Found Deceased CO - Gannon Stauch, 11, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, 27 Jan 2020 **ARREST** #42

[dawnraks]

So at what point do you hold a 17 year old accountable for their actions? This smacks of enabling them to do whatever they wish. No responsibilities for it. I disagree with you.

First - in HH's case, what actions? LE has said at this time they do not believe she was involved. The only actions I see according to the affadavit is that she was not cooperating with the investigation. My comment, as others, was an attempt to understand why she was not cooperating with the investigation. For all we know, she may be cooperating now that he mother is no longer around to play her like a puppet. Second - It is a proven fact through PET Scans that the frontal lobes of the brain, the area that governs reasoning and judgement, are not fully developed until around the age of 21. Hence, why you have so many teens thinking they are 10 ft tall and bullet proof. Case in point, all the college kids who went on Spring Break during a coronavirus epidemic thinking they were invincible. I simply mentioned this that due to stress at the time and the manipulation of her mother, HH may have been duped by her mother to believe LE was trying to frame her mother and would twist anything HH may say. That is where my comment on the frontal lobes of the brain come into play. This serves to demonstrate how it may be easier to dupe a 17 year old vs a 21 year old. Being that LE at this time does not think HH had any involvement in the crime, further arguements on at what age should someone be held responsible are a strawman's arguement. Bottom line, at this time LE says they do not think HH was involved. So how much longer are people going to post insinuating she was?

 

[jvikes]

That's a good possibility, because that video is said to be from Sunday night. Did she opt instead for trying to poison him? That didn't work either, so she kills him in the eleventh hour at home?

One thing we didn't see mentioned in any of those search warrants in the AA, was firearms. Did they have any?

Pure conjecture on my part, but there was a kids bow in one of the garage pics. I would assume AS is a hunter if his son has a kids bow. And it wasn't a cheap one, it was probably a nicer $100 bow that could get some lbs on it so a kid can get used to a real hunting bow. I don't know any bow hunters that don't also have guns. JMO

 

[10ofRods]

I actually take all of that at face value. I think both the neighbor and Al believed that Gannon didn’t return home.

I think law enforcement would have believed the same thing, if not for that bloody crime scene.

The video just didn’t get a clear image of him.

They must have video from a different angle. I've always wondered if he could have been unconscious or semi-conscious in the back of the truck - so that LS could have moved him back into the house without being seen.

It would explain the quickness of her movements when leaving the truck - she still had things to do.

Perhaps another camera shows LS opening the garage door and messing around with contents of the back of the truck. I still don't see any evidence from the (low res) released video of Gannon exiting on the far side.

There were a lot of Ring cameras in that neighborhood.

 

[ChuckMaureen]

bbm

In all actuality no one here at WS has 'dragged ' HH into this.

She is nearly an adult and she lived at that house.

And she was stated in the AA as "Not cooperating" with LE.
That speaks volumes.
There's more I can post but will add later as real life is calling.

I'll refer commenters back to @GordianKnots 's valuable post concerning the red line that has most definitely been crossed.

Again, no one pulled HH into this investigation.
If LE said she was cooperating there'd be less speculation, and we don't know if anything has changed with her refusal to assist LE or --way before TS' arrest for his murder-- not helping to look for a supposedly lost and frightened 11 year old.

Gannon --while he was still 'missing' -- should have been of more concern than a mother's lies and even a daughter's sympathy for TS.
So that's about the state of things at this point.

Let's keep in mind HH was "not cooperating" before LS was arrested. We do not know her status at this point. I recall reading LE had taken her in to 'protected witness custody' but I have had no luck in finding that info again.

