Morgan Geyser, the Wisconsin woman who gained notoriety as a 12-year-old for nearly stabbing a classmate to death to appease the fictional horror character Slender Man, has been located in Illinois after cutting off her electronic monitoring device and escaping from a Madison-area group home, authorities confirmed.
Dramatic Escape and Capture
Madison police issued an alert on Sunday after Geyser, now 23 years old, was last seen around 8 p.m. on Saturday with an adult acquaintance. The fugitive was eventually located early Monday at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, approximately 25 miles south of Chicago.
Posen police confirmed Geyser was found with a 42-year-old man who faced arrest on charges of criminal trespassing and obstructing identification. The man has since been released from custody, though investigations into the circumstances of their meeting continue.
Controversial Release and Security Failures
Geyser had been moved to the group home earlier this year after a judge granted her conditional release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. She had been committed to the facility since 2018 after pleading guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide under a plea agreement that allowed her to avoid prison time.
Prosecutors had strongly opposed her release, arguing that Geyser remained a significant risk to public safety. They told the court at the time that she couldn't be trusted, expressing serious concerns about her potential for reoffending.
According to Madison police authorities, law enforcement wasn't informed about her disappearance until nearly 12 hours after she left the group home. The Department of Corrections received an alert Saturday night indicating that Geyser's ankle monitor had malfunctioned. Approximately two hours later, staff at the group home confirmed she was missing and had removed the tracking device.
The agency issued an apprehension request just after midnight, but Madison police stated they didn't learn of her disappearance until the following morning when the group home called them directly. The Department of Corrections has not immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the monitoring failure and delayed notification process.
Previous Concerns About Behavior
State health officials had attempted to block her release in March, raising multiple concerns about her behavior and reading material choices. They informed the judge that Geyser had read Rent Boy, a novel involving murder and organ trafficking, without discussing it with her therapy team as required.
Officials also alleged she had communicated with a man who collects murder memorabilia and had sent him a drawing of a decapitated body along with a postcard expressing romantic interest. These actions raised red flags about her mental state and potential dangerous tendencies.
Her attorney, Tony Cotton, defended her during the hearing, stating she only consumed material approved by staff and had cut off contact with the collector the previous year. He argued that Morgan is not more dangerous today than she had been during her treatment. The judge ultimately ruled that she wasn't hiding anything and approved her conditional release.
Notorious Slender Man Stabbing Case
The case dates back to 2014 when Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier, both aged 12 at the time, lured their classmate Payton Leutner to a wooded park in Waukesha, Wisconsin, following a sleepover. Geyser stabbed Leutner more than a dozen times while Weier encouraged the attack. Miraculously, Leutner survived despite suffering severe injuries.
The young girls told police they attacked their victim to earn the right to serve Slender Man, an online horror character created in 2009 by Eric Knudson. They claimed they feared the fictional character would harm their families if they didn't comply with his demands.
Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was committed to a psychiatric institution. She was granted her release in 2021 after years of treatment and supervision.
The recent escape and subsequent capture of Morgan Geyser has reignited debates about mental health treatment, criminal responsibility, and the effectiveness of monitoring systems for individuals with violent histories.
