Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Evil Stepmom’s Google Searches Reveal Hate for Little Boy Gannon Stauch, Wanted Him GONE

Episode Date: August 25, 2021

Colorado boy Gannon Stauch, 11, was last seen at home in Fountain, Colorado. Gannon’s stepmother, Letecia Stauch, reportedly told police he left to play with friends and never returned home. Leticia Stauch says within a few hours of Gannon leaving, she knew something was wrong when the boy didn’t return home. Gannon reportedly didn’t tell his stepmother which friend’s house he was going to. Now, court documents show Gannon Stauch was murdered in his bedroom by his stepmother, allegedly on the day, the 11-year-old was reported missing. Leticia Stauch has been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and tampering. Recovered evidence supports a violent event that occurred in the bedroom with blood spatter on the walls and soaked through the carpet. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Dale Carson - Criminal Defense Attorney (Jacksonville), Former FBI Agent, Former Police Officer, Author: "Arrest-Proof Yourself" Dr. Jorey Krawczyn - Police Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty with Saint Leo University; Research Consultant with Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S. - Practical Recommendations to Help “Stop Officer Suicide” (October 2021) bw-institute.com Dan Scott - Former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sergeant, 26 years with Special Victims Bureau Specializing in Child Abuse Dr. Michelle Dupre - Forensic Pathologist and former Medical Examiner, Author: “Homicide Investigation Field Guide” & "Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide", Ret. Police Detective Lexington County Sheriff’s Department Leigh Egan - CrimeOnline Editor, Investigative Journalist Sydnee Stelle - News Reporter, KRDO News Channel 13, KRDO dot com, Twitter: @SydneeStelle      Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Murder moms. Think about it. Murder moms. Who are these women? Why do they murder? And if they murder, why do they target their own children? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

The name Letitia Stout should send a chill down your spine. Take a listen to this. The community holding out hope that Gannon will be found. They've been tying up blue ribbons around the neighborhood, Gannon's favorite color, and distributing and posting flyers like this. Gannon has brown hair and brown eyes. He's 11 years old. He's 4'9 and weighs 90 pounds, and he was last seen wearing a blue jacket and jeans.

Now, we spoke with Gannon's dad on Tuesday night, and he told us his son was last seen between 3.15 and 4 on Monday afternoon and that he was going to a friend's house but didn't say which friend the dad tells us when gannon didn't return home a few hours later that's when police were called now a little after 10 on tuesday the el paso county sheriff's office showed up at gannon's home law enforcement were at the home and appeared to be searching the backyard with some flashlights gannon's parents speaking about the search for their son just moments ago. I'm Landon Hyatt, Gannon's mom, and I encourage you guys, I know many of you mothers and fathers, I encourage you just to seek, find him. I'm so thankful for all the outpouring help.

You were just hearing our friends at KOAA NBC5. That was reporter Katie Blaze. Join me, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again. Murder moms, who are they? Why do they kill? And why do they target their own children? First of all, let me go straight out to Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter joining us. In addition to Dale Carson, criminal defense attorney joining us out of jacksonville former fbi cop and author of arrest proof yourself on amazon dr jory crozen police psychologist adjunct

faculty saint leo and author of Stop Officer Suicide. Dan Scott, retired L.A. County Sheriff Sergeant, 26 years. Chris Byers with Chris Byers Investigations and Polygraph dot com. Dr. Michelle Dupree, forensic pathologist, former medical examiner and author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide and Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide, Sydney Still, News Reporter, KRDO News Channel 13, Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter. Lee Egan, you've spoken at length with the mom, the stepmom, Letitia Stalch. How did she sound when you spoke to her?

Well, she sounded pretty much how you would expect someone to sound who's been in jail, mostly in their cell all day long. She wanted out and she wanted to find any way to get out. Including lying? I'm sorry? Including lying, lying, telling a lie? Including trying to allegedly hatch a plan to break herself out of a jail window. There's been a lot of accusations of lying, correct? Guys, I appreciate Lee Egan, you tiptoeing around the facts of accusations of lying. Straight out to Sidney Stale, news reporter, KRDO. Sidney, thank you for being with us.