 

[Ontario Mom]

As far as the story about being "pregnant and at the hospital" -- well, it turned out that she actually *was* at the hospital, right? And we have no way of knowing for sure that she's actually *not* pregnant. So maybe *she* wasn't really sure either, and (given her general moral compass) it doesn't really seem impossible that this could have transpired unexpectedly whilst DH was away. So possibly the plot twist abt the two rapists was a little precautionary presplaining … you know … just in case? #hmmm

Goodness, this just reminded me that another vile woman from TS's own home county, Tammy Moorer, also ended up preggo and in jail, if memory serves. (Or was that Bella Grogan-Canella's mom preggo after Bella was murdered? Or wait, was it both??)
I've had to wonder if there isn't something in the water in Horry County, but I think maybe that this happens more often than we like to think about.

jmo

 

[LietKynes]

bbm

Let's keep in mind HH was "not cooperating" before LS was arrested. We do not know her status at this point. I recall reading LE had taken her in to 'protected witness custody' but I have had no luck in finding that info again.

Agreed, we don't know. ^^^

I'm betting nothing has changed or there'd be an update from LE.
( Maybe there will be in the next hearing. Probable Cause and it will be closed to the media, iirc ?)

That's why I said "we don't know if anything has changed..."
I've been consistent in explaining that the AA and discussions surrounding it are in regards to the evidence LE had before he was found.

In some ways I'm surprised they had that much.
And agreed with above poster that I missed the mention of finding or looking for a missing weapon; since Gannon's may have been shot.
Wonder who's gun or was it from a relative ?
It wasn't AS' as she'd be charged with theft in the AA.

 

[Love Never Fails]

Well, I don't think HH knew that Gannon was murdered and in a suitcase. She's taken an internal stance that her Mom is Truthful and at that point, she was buying LS's story even though no one else ever would. So HH would not have thought Gannon was in a suitcase in either the Nissan or the moving van (I think it was the moving van for obvious reasons).

But HH knew, deep inside, that her mother was lying or covering up for something. Even if she believed Gannon had run away, she had to tell herself that there was a reason. LS probably made it sound like it was AS's fault

Spencer Wilson says there were 5 people in the "caravan" on Jan 31. It seems clear they either left that night or the next morning (probably that night but didn't go too far). 5 of them.

The maps created here on WS and elsewhere show that at some point, there does seem to be a parting of the ways between the two vehicles (but not necessarily - the other hypothesis would be that they were somewhat lost - I don't think they were lost).

LS went to Florida. There were 5 seats in the Nissan. She could have driven the moving van by herself.

Surely everyone in the car had to be very very suspicious by then? If they testify that they were totally unaware and unconcerned about LS leaving CO right after Gannon disappeared, they lose all credibility with the jury and if they are even remotely like LS, they'll say that they were suspicious.

Great post. No one had to be complicit in the murder to understand Gannon had disappeared. They also had to understand LS was trying to get out of town FAST. First thought in my mind would have been, Why aren’t you helping with the search? Don’t you care about Gannon?

 

[Ontario Mom]

I googled it and ironically the first thing I found was the name Eguardo "conjures gentleness, bravery, and respectfulness."

E-guardo is also the name of a security and intrusion detections software designed to secure several network services.

Interesting..

Imo

That IS interesting. Makes you wonder if there might have been something in the news about them, right around the (many) time(s) TS decided to lie her face off to the police.

 

[SleuthBee]

Agree 100%

She’s not an infant, at 17 her brain is long past developed enough to know right from wrong and to have empathy for a little boy she lived with for five years. LS is a kook who lies, but I think HH is the “golden child” in that dynamic, she’s the princess that can do no wrong in LS’s eyes, LS’s lies probably often benefitted her, and she was likely spoiled. Her upbringing under LS was probably a lot more cushy than Gannon’s.

I’m sure turning on her only living parent is hard, but so what? Life is hard and sometimes you have to do hard things. Her mother abused and brutally murdered a little boy, that’s horrendous and she knows that’s horrendous. If she’s since done the right thing and talked to investigators, good. If she’s still refusing to talk, then AFAIC she’s no better than her mother.

bbm

... and poor Gannon was the scapegoat

 

[lucidtx]

She probably didn't mention the carpet burning incident to LE because it didn't fit in with her rape story.

The runaway story was plan A and the rape/ abduction story was Plan B.

