The arrest of Morgan Geyser, the former ‘Slender Man’ attacker, has been captured on body camera footage, showing her apprehended in Posen, Illinois, following a nationwide manhunt. Geyser, 23, had cut off her ankle monitor and fled from a group home in Madison, Wisconsin, where she had been released earlier this year. She was found at a truck stop with an adult acquaintance and provided a fake name before identifying herself to officers.
Geyser’s escape from the group home came just months after a Wisconsin judge allowed her to be released from a psychiatric hospital following multiple failed attempts. Her attorney had not responded to requests for comment at the time of the arrest. The arrest was made after she was located in Illinois and identified by the police after some back-and-forth with the officers.
This incident marks another significant development in the ongoing case of the 2014 stabbing of Payton Leut, a sixth-grade student who was injured during an attempt to please the horror character ‘Slender Man.’ Geyser and Anissa Weier, who were 12 years old at the time, had lured Payton into a park and stabbed her 19 times. Geyser pleaded guilty in 2017 to being a party to attempted first-degree intentional homicide but claimed she was not responsible for the attack because she was mentally ill.
Following the incident, Geyser had been committed to a psychiatric hospital for 40 years, but a Wisconsin judge permitted her to be released into a group home earlier this year despite prosecutors’ objections. Her escape from the group home and subsequent arrest have raised questions about her mental health and the adequacy of the measures in place to prevent such incidents. The case also highlights the ongoing impact of the ‘Slender Man’ myth on real-life events, with Geyser’s actions being a stark reminder of the dangers of internet-driven delusions.
As Geyser is expected to appear in court on Tuesday for a hearing on extradition to Wisconsin, the case continues to draw public and legal attention. The incident has been widely reported in media outlets, with articles analyzing the psychological and legal implications of Geyser’s actions. Her release from the psychiatric institution and subsequent escape have sparked debates about the effectiveness of long-term treatment and the challenges in managing individuals with severe mental health issues.