A fictional character named slender man who they learned of on the internet and those two 12yearold girls said they were doing this for him. When morgan said to you that, if if we dont do this for slender our families and loved ones are gonna be killed do you honestly believe that . Well, yeah. cause hes he can be anywhere from 6 feet to 14 feet tall. He constantly wears a suit. He doesnt have a face. His skin is white. He can like, exploit these tendrils from his back and like, strangle his victims. Reporter for more than three years now, 20 20 has been documenting the three families nearly destroyed by the horror that played out during that sleepover. And tonight, right here, what we never knew before, asking the questions, how does this happen . How do 12yearold girls fall for a fictional character . What would drive them to try to kill one of their own friends . And, what should happen to those two girls now . Hey, morgan. Reporter just 24 hours ago, a judge making the final decision. Please be seated. Reporter after what you are about to see play out here tonight. Breaking news, a 12yearold girl is stabbed. Is lured into the area by two of her classmates, who allegedly stabbed her 19 times the girls would hope the attack would earn them a home in slender mans mansion. Slender man is a fictional horror character. Reporter we have been there for the journey. Two different mothers now visiting their daughters locked up since they were 12. We try to visit at least once a week. On a good week i can get out there two to three times. Aknee anisa was actually sent to the Washington County juvenile detention facility. Reporter kristi weier, her daughter is anissa. Reporter most children are only up there for an average of 4 months, and shes been there almost 3 years. Reporter angie geysers daughter, morgan, who came up with the plan and who held the knife. The children have no access to the outdoors, or even windows to look out of. In the last 35 months, anisa has maybe had 40 hours of fresh air. And there is no physical contact. I cant wipe away a tear, i cant give her a hug, i cant kiss her. Reporter their daughters are now teenagers morgan is 15 and anissa is 16. They have spent countless hours driving to visit their daughters locked up, trying to wrap their heads around how their two little girls, just 12 years old at the time, could have done something so unimaginable. And all of it began that friday night. What was the plan for that night . On friday nights, skateland had free pizza, so the girls went a little early and ate dinner and skated. Reporter and the third girl who was with them, Payton Leutner. Also just 12. Stacie and joe leutner remember their daughter had been looking forward to it for weeks. Reporter you remember how excited she was that friday afternoon . Oh my gosh, she was so, so excited. Reporter do you think payton had any idea . No. She had absolutely no idea. She was blindsided. Reporter blindsided by what those two friends had in store and they had been planning it for months. After that night of skating they would return to morgans house. Morgans mother, angie, downstairs. They played up in morgans bedroom with morgans dolls i mean, it was just a normal night. Reporter and no sign that two were plotting against payton . No, no sign whatsoever. The next morning, morgan asked if they could go to the park. Reporter how often would they go to the park . Well, we were actually, believe it or not, pretty strict parents and didnt let morgan go out on her own very often. Reporter but you thought because she had her two friends it would be safe . Mmhmm. Reporter the first sign anything is wrong. A Police Officer showing up at angies door. My heart dropped down into my stomach. Not only were there police in my living room, but they were wearing riot gear. Reporter across town officers are also arriving at paytons house. Around the side of the house, up over the deck came, a uniformed officer. The first thing that goes through my mind is, something has happened to somebody that i love. They asked me, wheres morgan . I said, shes at the park with her friends. Reporter angie geyser says the police tell her morgan is missing. They think she may be hiding her daughter. They searched the house, and i just kept asking what happened, whats going on. And they wouldnt tell me, other than to say there had been an incident in the park and one of the girls was hurt. Reporter at first, police refusing to reveal which one of those girls was hurt. They quickly also track down the parents of the third friend anissa weier telling them their daughter is missing too. My thought was child abduction. Where is my daughter . Thats the only thought i had in my head. Reporter it would take hours to piece together exactly what happened at that birthday sleep over. The first moment anyone would begin to learn of the horror is this call to 911. 911. Im transfer over a caller on big bend. Reporter 12yearold Payton Leutner had just crawled out of the woods covered in blood stabbed 19 times. And you can hear it in their voices the operators can not believe what they are hearing. He came upon a 12yearold female. She appears to have been stabbed. She appears to be what . Stabbed. Stabbed . Correct. Reporter Greg Steinberg was riding his bike that morning. On a path that had actually been chained off. It was pure chance he came this way. Reporter and you were biking by, and she says to you what . Could you help me please, i have been stabbed multiple times. I quick got out my cellphone i was shaking. Reporter he watches as the ambulance rushes her away. And when you looked at her, it was immediately apparent she had been stabbed multiple times . Yeah. To her chest, abdomen, arm and leg. Reporter doctors fear she might not survive. And her mother stacie has just been told that payton has been rushed to the hospital. And shes also been told it was she was terrified. She was crying. He couldnt breathe. Reporter but she saw you there. She saw me. And she put her hand out. And i rushed over to her. And i put my arms around her. And i laid next to her. And i hugged her. And i said, youre gonna be okay. Its gonna be fine. But i could see that she was covered. Her arms and her legs and her abdomen, they were covered in stab wounds. Reporter there were so many stab wounds, it took two nurses to count them, 19 in all. And her little girl is now being raced down the hall. Did you say anything to payton as they were wheeling her away . That i loved her and that she would be okay. Reporter paytons mother could not believe that her daughters friend could be capable of this. Morgan didnt do this, is whats going through my head. Theres no way. There no way thats whats happened. Morgan is 12. And morgan has never hurt a fly. It was just unthinkable that morgan would do anything to hurt someone else. Reporter but thats exactly what investigators were telling morgans mother that her daughter and anissa weier had stabbed their friend multiple times. And now both girls were nowhere to be found. They had run away. And the