility of the vehicles would allow them to be quickly moved from the jurisdiction if time were taken to obtain a warrant.
[..]
_______________

Rule of Vehicular Searches is more extensive but I wanted to point out how a suitcase inside a vehicle would be easier to search than a suitcase located inside a house where an individual is afforded the reasonable expectation of privacy.

Vehicular Searches

What if the suitcase is in a vehicle that is inside the garage of a private residence, though? Does that fall under vehicle or house?

 

[PhoneJockey]

I'm not a big traveler, so I'm not sure about what type of luggage is out there. Do they make high end luggage that is air/water tight? Would something like that conceal odor? It must have been pretty sturdy to hold a body and not bust open hitting the ground when dropped from the bridge above. I'll have to research.

 

[Seattle1]

But from my understanding, "probable cause" still needs to be established, of a crime having been committed. Being a runaway wasn't a crime. A person isn't contraband.

According to the officer's own testimony nothing seemed initially untoward or suspicious.

You are correct,@ZoriahNZ: running away in Colorado is not considered a status offense, and a person is not contraband.

I'm also sorry my post was not clear by including only the birth or inception of the Court exception specifically for vehicular searches (i.e., Carroll v United States). Carroll goes back to the days of prohibition and hence the term contraband, but the search rules go beyond the term "contraband."

Further exploration of the link included in my post provides that probable cause or some "articulable and reasonable suspicion" is required to search a vehicle (and any luggage or container located inside a vehicle).

In the case of a reported 11-year-old runaway child, clearly, the responding officer's priority was the safety and welfare of a minor, and absent reasonable suspicion could call on the officer's discretion to look inside the vehicle and any container. I'm also recalling from the AA when the officer paused in silence viewing the storage closet and explained he was listening for breathing -- such as from a child hiding.

 

[Love Never Fails]

They certainly would not drive all the way with the windows down. I agree on that. But I'm not sure we know their route. If they headed south and then east, it honestly could have been fairly warm during the latter part of the drive. It's just hard to say. Where I live in NC it can be 65 on some Jan/Feb days and I'm quite a bit farther north than the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. LS easily could have said she needed the windows open to stay awake at other times. Plus I still think we'd have a better guess about what happened if we knew the actual style of vehicle.

JMO

I believe they went to Kansas and then south to Texas. From Texas it’s interstate 10 all the way to Florida. Or, she began in northern Texas, which I think she did, then she likely took I 20 east to MS or AL then headed south to I10. being originally a Texas girl and knowing all the interstates and back roads to Fl, I would say they began at I20 and Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia are cold and humid that time of year.

 

[Cindizzi]

I believe they went to Kansas and then south to Texas. From Texas it’s interstate 10 all the way to Florida. Or, she began in northern Texas, which I think she did, then she likely took I 20 east to MS or AL then headed south to I10. being originally a Texas girl and knowing all the interstates and back roads to Fl, I would say they began at I20 and Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia are cold and humid that time of year.

Spencer did a mock up of the map that was shown in Court showing the route LS took in the van and the route the rental car with her other family members took. LS bought a phone in Trinidad CO and LE tracked it.

https://twitter.com/spencer_wnews/status/1436010049751732229?s=21
Feb 1st-6th 2020 Map.

This is showing two trips across the country. I’ll do a crude mockup.

Red was the cell data from a phone bought in Trinidad.

Yellow is from the rental car.


EBM to add photo

 

[Love Never Fails]

Spencer did a mock up of the map that was shown in Court showing the route LS took in the van and the route the rental car with her other family members took. LS bought a phone in Trinidad CO and LE tracked it.

https://twitter.com/spencer_wnews/status/1436010049751732229?s=21
Feb 1st-6th 2020 Map.

This is showing two trips across the country. I’ll do a crude mockup.

Red was the cell data from a phone bought in Trinidad.

Yellow is from the rental car.

Thanks.

 

[pcrum12]

Right ?!?!?!
I thought he did not return, but LE seems to think he did and he was killed in the house after that trip.

The only thing about that though...is when AS reviewed the doorbell video from neighbor, watching that all unfold, he said
"she lied to me"

So I am curious about what he saw that made him know that LS lied to him.

For some reason, I'm remembering something about her telling him she had not used the truck or something. Maybe???

 

[MsBetsy]

For some reason, I'm remembering something about her telling him she had not used the truck or something. Maybe???

The neighbor's surveillance camera also did not show Gannon leaving the house around 3:15. That could be why AS said she lied to him.

 

[JTR1973]

Hello all,
It has been quite some time since I've been here.
Let's just say it got to be too much for me and I needed a break. Now that more movement is occurring, I thought I'd check in. I belong to some FB groups and tried to read through the prelim trial stuff and just couldn't make it. Still too painful.
But I still think of Gannon almost every day.
In all that has happened, has there been any reason for what she did put forward? That is what I struggle with so much...just WHY???

 

[NCWatcher]

I believe they went to Kansas and then south to Texas. From Texas it’s interstate 10 all the way to Florida. Or, she began in northern Texas, which I think she did, then she likely took I 20 east to MS or AL then headed south to I10. being originally a Texas girl and knowing all the interstates and back roads to Fl, I would say they began at I20 and Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia are cold and humid that time of year.