You can find Sidney on Twitter, at Sidney Stell. Sidney, let's talk about when Gannon Stott, just 11 years old, goes missing. Sidney, take a listen to the Paso County Sheriff's Press Conference, our Cup 15. This has been a methodical and time-consuming multi-state operation with investigators working nearly around the clock to find Gannon. There have been thousands of hours of investigation and search efforts. This includes large-scale searches in addition to small, specific searches with drones, horses, canines, and other resources. While we have not yet found Gannon, information has been developed that is helping us narrow our search.

We do not believe Gannon is alive. Let's start at the very beginning. Sidney Stell joining us. Sidney, how did we first learn that 11-year-old Gannon Stotts was missing? Well, he went missing in January and reports come out. In fact, one of our photographers was actually speaking to Letitia and Al as he went missing. In fact, they even went up and started talking to one of our photographers, Chapin, before they went and talked to police. So it was, he said, she didn't want to say much.

It was more Al talking to him. And then they went to police. And then at that point, the search was out for Gannon. Large-scale search using drones, horses, canines, and other resources. Lee Egan, what was the first story that emerged about how Gannon went missing? Our first story on Crime Online was actually the day after he disappeared. It was one of your friend's daughters that reached out to you, Nancy. The Bobby Brown, I believe his name is, a bondsman. His daughter lives in the area and reached out to you.

And so we got the story out pretty quickly. It was about a runaway boy. They were classified. Okay, wait. Stop right there. So in answer to the question, Lee, it was first reported as a runaway. Gannon Stotch, 11 years old, was reported by stepmom Letitia as a runaway. Is that what I'm hearing? That's correct.

Describe the report of him being a runaway. She said that he was speaking with somebody that she had concerns with on YouTube. It was some kind of YouTube influencer and she had fears that he may have left with this guy. She didn't know who he was, didn't know how to get in contact with him. She said the last time she saw him, he was leaving on foot, supposedly, to a friend's house in his same neighborhood there in Colorado Springs. But the friend had never seen Gannon that day at all. He didn't go to school, and he didn't see him after school. Okay, so I'm hearing a kind of a mishmash of a story. So was her first claim, Lee Egan,

that he ran away or that he went away with the influencer or that he was going to a friend's house? She said he was going to a friend's house, but she had concerns. Okay. I hear what you're saying. Let me go straight out to Dr. Jory Crawson, police psychologist, adjunct faculty, St. Leo, author of Operation SOS Practical Recommendations to Stop Officer Suicide. Dr. Crawson, when I ask a witness a question, and they start giving me several different stories that are kind of like intermeshed that rings a red bell of alarm in my mind you can't keep your story straight just for one minute to tell me what happened to your son no and and building on that also is she starts

building in confusion and one of the things I noticed specifically in the interview, it was a 10-minute TV interview at the 7-minute mark when they asked her to describe Gannon. She started describing him in the past tense. You know, like, he was, he did, he liked. So she already knew that he was gone as far as, you know, psychologically speaking. Her subconscious has already recognized that. And that just, you know, it's like those old Freudian slips that just came out. It was very truthful early on in the investigation that he was gone. Dr. Jory Croson hitting the nail on the head yet again.

Let me go to Dale Carson, veteran criminal defense attorney, joining me out of Jacksonville. Hey, don't you just hate it when your clients talk to the press and refer to their missing child in the past tense when they haven't been found yet? Oh, absolutely I do. That was a satirical question, a rhetorical question, and you're actually answering yes i hate when that happens this woman peterson was giving an interview and he goes lacy was amazing well wait a minute she's only been missing a few days how do you know she's dead that was my first question so what's with that dale carson if you're taking if you're K, this person, how do you deal with her blurting out, oh, he was a fill in the blank. Well, we don't even know where he is.

He could be down the street in somebody's basement watching YouTube for all they know. Well, you focus on the actual facts and not those tapes, which you hope won't come in front of the jury panel. And if they do, it's going to be very difficult for you. They're coming in, Dale. They're coming in. They're coming in as an exigent statement, not that we need to get around the hearsay rule here, because she's the one making them.

But, Dale Carson, how do you explain that away? What do you say, oh, but my client was, she knew in her heart he was dead. She feared he was dead. So she said that. I hate to give you any ideas, but how do you combat that? Well, I mean, that's the way you do it. You try to overlook that for the jury panel and focus their energies other places where the government has overstepped its bounds as in the search warrant or arrest warrant. Did you just say the government overstepped its bounds? You know what? That's why you win so many cases. You say things like that, and people believe you, Dale Carson.

