Slender Man stabbing: Morgan Geyser found in Illinois
Slender Man stabbing: Morgan Geyser found
Police say Morgan Geyser was taken into custody in Illinois on Sunday night.
MADISON, Wis. - Authorities in Madison confirmed Morgan Geyser was taken into custody in Illinois on Sunday night, Nov. 23.
The Madison Police Department said just after 10:30 p.m., officials received confirmation that Geyser was taken into custody. They said there is no longer a need to search for her.
Geyser had cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left a group home Saturday night, Nov. 22.
This is a breaking update. Check back for updates and read the original report below.
Slender Man stabbing: Morgan Geyser missing
Authorities in Madison are searching for Morgan Geyser, who cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left a group home Saturday night, Nov. 22.
Left group home
The backstory:
The Madison Police Department was notified of Geyser's disappearance on Sunday morning and immediately sent out the alert.
Madison police released a detailed timeline showing when state officials and group home staff first realized she had removed her GPS monitor and left the facility.
According to the Madison Police Department, Geyser was last seen at her group home around 8:15 p.m. Saturday. About an hour later, at 9:30 p.m., the Wisconsin Department of Corrections received an alert that her GPS monitoring bracelet was malfunctioning.
DOC contacted the group home at 11:30 p.m., and five minutes later staff confirmed Geyser was not there and had taken off the bracelet. Around midnight, DOC issued an apprehension request – but Madison police say that request was never relayed to them.
Morgan Geyser, image from previous surveillance footage
It wasn’t until 7:46 a.m. Sunday that someone from the group home called 911 to report Geyser as a missing person. Madison police were assigned to the call 12 minutes later and responded to Kroncke Drive, marking the first time the department learned she was gone.
Police say they continue to investigate and are working to determine where Geyser may have gone after leaving the home.
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Attorneys weigh in
What they're saying:
"Turn yourself in. Do not continue to remain on the run like this," said Anthony Cotton, Geyser’s defense attorney, in an Instagram post Sunday. "We don’t know any of the facts about what happened and who might have assisted her but certainly if there are – or if somebody assisted her – that person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
A separate attorney, Jonathan LaVoy, who is not involved in the case, said Geyser’s absence raises safety concerns.
"If she was able to commit that level of violence when she was so young – I can understand the community’s concern that she’s out there on the loose and god forbid somebody else gets hurt right now," he said.
Geyser and co-defendant Anissa Weier were 12 years old in 2014 when they pleaded guilty to stabbing and nearly killing a classmate. They told investigators they acted because of the fictional horror character Slender Man and were later found not criminally responsible due to mental illness.
LaVoy said Geyser had undergone years of treatment and monitoring before her conditional release.
"Is she on the run with her medicine? And if she isn’t, that certainly poses a danger to the community," LaVoy said. "We can’t keep mentally ill people in the hospital forever particularly if they are showing signs of improvement and stability and she certainly was doing and showing those signs."
LaVoy said authorities will arrest Geyser once she is located and will likely return her to a state hospital immediately.
The Dane County District Attorney’s Office has not commented.
History of the case
The backstory:
Geyser and Anissa Weier were 12 years old in 2014 when they stabbed and nearly killed their classmate, Payton Leutner, reportedly to please the fictional horror character Slender Man. Leutner survived the attack after being found by a cyclist.
Both girls pleaded guilty in the case. But both said they were not responsible because they were mentally ill.
Both girls were then sent to state mental health facilities. Weier was released in 2021 to live with her father and live under GPS monitoring. Geyser has faced hurdles in her own petitions for release.
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In April, after Geyser's conditional release was granted, the victim's family objected to her placement location because the group home was about eight miles from them.
Slender Man stabbing: Morgan Geyser conditional release plan sealed
There is a plan to release a woman in the Slender Man case from a state mental health facility. But the details of Morgan Geyser's release are now secret.
In July, a judge approved a plan for Geyser to be placed in a Sun Prairie group home.
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But records show Sun Prairie's city attorney filed an objection, and days later, Geyser's attorney said the facility declined placement because of publicity.
Statement from Leutner's family
What they're saying:
A spokesperson for Leutner’s family provided the following statement:
"Payton Leutner and her family [are] aware of the most recent situation regarding Morgan Geyser.
Payton and her family are safe and are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure their continued safety.
The family would like to thank all of the law enforcement entities involved in the efforts to apprehend Morgan.
The Leutner family also wish to thank the outpouring of support from family, friends, and well-wishers who have contacted them during this difficult time."
Forensic psychologist talks Morgan Geyser missing
Forensic psychologist Dr. John Delatorre weighs in on Morgan Geyser's disappearance.
The Source: The information in this report comes from the Madison Police Department and prior reporting.