Imo

Actually I'm re-reading the affidavit and I misread something. Apparently she did text a detective some kind of story about a candle, smoke and both her and Gannon bleeding in the basement. Like most T tales, it's disjointed and bizarre - sorry I can't transcribe it right now.


On Feb 13 she spoke with Al on the phone and told him another strange story about Gannon burning himself and wiping blood on the walls. Again, very bizarre.



I think she told Al and others early on something about a candle, the carpet being burned, etc etc to try to T-splain the extensive cleaning she did down there. When she heard that blood had been found, she tried to continue that weird storyline to account for it. That's my best guess anyways. I hope she didn't also burn that poor kid.

Edit: also in my experience, kids are very rarely seriously burned by household candles, and burns in general don't really bleed like she describes.

 

[Love Never Fails]

Right. I see what you are saying. And no, LE is not responsible for "handling it right." I agree with you there. That wasn't quite what I meant... I just think if they handled HH in a certain way they could have aided her in getting to the point of being cooperative sooner rather than later. I do think it had to be a process with her, not something that she was capable of doing right away. And if LS had to give approval for LE to interview HH, then no way could we expect that to happen.

Maybe I am way off. I identify more with Gannon, honestly, not so much with HH. As I stated earlier, I can easily imagine my "golden child" siblings blaming me for my own disappearance.

Haha, I am obviously a very messed up individual. I can see myself making excuses for my siblings too. In fact, I started doing just that before I began this paragraph. So it's possible I have some misplaced sympathy. I'm willing to admit that.

I don't have any step-siblings, but I was very protective of my little sister, and easily believed she was worthy of being the golden child. If it had come to choosing between her safety and believing my mother, I don't know what I would have done. That's a road I am thankful I never had to go down.

I can say without hesitation now that I would and have placed my own wellbeing and the wellbeing of my children ahead of any and everything my mother could ever ask of me. I came out of the fog with a vengeance, let's say. I'll keep praying for HH because I do think there's hope for her.

Don’t think you are messed up at all. You have obviously had some life experience that a lot of us didn’t have. I respect your opinion and you may be right.
We have to wait for the trial to know how much HH knew and if she is now cooperating. It is my guess that her mother, already having a criminal record, taught her daughter to hate LE early on.

 

[floridamomma]

(warning graphic)

how long does blood have to sit to seep from carpet, to carpet pad, to cement? Im guessing its longer than an hour so if they arrived home at 2:20 and Laina arrived at 3:15 its not adding up to enough time. I wish I could test that.

Rsbm

Ive wondered that, too.
And! I'm getting new carpet soon, and hubby is planning to butcher a few chickens...maybe I will experiment!?!?

 

[Ontario Mom]

I’m sure LS didn’t inform HH that she murdered Gannon, and HH didn’t know his blood was all over the house. I’m also sure that LS had some whopper victim tales for needing a ride, needing cars backed in, needing cleaning items, needing helpful storylines, and all the other things that had her relying on her daughter in the course of her crime adventure.

The “What do you want me to say?” moment, when LS was performing her interview scene with Spencer, and she commanded, “I need H...”, and HH dutifully reported to duty, tells a story itself. LS wasn’t functioning as a mother, she was a director in a scene from her movie where she had cast herself as a victim heroine. HH was cued up at the moment that LS needed a distracting family scene with a heartwarming Burger King end to the evening. HH spoke the lines she was told to speak. My impression of that moment was she really had no idea why she was suddenly in the scene.

Her mother is someone who breezily began broadcasting a runaway tale from the scene of her grotesque crime, apparently while her victim’s body was still on site, presumably because that was the moment in her script where it was time to say, “Gee golly, I have a missing step-son. I’m going to call the police.” She was confident she could pull this off because she’d been getting away with manipulating and snowing people all her life. And because she’s too nuts to perceive how high risk that really was.

Or was it? The police were none the wiser, with the body of the missing child right under their noses. Because that’s how it works with an LS type.