It's incredible. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about murder moms. And no such discussion could possibly be complete without mentioning Letitia Stout, the epitome of the evil stepmother. Take a listen to our Cut 3 Denver CBS local. This is Dominic Garcia speaking. Gannon first went missing on Monday in the 6,000 block of Mandan Drive in Colorado Springs. At that time, he was just considered a runaway. Tuesday, investigators with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office ramped up their search. They started doing more canvassing, even collecting

surveillance video. Then today, this was upgraded from a runaway case to an endangered child case. That is for a number of reasons, mainly the amount of time that's gone by, the fact that this boy is only 11, the cold weather down here, and also he takes medication that he needs. The FBI has been requested to try and help find this boy. The sheriff's office is doing all they can, and so have hundreds of the general public. That is something this boy's father is extremely thankful for. Yeah, I came out my front door, I think it was Tuesday,

and there was 300 people out there searching my neighborhood. It blew me away. So thank you, everyone. You know, I feel so bad for him because the single thing I love the most in the world are my children. But how do you live with someone and not know she's an evil stepmother? How does that just escape, just go under your radar and you don't notice anything and And then suddenly one day your child goes missing. We're talking about the disappearance and the murder of Gannon Stotts, an 11 year old little boy. You know, Chris Byers with chrisbyersinvestigationsandpolygraphs.com. You've seen it all. You've been around the block. And I mean that as praise. But let me ask you, why is it when a juvenile of the missing juvenile and just determine that it being a runaway,

which, like you said, it hurts the investigation because you're not treating, you know, the person they were last seen as a crime scene. You're not putting together the right pieces of the puzzle that need to be put together early on. And a lot of stuff gets overlooked when you just say that it's another runaway. Absolutely. You know, another thing, though, let's think this through,

to Sidney Steele, guest joining us from KRDO News Channel 13. Sidney, just because the cops are saying we think he's a runaway, that doesn't mean they think he's a runaway. With the mom changing her story and the first time she opens her mouth, gives three different stories.

He ran away. He went to go play down the street with a friend. And I think an online influencer took him. They had to be suspicious at the beginning, Sydney. So they could have just said runaway while they're investigating multiple avenues. Well, and when we ultimately got the arrest affidavit to we saw that she did continue to change her story multiple times. So it wasn't just those. At one point, she said that she was

raped and someone took Gannon. She met him. She met that guy at a construction site. He came to fix something at her house and then she was raped and he was taken. So, I mean, her story continued to change. It would be hard to imagine police wouldn't be suspicious with the amount of different stories that were coming out right from the get-go. You know, Sydney, you're so right. You and Lee Egan are so right yet again. Let me go to Dr. Jory Croson. We need a shrink, and this guy's a police psychologist and on the faculty at St. Leo University. Dr. Croson, I'm just a trial lawyer. I'm in the same boat as Dale Carson. So let me ask you, why do killers, murder moms, make it about them? I mean, her story, as Sidney Steele just told us,

finally progressed to, I was raped. I'm the victim. And then they took my stepson. That could not be further from the truth. How does it get to be all about her? It's a classic defense mechanism, okay? She's got to now move the spotlight onto her as she is the victim. And, you know, you can see this in her behavior.

And it continues to develop from the arrest affidavit all the way up to now with her two clinical evaluations for her competence, her wanting to represent herself. Everything now is about her, and she's got to maintain that focus on her. To me, it's like that's her only hope to maintain some sanity, you know, and rationale in her mind. To admit to such a horrible act, you know, would destroy a common human being. You know what? We try not to use that H word in our house, which is hate.

But when I think about this mother, it's just growing inside of me. Let me move forward with the case. Guys, take a listen to Spencer William. He's speaking to stepmom Letitia Stosh, and our crack reporter, Lee Egan at CrimeOnline.com has had that, let me just say, opportunity as well. But take a listen to what Spencer Wilson at KKTV says. I'm just ready for Gannon to come home, most importantly for him to see his family. But second, I am going to be so ecstatic when I'm able to say to people that I

hope they have a really sincere apology for all these theories that have came out online, for all the things they said that I have done or people have done. I just want everyone to know that we're going to find Ganon. And I love him so much. I've helped taking care of him for so long. Can you talk to me a little bit about him? I don't know him. Ganon is so kind. And he loves to play video games.

