In WAUKESHA, Wis., state officials have moved to terminate the conditional release of Morgan Geyser, who was involved in a near-fatal attack on a classmate in 2014, influenced by the fictional horror figure Slender Man. Geyser recently absconded from a group home, prompting this legal action.

On Wednesday, a judge from Waukesha County Circuit Court consented to keep the petition from the Department of Corrections confidential. This petition, submitted late Tuesday, aims to revoke Geyser’s release. Earlier this year, another judge permitted Geyser to transition from a state mental health facility to a group home setting.

Geyser reportedly removed her GPS tracking device on Saturday night and left the Madison, Wisconsin group home with a 43-year-old accomplice, according to law enforcement. Police apprehended her Sunday evening near Chicago, roughly 170 miles from Madison.

During a court session in Chicago on Tuesday, Geyser opted not to contest her return to Wisconsin. By Wednesday afternoon, she was detained at the Waukesha County Jail.

Attorney Tony Cotton, representing Geyser, did not issue a statement in response to inquiries about the state’s motion to rescind her release, as per an email request sent on Wednesday.

The judge set a motion hearing for Dec. 22.

If Geyser’s conditional release is revoked, she could be sent back to the mental institution where she spent most of the past eight years. She also could face new charges in connection with her escape.

Geyser’s companion has been charged with trespassing and obstruction, but The Associated Press isn’t naming the companion because the person hasn’t been charged with aiding Geyser’s escape. The AP’s attempts to contact that person have been unsuccessful.

The companion did call WKOW-TV on Monday, however, saying the two became friends at church and had seen each other daily for the past month. Geyser decided to flee because she was afraid her group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the person said.

“She ran because of me,” the friend told the television station.

Geyser and her companion took a bus overnight into Illinois, the friend said.

Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, lured one of their classmates, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times, narrowly missing her heart, while Weier cheered her on. All three girls were 12 years old at the time. Leutner barely survived.

Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man and becoming his servants. They said they were afraid Slender Man would hurt their families if they didn’t carry out the attack.

Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudson in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.

Both Geyser and Weier were ultimately committed to a state mental institution – Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25. Wisconsin law allows people committed to state institutions to petition for release. Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Geyser, now 23, won conditional release in September after four requests and was placed in the group home.

State health officials tried to block her release in March, telling the judge that Geyser didn’t volunteer to her therapy team that she had read “Rent Boy,” a novel about murder and selling organs on the black market. They also alleged that she has been communicating with a man who collects murder memorabilia, and has sent him her own sketch of a decapitated body and a postcard saying she wants to be intimate with him.

The judge concluded that Geyser wasn’t trying to hide anything and proceeded with her release, which was finalized in September.

ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.

Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin.