Mother of Gannon Stauch pleads for his safe return home in exclusive ABC interview

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- It's been nearly a month since 11-year-old Gannon Stauch went missing from his home near Lorson Ranch.

For his mother, Landon Hiott, the past three weeks without him have been a mother's worst nightmare.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Hiott spoke directly to her son Gannon.

"Bubba if you see this, mommy wants you home. You’re my hero, you’re my baby; I'm here, I'm waiting for you,” Hiott said to ABC.

Crews were shoveling snow and poking around on private property in Southern Douglas County by Noe Road and Greenland Acres off Highway 105 Thursday. But Friday, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said that the search in Douglas County had been suspended.

Hiott says the process has been agonizing.

"It's snowing, and some days you have them looking and sifting through snow, and you can't help the bad thoughts come in", says Hiott.

Hiott also voiced frustration with what unfolded in the first few days of Gannon's disappearance.

"The only other thing that upsets me about this is it took three days for my son to be reported as a runaway to endangered", says Hiott. "If something could have been done, I think those three days were important.

Despite few developments in the case, Hiott says the support from the Lorson Ranch community has helped keep her hope alive.

"This is who my boy is: the passion, the love, the togetherness this community has had. That's Gannon," Hiott said.