That's one of his favorite things. He loves Sonic and Mario. And, you know, he's always helpful, and he was always so helpful with the dogs around the house. And we have two little cute dogs, and he was always like a person I could say, Gannon, can you go do this? And he would do it right away. You know, sometimes with kids, we have to remind them and things like that, and that's okay. But he was so sweet and able to help anyone. He could notice when you're sick and say, are you okay? And such a kind heart. Stepmom, at this point, he hasn't been found yet. Why are you referring to him in the past tense? He was so sweet. He would do whatever I told him.

And not only that, we see it again. Sydney Stell, news reporter, KRGO. Did you notice that she can't get three sentences out of her mouth, her lying mouth, without saying, I want a big apology when Gannon is found for all the things you guys have put me through. She's making it about her. Yeah, right from the get-go, from that soundbite, right from the get-go. I mean, she takes two sentences and then goes immediately into asking for an apology. And she has maintained her innocence this whole time.

I mean, she continues to say she didn't do it. She says she's got two pieces of evidence that are going to completely clear her name. So, yeah, it's pretty clear from the beginning, from that soundbite, that she starts to make the attention to her for sure. Well, you're right, Sidney Stale. This hasn't gone to a trial yet. We'll see what a jury has to say. She's innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. To Lee Egan, when you spoke with her at length, I might add, was it all about her? It absolutely was all about her. Every bit. I mean, she would talk about Gannon and talk about

her ex-husband, but it was all in a way that brought back sympathy to her that she's been wronged. The police are not treating her right in jail. They've got the story wrong. Nothing happened on the 20th. Our Gannon was gone by the 27th. The police are wrong. And just on and on and on all about her. Yes, absolutely. If she's innocent, then why is she hell bent on finding the person that killed Gannon? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. All about her. Murder mom loving the attention on her when Gannon goes missing. Listen to KKTV CBS 11, our cut 10.

These are just internet detectives who think they know what they're doing. Here's the thing that kind of saddens me. It's like, if you're going to talk about someone like that and have a witch hunt out for them, why would you even care about doing those things? Because this is a child. You're telling me that you're just as mean you're just as hateful to talk about someone else like that that's how i feel like we just should not we should all come together and wait until the end and see what happens because ganon's going to come home

yeah any message for ganon the message for ganon i have is ganon when you get here you'll be able to truly tell what happened and then i really hope I get a sincere apology from everyone who has made all those things, especially from my husband. Yeah, he's coming home. Letitia Stotts was telling the truth about that, at least that one thing. In a box, he's coming home. Then the evidence begins to amass. What happened to 11-year-old Gannon?

What did he endure before his death? Take a listen to Our Cut 26. A neighbor, Roderick Drayton, talks about his security footage. over next door it was a bunch of people outside and i see i want to check out a camera because you know we could see if someone because we were thinking somebody picked him up so we you know so we could see if a car came back because where i live is when you drive into the complex you need to go left or right or you run right into my house so i can see any car they come in so i was like hey you can watch my videos if you know any you know any cars or whatever so no no no you didn't come your way so i didn't think anything of it. I said, okay, well, maybe it was the other way.

Maybe somebody else came and recorded. When I started looking back, it was like, I'll tell you something isn't right. Well, you know what? It doesn't take a lawyer with a J.D. to figure out something isn't right. You know, Dale Carson, you have got such a great reputation as a veteran trial lawyer. I hate to pick on you so much, but you chose to be a defense attorney. All right. So this is on you. So how do, what do you do in front of a jury when a guy comes to your client? Let's just say Letitia Stotts just says, Hey, I've got security surveillance

of your place. We can see where Gannon went. And she goes, pass. What? How do you explain that to a jury? Well, you can only explain, Nancy, that the quality of the video is extremely poor. And then you've got to dive into the actual. She didn't see it, Dale. She didn't even want to look at it. It's going to be difficult. But again, you've got to shift the attention of the jury panel away from those sordid facts that adversely impact your client. Well, you know what? You're right about that.

And I don't want you to give. Well, actually, I do. I want you to give me your trade secrets and you can pray your future jurors are not listening. But you're right. Focus off this and focus on that. Don't look here. Look here. I guess you could argue she was in such grief and so involved in the search for Gannon she didn't feel like looking at video or she was exhausted or she was on sedatives to calm down or she didn't like the neighbor and didn't believe him. I mean there's a million things you're

gonna argue in that situation. You really have your pick but let's move forward what is on that surveillance video take a listen to the neighbor speaking to crimeonline.com my camera records 24 7 it never starts recording it's not like it's not like tonight well behind it picks up it just constantly records like i said i can i can watch on my, but I can put it on my tablet. I can zoom in, zoom out, slow motion, all that. So, you know, you could see if someone got out of the truck or not. And plus, it has sound. So a lot of people don't know that it has sound. You hear her say hello.