HH went into training the moment she was born. Children of these kinds of people are pawns on a game board. I’ve watched three of them in my own life march like bots and parrot their psychopathic mother’s words as smoothly as the next note in a song follows the melody. They are victims. They really believe their mother is a heroine who’s been persecuted.

Now after reading the AA, and seeing that LS is even crazier than we imagined, nothing in the behavior of any minor in a relationship with her would surprise me. We don’t know what LE knows about HH and any role she had, or under what influence. But based on my tragic experiences, the first thing I would say if I got to teach a class in this, is if everyone on the periphery feels like their head was run through a blender after encountering someone like LS, as we’ve encountered her, imagine what it’s like to live with her from birth and have your brain puréed on a daily basis.

A "like" was just not enough. You painted the perfect picture (something I tried to explain yesterday but didn't do nearly as good of a job as you've done here) of why I think, obviously "jmo" that HH is in fact another victim in this case. And yes I will say it, even IF she did have some suspicion her mom was somehow responsible for Gannon being missing (and there is no reason to think that she did), that girl has 17 years of experience on why it's best to not rock the boat, with mom.

I mean, if we encounter adults who were raised by someone like TS, we immediately (and rightly) feel compassion for them and would readily agree that they were in fact underage victims of definitely psychological, but likely also verbal and emotional abuse, as well as most possibly physical abuse.

I suppose I'm just a softy when it comes to kids, but I do think HH deserves the same compassion.

jmo

 

[ChuckMaureen]

bbm

Agreed, we don't know. ^^^

I'm betting nothing has changed or there'd be an update from LE.
( Maybe there will be in the next hearing. Probable Cause and it will be closed to the media, iirc ?)

That's why I said "we don't know if anything has changed..."
I've been consistent in explaining that the AA and discussions surrounding it are in regards to the evidence LE had before he was found.

In some ways I'm surprised they had that much.
And agreed with above poster that I missed the mention of finding or looking for a missing weapon; since Gannon's may have been shot.
Wonder who's gun or was it from a relative ?
It wasn't AS' as she'd be charged with theft in the AA.

I see no reason for LE to update the public regarding HH' status at this point.

I have a feeling HH was afraid of what her mother might do and LE placed her in protected-witness custody to squelch those fears in trade for her cooperating. I'm not claiming HH was directly 'involved' but she is a material witness because she was in and out of the dwelling and interacted with people in the house in one way or another before, during and after the day of the murder.

 

[Feistyomi]

Gannon...

I have used my baby sister in this forum
as an example of a very similar personality
as Letecia...I have always said, my sister
would make an excellent “control” subject
In a study of a psychopath.

This is because I am 99.999999999% positive my sister has a brain defect that
has been present from birth...

Her behavior was different, even as a toddler.

She would be excellent subject, because
I am also 100% certain, she was raised in the same positive environment that I was
raised in, and there was no mental abuse, etc.

Therefore, you could eliminate environment
and focus on the neurological aspects.
I have also said that my sister would be a criminal if she were smarter, hadn’t married
a really nice guy, who kept her in check...

So now, let’s take it a step further, and focus
on my 2 nephews...they are adults, and are
somewhat independent...

I have limited interaction w/ them, because
of the family rift, caused by my baby sister, but that has gradually been getting better, as they are adults now.

I could write several long posts, detailing
how my sister embarrassed her sons,
and used them as her emotional weapons.
We tolerated my sister’s behavior at times because we knew, she would forbid her husband and sons to associate w/ us.

The red line for me, was my mother’s
health, and indeed, my nephews had to stand by their mother, as they were still
living at home...they were miserable,
and we were heartbroken.

MOO, The affidavit had HH as an uncooperative witness. They have NOT charged her w/ anything... nor have they
labeled her a hostile witness.

I picture HH much the same as my nephews. Living w/ Letecia can not
have been a very positive environment
for HH, and the current position for HH is
an extremely difficult one...I do NOT feel
we here on this forum need to judge her.

I would rather hope and pray that she
has a chance at life w/o her mother.

