THE BRIGHT SIDE
A 22-year-old Wisconsin woman who nearly stabbed a classmate to death to please the horror character Slender Man has cut off a monitoring bracelet, left a group home, and gone missing, officials said on Sunday.
Morgan Geyser was last seen in the area of Kroncke Dr. around 8 p.m. Saturday with an adult acquaintance, city officials said. Her whereabouts are unknown as of Sunday morning. Geyser, now 23, along with co-defendant Anissa Weier, was charged with attempted homicide of their friend, Payton Leutner, who was stabbed 19 times near Davids Park in Waukesha in May 2014.
All three girls were 12 years old at the time. In 2017, both Geyser and Weier were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and ordered to a mental health institute for decades-long commitments, Weier for 25 years, and Geyser for 40 years. Geyser has been living in a group home after she was released earlier this year from Winnebago Mental Health Institute, a psychiatric hospital where she had spent the last seven years. She was released after three experts testified she had made progress battling mental illness.
Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, lured Payton Leutner to a Waukesha park after a sleepover in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier egged her on. All three girls were 12 years old at the time. Geyser and Weier fled after the attack but were arrested as they were walking on Interstate 94. They told investigators they attacked Leutner to earn the right to be Slender Man’s servants and feared he would hurt their families if they didn’t follow through. They had planned to walk to Slender Man’s mansion in northern Wisconsin after the attack, they said.
Over the years, Geyser’s first three petitions for conditional release were either withdrawn or denied before she succeeded on her fourth attempt in January 2025. Geyser was placed in a group home in the fall of 2025. The exact location of the group home where she would continue treatment for a psychotic spectrum disorder was sealed by the court. Geyser was last seen in the area of Kroncke Drive around 8 p.m. on Nov. 22 with an adult acquaintance, according to the Madison police. The runaway prisoner was caught the following day, asleep in public, 200 miles away, sleeping on the sidewalk with a 46-year-old man.
Place of the Week
Varney Automotive, located next to the fairgrounds, specializes in foreign and domestic cars. The whole team is absolutely fantastic.
