Madison authorities say Morgan Geyser, who was granted conditional release earlier this year in the Slender Man case, was taken into custody in Illinois a day after she cut off her Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left a group home.
In 2014, Geyser and Anissa Weier were charged with the attempted homicide of their friend Payton Leutner, whom Geyser stabbed 19 times near Davids Park in Waukesha in May 2014. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.
In 2017, Geyser and Weier were both 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.
Here’s what we know so far about Geyser’s escape.
(This story will be updated as new information becomes available.)
When and where was Geyser found?
Geyser was taken into custody in Illinois around 10:34 p.m. Nov. 23, according to Madison police.
Where was Geyser last seen before going missing?
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 Department.
When did law enforcement know Geyser was missing?
Madison police said they were notified of Geyser’s disappearance Sunday morning, Nov. 23, and “immediately alerted the public.”
An MPD representative reached by phone, said the department was alerted just before 8 a.m. The department posted on their website about 45 minutes later, and on Facebook at around 10 a.m.
About 12 hours passed between the time Geyser was last seen and when the public was notified.
When was Geyser placed in a group home?
Geyser’s path to conditional release was more difficult than Weier’s.
Over the years, Geyser’s first three petitions for conditional release were either withdrawn or denied before she succeeded on her fourth attempt in January 2025.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 fall 2025. The placement brought an end to a 2025 saga that began with her finally gaining court approval for conditional release in January, only to have the process face setbacks and challenges throughout the year.
What group home was Morgan Geyser placed in?
The exact location of the group home where she would continue treatment for a psychotic spectrum disorder, was sealed by the court.
Were there previous attempts to place Geyser in a group home?
In July, a group home in Sun Prairie, a suburb of Madison, withdrew its offer to accept Geyser as a resident. Two other group homes, one in Manitowoc and the other in the Milwaukee area, also fell through, for different reasons.
Hope Karnopp of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Morgan Geyser’s escape, arrest: What we know and don’t know
Reporting by Anna Kleiber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