BBM

You may be right that they didn't drive with the windows down @Love Never Fails. But it's possible to look up temperatures for various locales vs depending on memory for what we think it's "usually" like. For example, according to this link, much higher than average temperatures were observed in the southeast in Feb 2019. Florida set records for high temps for Feb and broke records from the 1940s.

National Climate Report - February 2019 | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

The next year (the year GS went missing) this link shows that in Birmingham, Alabama on Feb 3 from 6am-6pm the temperature ranged from 66 to 73. That's certainly not cold to most people but it may have been humid.

Weather in February 2020 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA

That same year, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Feb 3 from 6am-6pm temperatures ranged from 64-70. Again, not cold but may have been humid.

Weather in February 2020 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Finally, in Georgia that year in Valdosta, Georgia on Feb 3 the high reached 75 (daytime range 63-75)

Weather in February 2020 in Valdosta, Georgia, USA

Taken together, these data suggest 2020 may also have been a warm year for the south as was 2019.

If temperature becomes an issue in court, I'm sure official records will be produced for locations of interest. Unless we know the exact route so we can to look up temperatures for various spots, I don't think we can state with any certainty what the weather was like all the way to Florida that year. And remember too temperature is a double-edged sword. High temps may mean they did drive with the windows open alot for the latter part of the trip. Cold temperatures may mean windows were closed but decomposition might have been slowed too (if the cargo area was separate from the heated area.)

Finally, we don't know what sorts of odor eliminators LS may have used in the suitcase or cargo area. We also don't know if plastic wrapping was used inside the suitcase. I don't think there was testimony about any plastic at the PH but that doesn't mean there was no plastic. Not that I think there's anything that would cover the odor completely but it may have been possible to tamp it down more than we realize.

Edited to add before posting: I had written this before I saw @Cindizzi's post. (Thanks for that!) I'm not clear on how the red line ends up in Pensacola though so I'll just post what I've written as-is.

JMO

 

[Love Never Fails]

BBM

You may be right that they didn't drive with the windows down @Love Never Fails. But it's possible to look up temperatures for various locales vs depending on memory for what we think it's "usually" like. For example, according to this link, much higher than average temperatures were observed in the southeast in Feb 2019. Florida set records for high temps for Feb and broke records from the 1940s.

National Climate Report - February 2019 | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

The next year (the year GS went missing) this link shows that in Birmingham, Alabama on Feb 3 from 6am-6pm the temperature ranged from 66 to 73. That's certainly not cold to most people but it may have been humid.

Weather in February 2020 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA

That same year, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Feb 3 from 6am-6pm temperatures ranged from 64-70. Again, not cold but may have been humid.

Weather in February 2020 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Finally, in Georgia that year in Valdosta, Georgia on Feb 3 the high reached 75 (daytime range 63-75)

Weather in February 2020 in Valdosta, Georgia, USA

Taken together, these data suggest 2020 may also have been a warm year for the south as was 2019.

If temperature becomes an issue in court, I'm sure official records will be produced for locations of interest. Unless we know the exact route so we can to look up temperatures for various spots, I don't think we can state with any certainty what the weather was like all the way to Florida that year. And remember too temperature is a double-edged sword. High temps may mean they did drive with the windows open alot for the latter part of the trip. Cold temperatures may mean windows were closed but decomposition might have been slowed too (if the cargo area was separate from the heated area.)

Finally, we don't know what sorts of odor eliminators LS may have used in the suitcase or cargo area. We also don't know if plastic wrapping was used inside the suitcase. I don't think there was testimony about any plastic at the PH but that doesn't mean there was no plastic. Not that I think there's anything that would cover the odor completely but it may have been possible to tamp it down more than we realize.

Edited to add before posting: I had written this before I saw @Cindizzi's post. (Thanks for that!) I'm not clear on how the red line ends up in Pensacola though so I'll just post what I've written as-is.

JMO

Yeah, your point is well made. You actually have that data from that very day. Warm indeed. It can be very cold at that time also. I never checked the exact date. Well done!

 

[Love Never Fails]

Spencer did a mock up of the map that was shown in Court showing the route LS took in the van and the route the rental car with her other family members took. LS bought a phone in Trinidad CO and LE tracked it.

https://twitter.com/spencer_wnews/status/1436010049751732229?s=21
Feb 1st-6th 2020 Map.

This is showing two trips across the country. I’ll do a crude mockup.

Red was the cell data from a phone bought in Trinidad.

Yellow is from the rental car.


EBM to add photo

Cindizzi, I had remembered that an agent from the FBI in Texas was going to testify as to her route that day and I thought she had gone through a portion of Texas. I couldn't understand why. Apparently I was wrong because the route that the van took goes East, not South. I appreciate you doing this for clarification.

I have a question. Why does the route in red not even show Florida? It shows her going through the middle of the country. I will be glad when the trial starts and we learn her exact route. Temperatures too.

When I lived in Texas, it would be very warm in our area but about five miles north of my home was a cut-off for the cold fronts coming in. You could drive 20 miles north of my home and temps would be a much colder temperature, even snowing.

I still believe they could smell the decomp of a dead body, cold or not.