When she got out of the truck, she said hello. And said the garage door down. So nobody got out of the truck. So she takes Gannon away, and she comes back. She gets out of the car, but no Gannon. To Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, how did she explain to you where she went that day and why Gannon didn't get out of the car?

She said Gannon did get out of the car. She said Gannon did get out of the car. She said that she had been driving around with him. He didn't go to school that day for whatever reason. She said he had a tummy ache and he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his friends. Wait, translation, she killed him before school. Go ahead. Yeah. Well, okay, in her words, she kept him home and took care of him all day.

But taking care of him involved getting him out in the car and driving him around for hours on end in back roads in Douglas County, Colorado, taking him to a play-again sports store, taking him to get something to eat, and then just basically spending time bonding with him until they got back home. Okay, let me understand what Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, just said. She says that when she spoke to evil stepmom Letitia Stotch, Stotch says her boy, I think you earlier told me that she said he had a fever. Yeah, she said that, well, it was more of a tummy ache, but like a slight, slight symptoms of fever and a cough, etc. But the main point was the tummy ache.

So she says he's got a tummy ache, slight fever. She keeps him home from school and then drives him around outside on all three back roads, claiming, I believe it was looking for a bike to give the dad for a birthday or something. Was that what they were looking for, according to her? Correct, yes. He was out of town, and she was taking him to help find him a bike. You know what I think, Chris Byers, of Chris Byers Investigations and Polygraphs, that she's trying to explain away GPS evidence that's going to be found on her car or her phone.

Why she's driving through all these remote areas to dump a body. That's why. But she's got to find a way to explain it. Absolutely, because everywhere she goes with that phone or that car, investigators are going to track that entire day and make a profile of everywhere she went. So I would agree with you 100%. Okay, and again, Dale Carson, I'm not going to even bother asking how do you explain away that GPS evidence, because I know you're going to come up with something.

You're like a conjurer or a magician with a bag of tricks, and every time I throw you a hard question, you come up with an answer. Guys, then the search for Gannon takes a turn. Take a listen to our Cut 32, ABC 7 News, Denver, Lance Hernandez. The 11-year-old's body was found near this bridge, the Highway 90 bridge over the Escambia River near Pensacola, Florida. It was a road construction worker who found the remains Tuesday. Investigators aren't releasing any details about how the boy died. They say he was killed in Colorado and then taken to Florida. I asked how finding a body can

help with an investigation. Senior District Deputy District Attorney Michael Allen said there's generally evidence on a body. He wouldn't go into specifics about the case, but did say Gannon's family is taking things very hard. Obviously, they're distraught with this information. They were still holding out hope that Gannon would come home alive despite the original charges that we filed in this case,

and they're struggling, and they rightfully would be considering the circumstance of this case. It's tragic. And we, you know, like I said at the beginning, our hearts go out to them. Lee, Egan Crime Online, tell me about the discovery of Gannon's body. Gannon was discovered thousands of miles away from his Colorado home. And you were correct. It was under a bridge in Hays, Florida, which is right on the border of Pensacola. A road construction worker was below doing work, and he made the discovery and contacted police. If it had not been for that road worker, again in stouts's just 11 years old, a slight little boy. His body would never have been found.

While cadaver dogs, scent dogs, drones, helicopters, shoulder-to-soldier searches by foot are going on for Gannon Stout. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. For those of you just joining us, take a listen to our Cut 38 CBS Denver News reporter Rick Salinger describing what police are finding on Letitia Stouch's computers. The investigation also revealed the stepmother's Internet searches. One was for husband uses me to babysit his kids. The court document claims Letitia Stout later changed her story that Gannon had run away to that she was raped by an intruder who then kidnapped the boy. Investigators believe Letitia Stout then took the body from the Palmer Lake area and drove it to Florida where she dumped it beneath a bridge. Also listen to Fox 21. This is Brandon Thompson. They say Letitia Stouck lied multiple times. In fact, her story changes dramatically in the two

