Morgan Geyser Found After Escaping Group Home/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Morgan Geyser, known for the 2014 Slender Man stabbing, fled a Wisconsin group home. Authorities found her in Illinois with an adult male companion. The incident raises questions about her release and supervision.
Slender Man Stabbing Escape: Quick Looks
- Morgan Geyser, 23, fled a group home in Wisconsin
- She was found at a truck stop in Illinois
- Geyser cut off her ankle monitor before leaving
- Arrested with a 42-year-old man later released
- Geyser’s attorney said he was unaware of her plans
- She was conditionally released after psychiatric hospitalization
- Officials delayed notifying police after monitoring alert
- Geyser had pled guilty to 2014 attempted murder at age 12
- Victim Payton Leutner barely survived the attack
- Slender Man myth inspired the violent act
Morgan Geyser Found After Escaping Group Home
Deep Look
Morgan Geyser, the Wisconsin woman convicted in the infamous 2014 Slender Man stabbing case, was located in Illinois on Sunday after fleeing the group home where she had been living under conditional release. The 23-year-old, who was 12 at the time of the brutal attack that shocked the nation, reportedly removed her electronic monitoring device before disappearing on Saturday evening.
Authorities said Geyser was found at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, roughly 170 miles south of Madison and about 25 miles from downtown Chicago. She was accompanied by a 42-year-old man who was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification. Police confirmed he has since been released.
The Madison Police Department issued an alert Sunday afternoon, nearly 12 hours after Geyser had left the facility. The delay in alerting law enforcement has drawn scrutiny and raised concerns about how her departure was handled by state agencies and the group home staff.
According to police, the Department of Corrections first received a malfunction alert from Geyser’s ankle monitor on Saturday night. Within two hours, they contacted the group home, which confirmed she had removed the device and was no longer on the premises. However, a formal apprehension request was not made until shortly after midnight, and Madison police weren’t notified until the group home reached out the following morning.
The Department of Corrections has yet to comment on the timeline or the delay in reporting.
Geyser had been conditionally released earlier this year from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute, where she had been confined since 2018 after pleading guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide. The plea was part of a deal to avoid prison time, given her young age and mental health status at the time of the offense.
Her attorney, Tony Cotton, told reporters he had no prior knowledge of her intent to flee. “I’m not sure what happened, and I hope she turns herself in and cooperates,” he said in a brief statement on Sunday.
Geyser’s case drew national attention in 2014 when she and her friend Anissa Weier, both just 12 years old, lured their classmate Payton Leutner into a wooded area in suburban Milwaukee. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier encouraged the attack. Miraculously, Leutner survived.
The motive for the assault stunned investigators and the public alike. Geyser and Weier claimed they were trying to appease Slender Man, a fictional internet character born from a 2009 online post by Eric Knudson. The tall, faceless entity became a digital boogeyman, appearing in memes, horror stories, and even a feature film.
The girls told police they believed that Slender Man would harm their families if they didn’t carry out the attack and hoped to become his servants by committing murder. The disturbing details of the case led to debates around youth mental health, internet influence, and juvenile justice.
Weier, who also pleaded guilty—though to a lesser charge of attempted second-degree intentional homicide—was also committed to a psychiatric facility. She was granted conditional release in 2021 and has not reoffended.
The most recent incident involving Geyser raises fresh concerns about whether she should have been released into a less secure environment. Her removal of the ankle monitor and flight with an adult male companion underscore ongoing challenges in balancing rehabilitation with public safety in high-profile mental health cases.
Authorities have not released details regarding Geyser’s condition at the time of her capture, nor whether she will face additional charges related to her escape. It remains unclear whether her conditional release will be revoked.
The victim in the original case, Payton Leutner, has since moved on with her life, remaining largely out of the public eye. She has spoken sparingly about the attack but has expressed a desire to focus on healing and her future.
For now, Geyser’s brief disappearance has reignited public memory of a case that blurred the lines between fiction and reality—and resulted in one of the most chilling crimes committed by children in recent American history.
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