Proxies: The Faceless Man · Pretty Wicked · Radar

The Girls & Growing Obsession4:35 – 10:28

4:35

Waukesha, Wisconsin is a suburb of Milwaukee with a population of around 71,000 people.

4:41

There are strip malls, lakes, churches, cul-de-sacs.

4:45

And it's the kind of place where when a uniformed officer walks up on the side of your house on a Saturday morning, your brain jumps to the worst thing that it can think of.

4:56

Because what else could it possibly be? And that's actually a paraphrase of something that Peyton's mom, Stacey, said earlier.

5:04

in her ABC News interview, and it just stayed with me.

5:08

Now, the three girls in this story all went to the same middle school.

5:12

They were all in sixth grade in the 2013-2014 school year.

5:17

Peyton Isabella Lutner, known to her friends at the time as Bella, Morgan Geiser, and Anissa Weier, who was the oldest of the three by about six months.

5:28

The original pair of besties were Morgan and Peyton.

5:31

They were best friends since fourth grade.

5:34

And according to New York Magazine's deep dive on the case, which I will be pulling from a lot today, they both loved cats.

5:41

They both loved playing dress up.

5:44

And Morgan was obsessed with Harry Potter.

5:47

At one point, the two of them even used to play a game at lunch where they pretended that Voldemort was chasing them through the cafeteria.

5:55

They talked on the phone every single night.

5:58

And on the Friday afternoon of Morgan's 12th birthday sleepover, they hung around their favorite teacher's classroom after school, helping her clean up.

6:07

So that's the friendship.

6:08

That's where this starts.

6:10

Two sixth grade girls helping their favorite teacher tidy up before a sleepover.

6:17

Now, Anissa, Anissa came into the picture in sixth grade.

6:20

She lived in the same apartment building as Morgan, and they rode the school bus together every day.

6:26

And they got close very fast.

6:29

And Morgan brought her into the friend group.

6:33

Here's where things shift, because Peyton didn't actually like Anissa very much.

6:38

Peyton said that Anissa came across as cruel, but she didn't want to lose her best friend, Morgan, so she tolerated her.

The Girls & Growing Obsession4:35 – 10:28

4:35

Waukesha, Wisconsin is a suburb of Milwaukee with a population of around 71,000 people.

4:41

There are strip malls, lakes, churches, cul-de-sacs.

4:45

And it's the kind of place where when a uniformed officer walks up on the side of your house on a Saturday morning, your brain jumps to the worst thing that it can think of.

4:56

Because what else could it possibly be? And that's actually a paraphrase of something that Peyton's mom, Stacey, said earlier.

5:04

in her ABC News interview, and it just stayed with me.

5:08

Now, the three girls in this story all went to the same middle school.

5:12

They were all in sixth grade in the 2013-2014 school year.

5:17

Peyton Isabella Lutner, known to her friends at the time as Bella, Morgan Geiser, and Anissa Weier, who was the oldest of the three by about six months.

5:28

The original pair of besties were Morgan and Peyton.

5:31

They were best friends since fourth grade.

5:34

And according to New York Magazine's deep dive on the case, which I will be pulling from a lot today, they both loved cats.

5:41

They both loved playing dress up.

5:44

And Morgan was obsessed with Harry Potter.

5:47

At one point, the two of them even used to play a game at lunch where they pretended that Voldemort was chasing them through the cafeteria.

5:55

They talked on the phone every single night.

5:58

And on the Friday afternoon of Morgan's 12th birthday sleepover, they hung around their favorite teacher's classroom after school, helping her clean up.

6:07

So that's the friendship.

6:08

That's where this starts.

6:10

Two sixth grade girls helping their favorite teacher tidy up before a sleepover.

6:17

Now, Anissa, Anissa came into the picture in sixth grade.

6:20

She lived in the same apartment building as Morgan, and they rode the school bus together every day.

6:26

And they got close very fast.

6:29

And Morgan brought her into the friend group.

6:33

Here's where things shift, because Peyton didn't actually like Anissa very much.

6:38

Peyton said that Anissa came across as cruel, but she didn't want to lose her best friend, Morgan, so she tolerated her.