LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Stalking may sound like the stuff of true-crime television, but for hundreds of thousands of Michigan women, it has been real life.
The latest federal prevalence data estimates 22.2% of Michigan women – roughly 875,000 – have experienced stalking during their lifetime, according to the CDC’s 2023/2024 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Nationally, the figure is 22.5%, or about 28.8 million women. More recent Michigan criminal-justice data is available, but it measures stalking incidents reported to law enforcement and cases handled by the justice system rather than the broader prevalence of stalking among Michigan residents.
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The numbers tell only part of the story, however. Beyond how common stalking is, there is growing concern about just how dangerous it can become.
Dateline: Stalking can be a warning sign
Dateline NBC correspondent Josh Mankiewicz says the criminal justice system may still be underestimating just how dangerous stalking can become.
During the Sept. 2 episode of the Talking Dateline podcast, recorded at CrimeCon 2026, Mankiewicz discussed a common thread he had noticed while reporting several recent murder cases: stalking that preceded deadly violence.
He pointed to the murders of Kristil Krug and Morgan Fox. Fox was stalked by a co-worker who became obsessed with her before murdering her. Krug’s case involved stalking and electronic communications that investigators were trying to trace before she was killed. Her stalker was believed to be an ex-boyfriend but turned out to be her husband.
Mankiewicz compared the current legal treatment of stalking to where domestic violence was decades ago, when the criminal justice system’s response could amount to little more than telling an offender to knock it off.
He also argued that many stalking laws haven’t kept pace with smartphones, social media and cyberstalking.
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Krug’s murder ultimately helped lead to Kristil’s Law in Oregon, requiring social media companies to respond to law-enforcement search warrants in domestic violence and stalking investigations within 72 hours, while other communications providers have five business days. Mankiewicz said he hopes similar protections eventually spread nationwide.
What counts as stalking in Michigan?
Michigan law defines stalking as a “willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested and that actually causes the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested.”
A “course of conduct” means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of 2 or more separate noncontinuous acts evidencing a continuity of purpose.
The law identifies several forms of unwanted contact that can be involved in stalking, including following someone, approaching or confronting them, repeatedly appearing at their home or workplace, entering or remaining on their property, calling them, sending unwanted mail or electronic communications, or leaving objects on their property.
Michigan has misdemeanor and felony stalking laws
Unlike some states where stalking laws remain more limited, Michigan distinguishes between stalking and aggravated stalking based on the seriousness of the circumstances. Ordinary stalking generally involves repeated unwanted harassment that causes a victim to feel frightened, threatened, intimidated or harassed.
Aggravated stalking involves that same type of conduct but with an additional factor, such as making a credible threat, violating a restraining order or other court-imposed no-contact condition, or having certain prior stalking convictions. Aggravated stalking is therefore treated as the more serious felony offense.
Ordinary stalking under MCL 750.411h is generally a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. If the victim was under 18 at any time during the course of conduct and the offender is 5 or more years older, it is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Aggravated stalking under MCL 750.411i is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. If the victim was under 18 at any time during the course of conduct and the offender is 5 or more years older, it is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine.
Michigan residents can also seek a stalking personal protection order, and a criminal conviction isn’t required before a person petitions the court for protection.
When “creepy” becomes dangerous
The lesson emerging from the Dateline cases is that stalking shouldn’t be brushed off as an annoying ex, unwanted messages or someone who simply won’t take no for an answer. Repeated unwanted contact can be a warning sign that obsession is escalating into something far more dangerous.
And with an estimated 875,000 Michigan women having experienced stalking, Mankiewicz’s warning is hardly confined to the world of true-crime podcasts. For victims, recognizing stalking for what it is – and taking it seriously before the behavior escalates – can sometimes be a matter of life and death.
