Slender Man

(True Story)

I had never heard of this until the story aired on 20/20. In 2014 there were three 12-year-old girls in Wisconsin who had a sleepover. The girls had become enamored with a creepy fictional internet character called Slender Man.

Two of the friends became convinced that unless they killed their other friend, Slender Man would kill them and their families. At the sleepover the three girls walked out into some nearby woods. The two friends attacked the third girl and stabbed her 19 times! They then left her for dead and decided to run away.

Miraculously, the friend survived the attack. A man was riding his bike on a path that had been chained off. He came across the girl who was covered in blood and dragging herself to the path. Immediately he got his cell phone out and called 911. The bloody body was rushed to the emergency room. The Doctor who treated her said had one of the stab wounds been one millimeter over it would have killed her instantly. It took two nurses to count all the stab wounds.

The two perpetrators had become followers of the gruesome character on a website called Creepypasta.com. Apparently, people go on the site to get creeped out. This time it proved nearly fatal for a 12-year-old girl. When the police interrogated the girls, there was no remorse. One of the girls had been good friends with the victim since the 4th grade. The kids were tried as adults and determined to be mentally unstable. The girl who did the stabbing got up to a 40-year sentence in a mental ward. The accomplice got up to a 25-year sentence.

What is the moral of the story? Know what your kids are doing online and behind closed doors. Monitor who they are hanging out with. There was no mention by the parents of faith or spiritual grounding. Had they been grounded in their faith, this could have been avoided. If they don’t get the grounding at home, where are they going to get it?

The mother of the girl who got the lengthy sentence was aware of the Slender Man saga, but did nothing. Her comment was, “I was reading Stephen King at her age, so I did not think anything about it.” The young girl’s father had been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and now the daughter had been diagnosed with the same issue. How was this missed previously? You know there had to be signs. When they searched her room they found mutilated Barbie dolls and numerous notes and drawings that were disturbing to say the least. In one note she said she wanted to die.

This is a tragedy on every level. It is a wake-up call. I wonder how many kids like these are walking the halls of our schools?

P.S. The girl who survived is now 16 years old. She has readjusted and is doing well despite the circumstances.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

2 Responses to “Slender Man”

  1. Mary McGregor says:

    Glad the young lady is okay and getting on with her life. Prayers offered for all concerned.