Dramatic Capture Ends Cross-State Manhunt
Morgan Geyser, the woman convicted of the notorious Slender Man stabbing when she was just 12 years old, has been apprehended by police after escaping from her Wisconsin group home. The 23-year-old was captured on Monday alongside Chad Mecca, 43, who authorities describe as her older lover, following an intensive search that crossed state lines.
According to the Posen Police Department, Geyser triggered a massive manhunt when she removed her ankle monitor and fled the Sun Prairie group home on Saturday. Investigators believe she travelled by bus from Wisconsin to Illinois before undertaking an extraordinary 30-mile walk from Chicago to the small village of Posen.
Sleeping on Sidewalk Leads to Arrest
The dramatic conclusion to the search came when an alert truck stop employee spotted the pair and notified authorities. Police discovered Geyser and Mecca sleeping on a sidewalk, where they initially refused to identify themselves to officers.
"After continued attempts to identify her, she finally stated that she didn't want to tell officers who she was because she had 'done something really bad,' and suggested that officers could 'just Google' her name," revealed the Posen Police Department in their official statement.
Body camera footage from the arrest shows the couple huddling together and pleading with officers to release them. Photographs taken at the scene depict both individuals looking exhausted with their hands secured behind their backs.
Complex History of Violence and Mental Health
Geyser's arrest marks another chapter in a deeply troubling case that began nearly a decade ago. When she was just 12 years old, Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier, also 12 at the time, lured their classmate Payton Leutner into woodland and stabbed her 19 times in a brutal attack that shocked the nation.
The young girls claimed they committed the violent assault to appease Slender Man, a fictional horror character created in 2009. Both believed the sinister plot would prevent the faceless figure from harming their families.
Miraculously, Leutner survived the attack after being discovered by a passing cyclist. Both Geyser and Weier faced charges of first-degree attempted intentional homicide.
Geyser pleaded guilty but was found not guilty due to mental disease or defect after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. A circuit judge originally ordered her to spend 40 years in a psychiatric hospital.
Controversial Release and Current Consequences
Earlier this year, Geyser was granted conditional release to the group home after three medical experts testified that she showed significant progress in her psychiatric recovery. The September transfer came despite objections from prosecutors.
Dr Kenneth Robbins, one of the evaluating experts, suggested that Geyser's symptoms aligned with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and autism. Another expert, Dr Brooke Lundbohm, concluded that she no longer displayed psychosis symptoms connected to the original violent attack.
During her release hearing, Geyser also came out as transgender, though female pronouns continue to be used for court consistency.
Meanwhile, Chad Mecca faces charges of criminal trespass and obstruction of identification and has since been released from custody. In statements to local ABC affiliate WKOW, Mecca claimed responsibility for the escape plan, revealing they met at church and arranged to meet in a parking lot after Geyser fled.
"It was still my choice at the end of the day. I followed what I thought was right," Mecca told reporters, adding that he stood by his decision to help Geyser escape.
Geyser now awaits an extradition hearing scheduled for Tuesday, while Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese has indicated her office would support a motion to revoke the conditional release. The final decision rests with the Department of Health Services, which maintains custody of Geyser.
