'Slender Man' Stabber Escape Takes New Twist With Transgender Accomplice

9:23 AM PT -- TMZ has obtained bodycam footage showing the arrest of Geyser and Mecca in Posen, Illinois.

The "Slender Man" stabber escape has taken another turn ... Morgan Geyser -- the internet horror character-inspired killer -- ran away from a group home because she was reportedly going to be barred from seeing her transgender friend.

As you know, Geyser cut off her ankle bracelet Saturday night and slipped away from the group home in Madison, Wisconsin, where she was living under the authority of the Department of Corrections. Police launched a nationwide manhunt and recaptured Geyser the very next day ... and it's now reported Geyser was found with her transgender friend, Chad "Charly" Mecca, at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, near Chicago.

Geyser, 23, was not hit with any local charges because it would only serve to prolong her extradition back to Wisconsin, police said. An extradition hearing is slated for today in Cook County.

However, 43-year-old Mecca -- who Geyser reportedly says is transgender, and refers to her as "she," despite police using male pronouns for Mecca -- was slapped with a citation for criminal trespassing and obstructing identification, although police did not give specifics.

Mecca was booked into the county jail and posed for a mugshot before giving a phone interview with WKOW 27 in Madison.

Mecca told the reporter Geyser "ran because of me," citing the claim they were going to be banned from seeing each other at the group home. As a result, Mecca said the besties decided to escape together, believing what they did was right and she stands by their decision.

In 2017, Geyser, who was 12 at the time, pleaded guilty to attempted intentional homicide in the brutal stabbing of Payton Leutner, also 12. Geyser's 12-year-old friend, Anissa Weier, also pleaded guilty to being a party to attempted intentional homicide.

Geyser told detectives she was inspired to kill Leutner by an online horror character called the "Slender Man," which led to the 2018 movie of the same name.