'Gannon's Law' Calls For Change In How Missing Children Are Investigated
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A search scheduled for Friday for Gannon Stauch has been postponed. The eleven-year-old was was first reported missing Jan. 27 after he didn't return home.
As we have explained throughout this investigation, this is a very fluid investigation & it can change at any minute of the day. The scheduled search has been postponed. We will keep you in the loop as it happens & as we can release it. Our Tips to date are 801. #FindGannon #Hope pic.twitter.com/ysrkf6uAJ7
— EPCSheriff (@EPCSheriff) February 28, 2020
Gannon was first reported missing Jan. 27 by his stepmother, Letecia "Tecia" Stauch, who said Gannon left to go to a friend's house in the afternoon. Authorities called him a runaway when it first asked the public for help finding him. But the sheriff's office announced Jan. 30 that Gannon was considered a missing and endangered child because of the time he had been gone, his age and his reliance on medication.
Taran Witt is a mother in the Washington DC area who started a petition drive on change.org.
"I decided to start this petition because it's common sense and children under 13 should be listed as missing and endangered on very first day they are missing," she told CBS4's Rick Sallinger.
"Gannon's Law" calls for a child, like Gannon under age 13, to be classified as missing and endangered after being gone more than three hours.
"I do believe deploying all resources early could have made a huge difference in this case," Witt said.
While the El Paso County Sheriff's Office will not comment on the petition, it does say when Gannon's stepmother reported him as a runaway, the case was quickly entered into crime computers and the FBI brought in a few days later.
But Witt and 17,000 who have signed the online petition feel an earlier classification in such cases might be beneficial.
"Just thinking about my son being missing for 10 minutes would make me a nervous wreck," said Witt.
If you see Gannon, please call the El Paso County Sheriff's Office right away at 719-390-5555 or 911.
If you have any information that can help in this case, call EPSO's tipline at 719-520-6666 or email shrtips@elpasoco.com.