police hadnt found them yet. Reporter they were going to find a mansion in the woods . Oh the mansion, yeah the mansion in the woods. They were into the nicolet forest, because they believed that there was a mansion there that slenderman lived in. Reporter when we come back, the doctors discover it is worse than anyone thought. And were with the surgeon that saves payton. Less than a millimeter. Reporter between living and dying. Yes. Reporter plus, where those investigators would discover those girls. They would reveal in their own words why they did this. The stunning interrogations. I didnt want to do this. Why did you do it then . cause i was afraid of what would happen if i didnt. Thats not my daughter saying those things. Reporter it was like looking at a different child . Yes. Reporter but it was her daughter and what they would discover that had been hidden from that mother for years. When we come back. Things than or better rheumatiod arthritis. Before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. Xeljanz xr is a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. It can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. 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Reporter kristi had her daughters cell phone she scours it, searching for any clues. Instead, discovering something else. Checked all of her Text Messages trying to figure out the people that she called, and contacted last, and i found basically her goodbye notes. Reporter on that cellphone this note, drafted by anissa. This is my final wish to those who care, do not grieve my absence, but remember me for who i was. I love and cherish you all, and wouldnt do you harm. I still had no idea, but as soon as i found that i called the detective right away, and showed him that information. Reporter while at that hospital, surgeon john keleman tells us he will never forget the wounds. He tells me about one of the stab wounds to paytons heart. Reporter the knife cut through the tissue but not the artery itself. Exactly. Reporter and had it not . Had it not, she would have had a major heart attack from the amount of bleeding and probably died within a minute or two. Reporter but they would save her life as the hunt for the two other girls intensified. Nearly five hours after payton crawled out of the woods, her two friends are suddenly found on the side of interstate 94 walking out of walk waukesha. They have found those two girls im told around, 12 years old, and those girls are now being questioned by waukesha city police. A knife with a 5inch blade was found in one of the girls bags. Lieutenant tom moerman confronting them. I asked her to show me her hands. I noticed there was some staining on her sweatshirt. Reporter the detective told us that they had located morgan and anissa and that they were taking them to the Police Station to ask them some questions. I remember talking on the way how we were going to punish morgan for this. Reporter anissa weiers parents arrive at the Police Station too. They are told to wait. I stood right dead center of that lobby in full view of two cameras waiting to see my daughter. Reporter and listen to what their daughter anissa says to the investigator. Your parents know that youre here talking to me, okay. And are they scared . Theyre glad theyre s theyre theyre so glad that youre safe. Theyre we were scared for you guys. Reporter both separate rooms, gling beginning explain their plot to kill, referring to payton by her nickname, bella. Why do you think youre here today . Because anissa, and i ran off after hurting bella. Reporter morgan tells the detective the plan to kill payton had been in the works for months. So you guys have been planning this a while . Since december, she was my best friend since fourth grade. Who was . Payton. So why did you pick payton . I didnt pick her. Who picked her . Whoever anissa was talking about. She made it seem necessary. Reporter necessary, a word Morgan Geyser would use again, and again with that detective, saying her devotion to that fictional character slender man drove her to do this. Theres this website called the creepypasta wiki. Its full of, like, horror stories. There was one of them called slender man. Reporter slender man is the story of a character who suddenly appears, he changes and evolves all the time, with help from fans all over the world adding to the story giving a fictional character new life everyday. You have said that slender man is the boogieman of this digital generation. He is the thing that we fear that we dont actually encounter. Right . So we check our we check under our beds for the slender man but hes, you know, not actually there. Reporter morgan and anissa not only believed in slender man, they wanted to prove to the world he was real. Morgan said , hey anissa we should be proxies. I was like, okay, how would we do that . She indicated that in order to become a proxy of slender man you needed to kill somebody to prove yourself worthy to him. I was excited because i wanted proof that he existed. Reporter as slender mans grip on these girls begins to reveal itself, back at the hospital, Payton Leutner is unable to talk, at first, writing to communicate. One of her first questions is this did they get them . We told her they were they were found and the police have them. Reporter and as a dad, in that moment, how hard was that . Harder than i would have ever been able to imagine. This is my little girl whos laying there, and the only thing that i could tell her, at the time, to make her feel better was that, the police have them, and she was safe with us. Reporter when we come back the girls now describe their original plan, why it changed, and who actually held the knife in the woods. So she gives you the knife. And then i give it back to her and say, you do it. Go ballistic. Go crazy. Reporter and for every family watching tonight, we also learn what these parents never noticed. I couldnt believe what i was hearing. Reporter when we come back. N between set ups. 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Oh, bring back my bunny to me reporter and only now do moments along the way seem to carry greater weight. Morgans mom telling me she remembers showing her daughter a movie, a childrens classic. You were watching bambi, and you noticed something. What was it . When had been concerned to show morgan the movie because we were afraid when bambis mother died, she would be upset. She, in fact, had quite the opposite reaction. And after bambis mother was shot morgan just said, run, bambi run and had no reaction whatsoever to the mother dying. Reporter she wasnt at all concerned about the mom . No. No, not at all. Reporter and anissas mom points to her daughters childhood, and her struggle to fit in. Looking back, anissa was never really invited to a lot of, like, birthday parties or anything. I dont think she really made friends that easy. Reporter which is why both mothers say they were happy when their two daughters met at the bus stop in middle school. Morgan, did endure a lot of bullyi