In brief
Morgan Geyser, now 23, escaped from a group home in Madison, Wisconsin, by removing her electronic monitor. She was found in Posen, Illinois, less than 24 hours later. Geyser, infamous for stabbing a classmate in 2014 to please Slender Man, had recently been released from a mental health institution and was living under supervision. Authorities confirmed her location after a police alert was issued following her disappearance.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Morgan Geyser, who was implicated in the 2014 stabbing of a classmate as part of a delusion involving the character Slender Man, has been discovered in Illinois after escaping from her mental health supervision. Geyser, now 23, admitted to the brutal attack when she was just 12 years old, stating it was an effort to gain favor with the online horror figure. On Sunday, Madison police issued an alert regarding Geyser's disappearance, noting she was seen leaving a group home and had removed her electronic monitoring device. Authorities later confirmed she was found at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, about 25 miles south of Chicago. After her guilty plea for attempted first-degree intentional homicide, she was placed in a psychiatric institution in 2018. Following her conditional release this year, Geyser was living under supervision in a group home when the incident occurred. Police reported the Department of Corrections learned of her absence much later than advisable, with a malfunction alert from her ankle monitor coming through before officials reached out to the group home. The troubling background of Geyser also draws attention back to the terrifying act she committed with her friend, Anissa Weier, who encouraged the stabbing of their peer, Payton Leutner, during a sleepover. The attack was purportedly motivated by a fear of Slender Man harming their families if they did not act. While Weier received a similar sentence, she was released in 2021 after being treated at the same psychiatric facility. Meanwhile, Geyser's attorney has expressed concern over her well-being and urged her to turn herself in.