I would further like to express this final
thought...I raised 4 kids, and they are
fine adults now...but I went thru some
hellacious teenage and young adult years.

I also helped support other parents when
their kids were being difficult...society
today presents significant challenges.

Studies are indicating the brains of young
adults are not maturing at the younger ages,
I could go on and on, and I have, many
threads ago...

So many of those kids, are actually turning
into sane adults, and having kids, and doing well...

Let’s leave HH out of the argument! Kids
such as my nephews get very good at
coping mechanisms, they have to, in order
to survive...denial is one they are good at

 

[Moonracer]

BBM- I sure hope so.
I don't know how others treat women child killers but I hope they are giving her a ton of $hit in there.

From my time as a certified teacher who instructed detainees and prisoners in jail and prison (for the GED program) -- I'm sorry to tell you the other prisoners treated them just fine. More than fine.

 

[Love Never Fails]

First - in HH's case, what actions? LE has said at this time they do not believe she was involved. The only actions I see according to the affadavit is that she was not cooperating with the investigation. My comment, as others, was an attempt to understand why she was not cooperating with the investigation. For all we know, she may be cooperating now that he mother is no longer around to play her like a puppet. Second - It is a proven fact through PET Scans that the frontal lobes of the brain, the area that governs reasoning and judgement, are not fully developed until around the age of 21. Hence, why you have so many teens thinking they are 10 ft tall and bullet proof. Case in point, all the college kids who went on Spring Break during a coronavirus epidemic thinking they were invincible. I simply mentioned this that due to stress at the time and the manipulation of her mother, HH may have been duped by her mother to believe LE was trying to frame her mother and would twist anything HH may say. That is where my comment on the frontal lobes of the brain come into play. This serves to demonstrate how it may be easier to dupe a 17 year old vs a 21 year old. Being that LE at this time does not think HH had any involvement in the crime, further arguements on at what age should someone be held responsible are a strawman's arguement. Bottom line, at this time LE says they do not think HH was involved. So how much longer are people going to post insinuating she was?

No one has made insinuations. We just question why she is not cooperative.

Bigger question. How much longer are people going to give everyone victim status?

So you don’t like a person being held accountable at 17? I guess you have some magic age in mind to hold a person accountable?

We are discussing why HH would not be cooperative with LE. No one has accused her of murder.

People have differing opinions. And that’s good.

 

[MsBetsy]

Actually I'm re-reading the affidavit and I misread something. Apparently she did text a detective some kind of story about a candle, smoke and both her and Gannon bleeding in the basement. Like most T tales, it's disjointed and bizarre - sorry I can't transcribe it right now.
View attachment 241852

On Feb 13 she spoke with Al on the phone and told him another strange story about Gannon burning himself and wiping blood on the walls. Again, very bizarre.

View attachment 241853

I think she told Al and others early on something about a candle, the carpet being burned, etc etc to try to T-splain the extensive cleaning she did down there. When she heard that blood had been found, she tried to continue that weird storyline to account for it. That's my best guess anyways. I hope she didn't also burn that poor kid.

Edit: also in my experience, kids are very rarely seriously burned by household candles, and burns in general don't really bleed like she describes.

Oh, yes, I do remember her telling the story of Gannon peeling off the "burns" and wiping blood on the walls. (and yes, that makes no sense.)

I didn't realize she had told LE that story. What a wacko.

Jmo

 

[Seattle1]

I haven't caught up yet, and I'm sure someone has already answered you. However, I've been vocal about being sympathetic towards HH, so I'll give you my 2¢.

Personally I think when we are discussing a crime committed by any person of their own volition, we have to first think of justice for the victim and any other people affected by the crime. Thankfully we have laws that tell us which crimes we can objectively call worse than other crimes and we have a system that is set up to (theoretically) punish worse crimes with worse punishments. I'd go so far as to say *most* of us have an inborn moral code and there's a line we draw between what we can and can't do in good conscience.

So, for example, if I had murdered someone when I was a teenager, I would expect to face some serious consequences, regardless of my dysfunctional childhood.