days following. They say she tried to clean up the crime scene herself, but investigators found Gannon's blood stained on the cement below his bed. On Monday, January 27th, Letitia Stauk reported Gannon missing at 6.55 p.m. In the 911 call, she had said he had gone to a friend's home and was supposed to be home by 6 p.m. Two days later, she told investigators Gannon was kidnapped, saying a man she allowed in her home to fix carpet had raped her and kidnapped Gannon. Those are two of several lies investigators say Letitia Stauk told them, the media, and Gannon's father, Al Stouck. The day Gannon disappeared, Letitia Stouck called Gannon sick out of school. When Gannon's nine-year-old sister returns home from school, she asked Letitia Stouck where her brother was, and she replied he was asleep in her bed and to

go play outside. According to the documents, police believe Gannon was already dead. About an hour later, Letitia sends a text to her 17-year-old daughter, who was at work all day. Quote, carpet powder, two things, baking soda, trash bags. Investigators believe, quote, these items were likely to clean up the murder scene. To Dr. Michelle Dupree, special guest joining us, forensic pathologist, former medical examiner, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide and Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide. I've got so many questions, but did you hear the portion of that report where at the crime scene, blood was found on the cement beneath Gannon Stoush's bed?

What does that tell you? I did hear that, Nancy, and that's very disturbing. I don't know how much blood was there, but any amount of blood is going to indicate some type of trauma. And given the circumstances, the totality of the circumstances, this does not bode well. Police searched the home three hours after that initial 911 call, and at first they don't find anything suspicious. That's unusual, but in five subsequent searches, they find Gannon's blood in the garage, the trunk of step-mommy's car, in the basement bedroom, so much blood that it went through the mattress, leaked through the carpet, under the mattress, stating the cement below his bed. Tracking Stouch's car,

they find she drove to Highway 105 the day after reporting him missing, staying 30 minutes. Three days later, she goes in a different car where police had placed a tracking device, went to the same area. Police find Gannon's blood on a piece of wood in the area where her car went, but not the body. They believe she dumped his body at night,

went back to make sure the evidence wasn't viewable from the road, then went back and texting investigators, what do you want from me? You know what? It's really hard to fight blood evidence. But Dale Carson, criminal defense attorney extraordinaire, joining us out of Jacksonville, one thing I'm sure that's going to be argued by the defense is, hey, why didn't you see this the first time you went there? The first time you searched the home, you found nothing. Now you want to tell me there's all this blood evidence? That's the chain

of custody issue that you've tapped on. And that's exactly right. And there's more. The search warrant and arrest warrants are probably invalid because the attestment is from a police officer and not the FBI agent who was directly involved in the acquisition of the information. Good luck on that one. No, the judge, a magistrate, is not going to pick and choose between an FBI agent and a cop. In a case like this where there are exigent circumstances, the child hasn't been found. I mean, you know, long story short, I don't think there's going to be a difference between who swears to the truth in front of the judge to get the search warrant. But I do see an argument arising about why the evidence wasn't found the first time. Well, I'll tell you why. This is why. I mean, let's talk about it,

Dr. Michelle Dupree. When the cops go in the first time, they look around with a naked eye. They look in every room. They can't find the boy. They see the bed. It's probably made up with a fresh bed sheet over it, a cover. They see nothing. They may even look under the bed and see nothing. But when they go back forensically and pull back the bed covers, they find blood on the mattress, then on the carpet, have to move the bed to find it on the mattress than on the carpet. Have to move the bed to find it on the carpet. Yank up the carpet to find it on the cement beneath. And as far as blood spatter in the garage or elsewhere, that can be invisible to the naked eye. You've got to go in there with luminol to find that. That's why they didn't see it.

That's right, Nancy. Jump in. That's right. When we go through a crime scene, we walk through it the first time and we're not looking for evidence specifically. We're walking through it to get an idea of what happened at the crime scene. And so that's not unusual that they don't find it. But you're absolutely right.

