Wisconsin Woman Who Attacked Classmate Over Slender Man Found in Illinois After Escape
A Wisconsin woman with a history of attempted homicide, stemming from a disturbing obsession with the online horror figure Slender Man, was apprehended in Illinois after fleeing a group home and disabling her electronic monitoring device.
Morgan Geyser, 23, was located early Monday at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, approximately 25 miles south of Chicago and 170 miles south of Madison, Wisconsin, according to the Posen Police Department. She was last seen around 8 p.m. Saturday with an adult acquaintance.
Authorities reported that Geyser had cut off her ankle monitor and left the group home where she was residing after being granted a conditional release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute earlier this year. A 42-year-old man found with Geyser was initially charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification, but has since been released from custody.
The circumstances surrounding Geyser’s departure remained unclear Monday morning. “I do not know what happened with my client,” Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, stated in an email to the Associated Press. “I have not yet spoken with her and do not know what the circumstances of her departure were.”
The Madison Police Department revealed that they were not alerted to Geyser’s absence for nearly 12 hours after she left the group home. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections received an alert Saturday night regarding a malfunction with Geyser’s ankle monitor. After contacting the group home approximately two hours later, they were informed she was not present and had removed the device. An apprehension request was issued just after midnight, but Madison police did not learn of Geyser’s disappearance until the following morning when contacted by the group home. The Department of Corrections has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Geyser’s case gained national attention in 2014 when, at age 12, she and a friend, Anissa Weier, lured classmate Payton Leutner to a park in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Geyser stabbed her multiple times. The girls told investigators they committed the attack to appease Slender Man, a fictional internet character created in 2009, believing it would earn them a place as his servants and protect their families. Leutner miraculously survived the brutal attack.
Prior to her release, state health officials expressed concerns about Geyser’s mental state, citing her undisclosed reading of “Rent Boy,” a novel containing graphic depictions of murder and organ trafficking. They also alleged she had been communicating with an individual who collects murder memorabilia, even sending him a sketch of a decapitated body and a postcard expressing a desire for intimacy. Cotton defended Geyser, stating she only read materials approved by staff and had ceased contact with the collector the previous year, after three visits. He argued at a March court hearing, “Morgan is not more dangerous today,” a sentiment the judge ultimately accepted, leading to her conditional release.
Weier, also 12 at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide and was released from the psychiatric center in 2021.
The case highlights the complex intersection of mental health, internet culture, and violent crime, raising questions about the long-term monitoring and support needed for individuals with severe mental illness and a history of violent behavior.
