MADISON — UPDATE: At 10:38 p.m. Madison Police confirmed that Morgan Geyser was taken into custody in Illinois.
—
The Madison Police Department says its officers are searching for Morgan Geyser, one of the two sentenced in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing in Waukesha, who is missing after removing her GPS tracker.
According to a Facebook post from the department, Geyser cut off her Wisconsin Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet and left a group home on Saturday night.
Madison PD says Morgan Geyser was last seen in the area of Kroncke Drive around 8:00 p.m. on Nov. 22 with an adult acquaintance.
Police do not know her whereabouts as of the morning of Sunday, Nov. 23 Madison PD adds it was notified of her disappearance that Sunday morning.
Watch here: Morgan Geyser, who was sentenced for her role in the 2014 Slender Man stabbing in Waukesha, cut off her GPS monitor and is missing.
Geyser's lawyer Tony Cotton implored Morgan to turn herself in, in a statement posted to social media late Sunday afternoon.
"If anybody has contact with Morgan, hears from her, or if Morgan happens to see this -- turn yourself in," Cotton said in the video. "Do not continue to remain on the run like this. It is not in your best interest to handle this matter that way."
The family of Payton Leutner, the victim of Geyser's stabbing, also released a statement Sunday night about Geyser's disappearance:
Payton Leutner and her family [are] aware of the most recent situation regarding Morgan Geyser. Payton and her family are safe and are working closely with local law enforcement to ensure their continued safety. The family would like to thank all of the law enforcement entities involved in the efforts to apprehend Morgan. The Leutner family also wish to thank the outpouring of support from family, friends and well-wishers who have contacted them during this difficult time.
TMJ4 spoke with Waukesha neighbors Sunday afternoon about the news. For some, the news is bringing back some of those raw emotions.
"I was just surprised. I couldn't believe it," Nancy Zutavern said about hearing the news. "To think two young girls could be capable of such a terrible attack against a classmate of theirs was just surprising and shocking."
"(It's) unreal, to know that she's at large now," Kristy Meyer said.
Madison Police Department released this timeline on when Geyser was last seen and the events that followed.
Geyser was last seen at a group home at around 8:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Around 9:30 p.m., the Department of Corrections received an alert that Geyser’s GPS monitoring bracelet was malfunctioning.
Around 11:30 p.m., DOC made contact with the adult group home where Geyser was living.
Around 11:35 p.m., group home staff informed DOC that Geyser was not at the home and that she had removed her GPS bracelet.
Around midnight, DOC issued an apprehension request for Geyser. This request was never relayed to the Madison Police Department.
At 7:46 a.m., someone from the group home called 911 to report Geyser as a missing person.
At 7:58 a.m., Madison police was assigned to the call and headed to Kroncke Drive. This was the first time the Madison Police Department was made aware that Geyser was missing.
This is an approximate timeline, and information is subject to change as the investigation unfolds.
