Twelve years old. That is how old they were when they walked into the woods.
You’ve probably seen the grainy interrogation footage or the black-and-white drawings of the faceless, tall man in the suit. It feels like a lifetime ago that the Waukesha stabbing Slender Man case hit every headline in the world, but the ripples are still hitting the shore in 2026. Honestly, if you think this was just a "spooky internet story" gone wrong, you’re missing the most haunting parts of the actual reality.
This wasn't just some viral moment. It was a calculated, months-long plan by two pre-teens that ended with a girl crawling for her life out of a Wisconsin forest.
The Saturday Morning No One Expected
May 31, 2014, started like any other birthday sleepover. Morgan Geyser, Anissa Weier, and Payton Leutner—all 12—were hanging out, eating doughnuts, and playing. But Geyser and Weier had a secret. They had been planning to kill Payton for months. Basically, they thought they had to.
They believed in Slender Man. Not just "oh, he's scary," but "he will kill our families if we don't do this" kind of belief.
They lured Payton into David’s Park for a game of hide-and-seek. Once they were deep enough in the trees, everything changed. Geyser stabbed Payton 19 times. Let that number sink in. Nineteen. Some of those wounds missed her heart by less than a millimeter.
Then, they just walked away.
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They told Payton to lie still, saying they’d go get help. They didn't. They headed toward the Nicolet National Forest, convinced Slender Man lived there in a mansion and would take them in as his "proxies."
Why This Case Still Matters in 2026
You might be wondering why we are still talking about this. Well, because the story didn't end with a "guilty" verdict. Both girls were found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. This set off a decade of legal battles that reached a boiling point just recently.
In 2021, Anissa Weier was released under strict supervision. But Morgan Geyser? Her path has been way more chaotic.
As of late 2025 and into 2026, the case took a wild turn. Geyser was finally granted a conditional release to a group home after years of petitions. People were split. Some thought she’d served her time in the psychiatric facility; others were terrified. Then, in November 2025, she actually escaped.
She cut off her GPS monitoring bracelet and vanished.
Police found her sleeping outside a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, a day later. When they caught her, she reportedly told them to "just Google" her name. It was a chilling reminder that the girl who lived in a world of delusions for years was now a 23-year-old woman trying to navigate a world that never forgot what she did.
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The Real Science of "Shared Delusion"
Psychologists call it folie à deux. It’s rare. Basically, it’s when two people share the same hallucination or delusional belief system.
- Morgan Geyser: Diagnosed with early-onset schizophrenia. She saw ghosts. She saw "Maggie." For her, Slender Man was as real as the person standing next to her.
- Anissa Weier: She didn't have the same hallucinations, but she fell into Morgan's world. She was the "believer" who validated the "visionary."
Most people think these were just "bad kids." But experts like Dr. Melissa Westendorf, who evaluated Weier, pointed out that 12-year-old brains aren't great at telling "fake news" from reality. Combine that with a serious mental illness, and you get a perfect storm.
What Happened to Payton Leutner?
Payton is the part of this story that actually offers some light. She survived. She didn't just survive; she thrived.
She’s spoken out about how the attack shaped her. Imagine being 12 and having to undergo massive surgeries to fix your heart, liver, and stomach. She has 25 physical scars. In a 2019 interview, she said she initially felt like she wanted to thank her attackers. Why? Because the trauma forced her to find a path. She wanted to become a doctor. She wanted to help people the way the surgeons helped her.
But don't get it twisted—she’s not "best friends" with the idea of their release. Her family has been very vocal about the fear they feel every time a headline pops up about Geyser petitioning for freedom.
The Legal Aftermath and What You Should Know
The Waukesha stabbing Slender Man case changed how Wisconsin looks at kids in the court system. Because the crime was so violent, they were tried as adults.
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Think about that. Twelve-year-olds in adult court.
It sparked a massive debate that continues in 2026 about where the line is between "childhood mistake" and "adult-level malice." If they had been tried as juveniles, they would have been free at 18 or 25 with zero supervision. Because they were in the adult system, Geyser’s commitment could technically last for 40 years—until she’s in her 50s.
Actionable Takeaways for Today
If you’re a parent or just someone interested in the intersection of the internet and mental health, there are real things to learn from the Waukesha tragedy:
- Monitor the "Rabbit Hole": It wasn't just one story. It was months of immersion in "Creepypasta" wikis. If a child (or even an adult) starts losing touch with where the story ends and reality begins, it's time for an intervention.
- Understand Schizophrenia Signs: Early-onset is rare, but Geyser showed signs long before the stabbing. Hallucinations aren't always "scary"—sometimes they're just "imaginary friends" that never go away.
- The Digital Footprint is Permanent: The "Slender Man" myth is largely dead now, but the legal and psychological consequences for everyone involved are permanent.
The case remains a grim study in what happens when the digital world's darkest corners meet untreated mental illness. It’s a story of a survivor’s incredible resilience and a legal system still trying to figure out how to handle "proxies" of a man who never existed.
To stay informed on this case, you can monitor the Wisconsin Department of Corrections public records for updates on Morgan Geyser's custody status following her 2025 escape and subsequent return to a high-security psychiatric facility.