MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin state lawmakers are demanding answers after it took 11 hours for police to learn that Morgan Geyser had cut off her GPS tracking device and gone missing from a Madison group home.
Geyser, who was found not guilty by mental defect in the 2014 attempted homicide of a friend, disappeared from her supervised living facility Saturday night. The Department of Corrections received an alert at 9:30 p.m. that her GPS was malfunctioning, but Madison police weren't notified until the group home called 911 the following day.
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"Really? This shouldn't happen," said Jerry O'Connor, a Republican state lawmaker from Fond du Lac who serves on the Legislature's Department of Corrections Committee. "How did we miss that? And what are we going to do to correct it?"
The timeline reveals significant gaps in the notification system. According to Madison police, the Department of Corrections learned Geyser was no longer at the group home at 11:30 p.m. Around midnight, DOC issued an arrest warrant for Geyser that never reached the Madison police. Nearly eight hours later, the group home finally called Madison police to report her missing.
Watch: Wisconsin lawmakers question 11-hour delay in Morgan Geyser missing person alert
Madison Police Chief John Patterson said his department didn't receive immediate notification from DOC's system.
"DOC did place an apprehension request into their system that evening. That's not something that we receive an immediate alert on so it wasn't until morning that we needed to, you know, play catch-up," Patterson said.
Since Geyser was found not guilty by mental defect, she was placed in the Department of Health Services' custody. However, her GPS tracking device is monitored by the Department of Corrections. Its policy states that when a device is cut off, the Department of Corrections Electronic Monitoring Center is alerted and is responsible for notifying local and state law enforcement agencies.
O'Connor called the delay unacceptable and said there should be clear protocols in place.
"It's not acceptable, and frankly, it doesn't make sense. There should be a protocol in place," O'Connor said. "I'm expecting they're having a meeting as we speak."
The chairman of the Assembly committee said DOC is calling for a total review of what went wrong with their notification system and acknowledged that calling local law enforcement would have solved the issue. O'Connor wants that call to become standard protocol moving forward.
"This situation causes me to step back and say, 'Alright, are there other incidents of this happening? And if there are, how many? How frequently?" O'Connor said.
Patterson said his department will work with DOC to improve the process for future incidents.
"The time was not ideal, but we'll take a look at it, we'll work with DOC to figure out how do we improve on the next go round," Patterson said.
TMJ4 reached out to the state's Department of Corrections for comment on why the Madison Police Department wasn’t told Geyser was missing until the group home called 911 the next day. Their response didn’t directly answer that question; rather, it explained the process for notification:
“In cases where GPS monitoring is ordered for patients on conditional release from a DHS facility, the GPS device is monitored through DOC’s electronic monitoring center. This is how individuals under DOC supervision are monitored, as well.“
“Importantly, not all alerts the department receives from devices are the result of tampering or because an individual has absconded. A device may also alert, for example, if the device has any technological issue. When the monitoring center receives an alert that a device is not functioning correctly or may have been tampered with, the monitoring center makes efforts to try to resolve the alert and attempts to contact the client. As part of its standard process when a device alerts, DOC immediately begins to attempt to reengage the GPS monitoring device. If the device cannot be brought back online, continues to malfunction and the client cannot be reached, the monitoring center takes steps to locate the individual. This includes making contact with the facility where the person lives, the individual’s agent, issuing an apprehension request (also known as a warrant) and contacting law enforcement.”
“If attempts to contact a client and restore the device to working order are unsuccessful, the DOC then works to ascertain the location of the individual being monitored. In situations in which an individual resides at a residential facility with others, the DOC works to contact the residential facility where the client was placed to determine whether an individual is on the premises.”
“When an individual is under DOC supervision at a residential facility, the department works to contact individuals who manage and supervise the facility. In many instances, the individual who manages and supervises the facility are not the same person, and the former may not always be the individual who resides on site to supervise the facility. Following these efforts, if an individual cannot be located on the premises at which they are supposed to be located or it is determined a GPS monitor has been tampered with, DOC issues an apprehension request.”
“DOC can confirm that, at approximately 12 a.m. on November 23, 2025, DOC’s monitoring center issued an apprehension request, also known as a warrant, for a client.”
“An apprehension request or warrant is an official notification to local and state law enforcement agencies that an individual cannot be located, has absconded, and must be apprehended. Once a warrant is issued, local and state law enforcement agencies and agents are on notice to apprehend the individual upon any engagement or interaction with law enforcement. A warrant issued by DOC is only valid within the state of Wisconsin.”
“Additionally, in situations in which the DOC has information regarding the individual’s potential current location, the DOC may also provide any information it currently has about an individual who is actively sought under a warrant as a courtesy to local law enforcement in order to help apprehend the individual as soon as possible.”
“We can also share that the DOC and the DHS both actively worked to support local law enforcement efforts to apprehend the individual who was the subject of the above warrant.”
“Additionally, in situations in which there is a belief an individual may have or could attempt to evade DOC’s warrant and law enforcement by crossing state lines, DOC may work with law enforcement to expand its warrant beyond the state of Wisconsin to seek a nationwide extraditable warrant. Typically, this process happens in the ensuing days.”
“We can confirm that, as it relates to the client for whom a warrant was issued at approximately midnight on November 23, 2025, DOC worked urgently to seek a nationwide extraditable warrant as soon as possible, in partnership with Waukesha County law enforcement.”
“In the event an individual is located across state lines and is apprehended, the individual will then need to be extradited to return to Wisconsin or must waive extradition in order to be relocated to the state. If an individual declines to waive extradition, the extradition process may take several months.”
-Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections Spokesperson
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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