In 2014, 12-year-old friends Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier lured their classmate Payton Leutner into the woods during a game of hide-and-seek. There, Geyser stabbed Leutner, who was also 12, 19 times with Weier’s support, People reported. Geyser and Weier were later found and confessed, explaining that they attacked Leutner to please the fictional horror character, Slender Man. Leutner survived the attack, and Geyser and Weier were charged with first-degree intentional homicide. Despite being minors, they were tried as adults. Both girls were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and they were placed at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Weier was released from the facility in 2021, while Geyer was taken to a Wisconsin group home facility earlier this year. According to ABC News, Geyser was ordered to wear an ankle monitor bracelet as a condition of her release.
Now, more than a decade after attacking Leutner, Geyser cut off her ankle monitor and fled the group home. She’s since been captured by authorities in Illinois. Here’s everything we know about Geyser’s escape and capture.
Geyser went missing on Nov. 22 and was found a day later in Posen, Illinois
According to People, Geyser went missing after escaping the group home on Nov. 22. The 23-year-old was last seen on the 22nd at 8 p.m. with an “adult acquaintance.” An hour and a half later, the Department of Corrections was alerted to an issue with Geyer’s ankle monitor, noting that it was “malfunctioning.” The group home’s staff told the Department of Corrections that Geyser had “removed her GPS bracelet” and fled.
The Madison Police Department was informed of Geyser’s disappearance the following morning and filed a missing persons report.
“On Nov. 23, at approximately 10:34 p.m., the MPD received confirmation that Morgan Geyser was taken into custody in the state of Illinois,” local authorities said in a news release. “There is no longer a need to search for Morgan Geyser at this time.”
Geyser was taken into custody in Posen, Illinois, early Monday morning, CBS News reported. The 23-year-old was discovered with a 42-year-old friend, who was charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification and has since been released from custody.
Geyser’s friend spoke to CBS News Chicago and explained that the 23-year-old didn’t want to be alone, so the two of them took a bus from Madison to Chicago, and once they arrived, they started walking. The friend said Geyser hurt her foot and was unable to walk. The pair stopped at a truck stop where someone called the police on them for loitering.
Leutner’s family was aware of Geyser’s disappearance and was working with authorities ‘to ensure their continued safety’
According to NBC News, Leutner’s family was aware of Geyser’s disappearance and noted in a statement that they were 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 statement read. “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.”
In 2019, Leutner reflected on the incident for the first time during an interview with 20/20, People reported. She shared with co-anchor David Muir that while she still slept with a pair of broken scissors under her bed, a part of her is grateful for what happened to her.
“Just because of what she did, I have the life I have now,” Leutner said. “I really, really like it and I have a plan. I didn’t have a plan when I was 12, and now, I do because of everything that I went through. I wouldn’t think that someone who went through what I did would ever say that, but that’s truly how I feel. Without the whole situation, I wouldn’t be who I am.”