When they come back with a forensic team, a CSI team, as we call it, then they're going to scour every inch of that place. And it may not be visible, as you said. You may need some special chemicals in order to find it. You know, let me go to Sydney Steele joining us, news reporter KRDO, News Channel 13. Sydney, according to police documents, evil stepmom Letitia Stouch conducted computer searches all about how to get rid of evidence when your husband uses you to babysit and so forth and so on. Is it true she texted her teen daughter to bring back cleaning supplies to the home? Yeah, she did text her daughter asking for that, which created a whole mess of online

rumors after that. But, yes, she did ask for that. She searched all kinds of things. She said, I wonder if my husband's ex-wife is sending me a card since I raised her kids. She searched. My husband's ex-wife does nothing for her kids. I mean, her search history was incredibly long that day, and it was a bunch of things about feeling very unappreciated for raising

somebody else's kids, essentially. You know what, Sydney, that just hurts me to hear that for Gannon's sake. Sydney, there's another daughter, a younger daughter, the one that came home from school and she told her to go outside and play, that Gannon was asleep when we all know now Gannon was dead. You know, Dr. Jory Croson, a police psychologist and author, they have another younger daughter. They have an older daughter that is Letitia Stonch's bio daughter. Why is it that abusers pick out one child very often and that's the one they abuse and end up murdering. Why that child? Well, there can be numerous reasons. There can be like a bad relationship. It can be something that might just trigger memories of a past bad individual in her life. They may have mannerisms

that they don't like, but over time, those can manifest into real violent and aggressive behavior towards that individual. To Chris Byers with Chris Byers Investigations and Polygraph.com, former law enforcement, Chris, I know it has to hurt a cop when they go into a scene, they search, they're looking for the child. They're not looking for evidence of a murder. And then later, upon closer inspection, you find the blood. And then you're attacked because you didn't find it the first time.

That's got to hurt when you're doing your best. Yeah, absolutely. And it's like we talked about earlier. That's one of the real important reasons to when you go into any type of investigation early on, you go in with an open mind. You don't get tunnel vision on it's this or that and already start labeling it because it can keep you from seeing some things that are there in plain sight. But yeah, you've got cops that are going in there and all they want to do on their mind is there's a missing 11-year-old boy. He's critical. He needs medication. And that's all they're doing is looking for clues to find him at that point. Well, I've got to tell you, Chris, I don't really blame them.

Lee Egan with Crime Online has conducted many interviews with Letitia Stotts. Take a look at 59. Believe it or not, it's still all about her. So it's just upsetting because you can't like, like I wish you could just be like, okay, listen. I know, you know, I was PTSD, whatever you want to call it, nothing against the soldiers, or I'm not trying to knock anybody who's been in war or things like that, but, you know, people handle, you know, situations differently. So, you know, you've had plenty of time to sit in here and actually, like, breathe and be able to, like, process it, because I haven't even went through the motions of all of it yet. She hasn't had time to grieve. Well, according to prosecutors.

Yeah, really. She's the one that killed the child. Lee Egan, I hear you in the background going, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I don't know how you did that with a straight face. Take a listen to more of Letitia Stotch speaking to CrimeOnline.com from behind bars cut 58. I don't mind you saying that my witness has already won a record, you know, won a record with my defense team. So, you know, that's... And you said there was like a car tag?

They got somebody's car tag? Well, see what happened is I didn't have the car tag, but she, the witness, did on her phone. And I had a hard time getting up with her because, you know, when they took my phone, I didn't have a lot of communication, and then I was on the East Coast, and yada, yada, yada. And then she was afraid because how, you know, how crazy these people have been. She goes on and on and on about how she has a witness that has the car tag of the real killer. To Sidney Stell, what happens next? I know that she's filed a flurry of motions.

What's happening right now, Sidney? So at the end of February, she filed a motion to represent herself at trial. And so now she, a judge has granted her request. She is representing herself. She's advisory counsel that's helping her with like the legal process a little bit, but she's not getting any help with defense strategy. And so this has actually delayed her trial by about two months. Her pretrial hearing is not supposed to start until the end of May now.

And she's continuing to be in court talking to the judge about all of these obstacles that she's now facing because she is representing herself. Oh, you mean obstacles like how she plotted to escape from prison using a broom handle to bust out the cell window and then another inmate ratted her out, Lee Egan? I guess that cellmate is the obstacle. Exactly. You know, Lee, I look forward to your next interview with her to all of our guests. Yes, that cellmate is the obstacle. Exactly. You know, Lee, I look forward to your next interview with her, to all of our guests. You know, this woman, we've talked about all of her conflicting statements about how it's all about her. But at the heart of this case, 11-year-old Gannon Stotts is dead. Horrible, horrible death. His body decomposing under a bridge thousands of miles away

while step-mommy makes up one lie after the next, which God willing will be exposed in court. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.