But it's noteworthy that minors are, by law, usually treated differently - less harshly - than an adult guilty of the same sort of crime. Society knows and accepts, in general, that minors are not fully grown and don't have fully formed areas of the brain that control executive function.

(I'm pretty sure that last sentence is grammatically incorrect, but hopefully you get my gist.)

So, subjectively I can feel sympathy for someone and still objectively say they were wrong and should be held accountable. Sympathy can lead to compassion, in how a criminal is treated and/or perceived, while still saying the criminal is guilty.

So, this is getting long. In this particular case, I do not think HH participated in the murder of Gannon. If she struck him, cut him, shot him, then she should be held accountable for that. If, however, she knew some things that might have been incriminating for her mother, and could not bring herself to share info with LE, it is directly related to her mindset... namely a mindset that has been forged into her very being since before birth, by an evil person. And I'm positive that, in that position, I, having had a similar mother, would have believed her (incredible, fantastical, absolutely illogical) excuses 100% over my own understanding.

Storytime. Listen, at 26 I didn't invite certain relatives to my wedding because my mother was feuding with them. These are some of the nicest people! But showing her my loyalty, even without any idea of what wrongs they had done her, was of utmost importance. I didn't need to know the details; my heart simply broke for the pain they caused my poor victimized mother. And.... I felt loved when I told her they wouldn't be getting invitations. I was so trained - like a dog - to be unquestioningly loyal and obedient and blind - and all for a bit of affection - that I behaved like a b**** to these people who had done me no wrong.

Was I responsible for treating them badly? Hell, yes. I should have grown up a lot sooner and gotten my head out of my a$$. Can I still have sympathy for the poor girl who grew up with that sort of training? Sure. It helps me explain and understand... It helps me grow into a better person.

If HH's only crime is not cooperating fully with LE at first, I believe it's because she could not bring herself to disbelieve her mother. Where would she get the capability of making that stand? It would be like a stranger asking a loyal dog to attack his master while his master is feeding him a steak and rubbing his belly.

There's a difference between committing a crime oneself vs. believing a crime was committed by another and promptly taking that to authorities if you've never betrayed that person before. It's a gradual and slow process of realizing, and denying, and hoping and finally accepting. If LE handled it right, HH is now fully cooperating. But how they handled her is entirely dependent on understanding where she's coming from.

Thanks for sharing your experience. For years I've witnessed my successful, mature, sister-in-law regress to an obedient, seemingly 12-year-old around her mother. And it always tears her apart.

I'm still thinking about the alleged confrontation with police early on (January 30) when LS and HH were according to LS -- pulled over by LE, guns drawn, and HH briefly handcuffed. EPSO refused to comment but I wonder how this experience would affect me if I'd done nothing wrong and believed my mom was innocent and being harassed.

I'm inclined to believe that as weeks passed, HH was willing to speak to anybody the minute LS was behind bars with no promise of bond release.

MOO

 

[SleuthBee]

I don’t feel comfortable accusing HH of any involvement either. She bought cleaning supplies prior to GS being reported missing. Nothing weird there and if she believes/believed her moms story, she may not have thought anything about it afterwards. I could see LS having her pick her up in random places so the alleged people making death threats against her couldn’t find her or for fear of her safety. Again, at the time I believe HH believed everything her mom was telling her. If you believe your mom is innocent and everyone is against her, you’d probably be protective of her. I bet this has since changed with LS being arrested and reading the evidence against her. I don’t think it’s fair to speak about her as if she is a guilty for actions she has made without knowing more. The focus should be on the murderer and poor victim vs casting aspersions on others that we have no proof of committing any crime. Only one person is sitting in jail. Could change and if HH is arrested have at her.

I haven't read any posts that accuse HH of anything that isn't fact. And if you know of any, then please report them to our moderators. But there are posts that indicate a misunderstanding of such, which is a shame. Whether its kindness, knowledge, logic, diversity, occupation, experience or background, all of us bring something valuable to this forum.

We are all here for Gannon, and oppose anything that caused him harm.