“She ran because of me,” Chad “Charly” Mecca said, adding that he had been cited for criminal trespassing and obstructing identification.
Authorities say the trans friend found with Morgan Geyser after her escape from a Wisconsin group home is a biological man who insists the 23-year-old fled because of their friendship, and because she believed staff were trying to keep them apart.
Police located Geyser and Chad “Charly” Mecca, 43, late Sunday night at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, roughly 150 miles from the Madison area facility she walked out of the day before. Officers had responded to reports of two people lingering behind the building before confirming Geyser’s identity, reports the New York Post.
Mecca told local outlet WKOW that he felt responsible for the situation. “She ran because of me,” he said, adding that he had been cited for criminal trespassing and obstructing identification. According to him, Geyser feared her group home would cut off their visits. “She sobbed… ‘They’ll take away our visitation. Charly, please… you’re my best friend.’”
The two had met only a couple of months earlier at a church in Madison, but stayed in close contact. Mecca said that Geyser had already made clear she wasn’t going back if she left the home. “At the end of the day, I followed what I thought was right. I stand by it,” he said. Police referred to Mecca as male, though Geyser used female pronouns for Mecca during questioning. Court filings from earlier in 2025 revealed that Geyser, a biological female, had begun identifying as transgender.
Investigators said the pair used public transit to get from Madison to Chicago, then traveled on foot nearly 20 miles south before being found in Posen. A police report suggested they may have been trying to reach Nashville, Tennessee.
Geyser was 12 years old in 2014 when she and classmate Anissa Weier lured another girl, Payton Leutner, into the woods and stabbed her 19 times in what they said was an attempt to appease the fictional character “Slender Man.” Leutner survived after crawling to a bike path where a passerby spotted her.
A judge later found Geyser not guilty by reason of mental illness. She spent years in a secure psychiatric facility before being transferred to a supervised group home earlier this year.
On Saturday evening, she removed her court-ordered ankle monitor and left the home. Police say she initially gave them a fake name after being detained, later telling officers she didn’t want to reveal who she was.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
