Slender Man Stabbing Attacker Morgan Geyser Recaptured After Cutting Off Ankle Monitor and Fleeing Group Home

Morgan Geyser, one of the two girls involved in the 2014 Slender Man-inspired stabbing of a classmate, has been found and taken into custody after leaving a Wisconsin group home without authorization.

In a Sunday, Nov. 23 update, the Madison Police Department said Geyser, 22, was arrested in Illinois several hours after authorities reported her missing. “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,” the department said. “There is no longer a need to search for Morgan Geyser at this time.”

Police previously reported that Geyser fled her group home on Saturday, Nov. 22, after cutting off a Department of Corrections GPS monitoring bracelet. She was last seen around 8 p.m. that night near Kroncke Drive in Madison with an adult acquaintance, according to investigators.

Authorities said the Department of Corrections was alerted at about 9:30 p.m. after the bracelet appeared to malfunction. Group home staff then informed officials that Geyser had removed the device and left the facility. Madison police were notified the following morning and issued a missing-persons report.

Geyser had been living in the group home under a Wisconsin Department of Health Services court order, a condition set in January when she was released from a psychiatric institution. She had previously been placed in long-term psychiatric care following the 2014 attack.

That year, Geyser and Anissa Weier—both 12 at the time—lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, into the woods during a sleepover. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier encouraged her. Leutner survived by crawling to a nearby bike path, where a passerby found her and called for help.

Both girls later admitted to the stabbing, saying they believed the fictional character Slender Man was real and thought the attack would earn his approval. They were charged with first-degree intentional homicide and initially tried as adults. Ultimately, each was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and ordered into psychiatric treatment.

Earlier this year, a judge authorized Geyser’s supervised release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute to a group home. As part of those conditions, she was required to wear a tracking bracelet, according to ABC News.

Police said Geyser was taken into custody Sunday in Posen, Illinois.