COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo — While family members and friends of Gannon Stauch anxiously await any news about the 11-year-old's disappearance, thousands of people following the case have signed a petition that would classify all missing children under the age of 13 as endangered once they're missing for three hours, KRDO in Colorado Springs reports.
The petition, started by Taran Witt and aimed at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, calls for law enforcement to give the "endangered" designation to all missing youth after three hours, including runaways.
Stauch was first reported missing on Jan. 27, but the Sheriff's Office didn't label the case as a "missing/endangered" youth until days later. That designation then opened up the availability of more resources through the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children.
> The video above is an update on the search from Feb. 21.
The petition says that investigators lost "critical and valuable time" in the Stauch case due to information provided by his caretaker that initially said he went to a friend's house and then disappeared.
But even if the petition reaches its goal, it's uncertain if lawmakers would pursue legislation that would label all missing youth as endangered after three hours missing.
Gannon's stepmother is the last person to have seen him.
Gannon's mother, Landon Hiott, told ABC in an exclusive interview, "The more time that goes by, if he did wander off, whatever happened, how can you ... it's snowing and you have them looking in snow and sifting through snow, you can't help but have bad thoughts."
Hiott and Gannon's father, Albert Stauch, have begged for their 11-year-old to come home, and for anyone with information to come forward.
Despite the ongoing search efforts in extreme winter weather, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office vehemently says they hope to bring Gannon home alive.
In the last four weeks, the Sheriff's Office has not said if any evidence or sign of Gannon has been found.
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