A Legend Not Half as Terrifying as the Truth: Cropsey
A Legend Not Half
as Terrifying as the Truth: Cropsey
A legend terrifies
an island of children
Every state has its lore, and New York is no exception. This
legend gets its origins from 1970’s Staten Island. Cropsey was his name, and he
hunted children to make up for the son that he lost. The criminally insane
killer stalked the woodlands and ruins of the Island.
Descriptions of Cropsey differ, but most would agree that he
was scarred or deformed in some way. A popular addition was a hook for a hand. A
generation of children on Staten Island lived in fear of a monster of lore,
while a very real monster stalked their streets.
Innocent souls stolen by a very real boogeyman
Alice Pereira
07/07/1972
5 years old
Alice was last seen playing in the lobby of her apartment building
with her brother around 3:30 p.m. on July 7th. Her brother left her side for
a short period of time. When he returned, she was gone. A possible sighting occurred
at a park close to the apartments shortly after the abduction. Alice was
reported missing by her mother at 6:15 p.m.
Alice’s father was originally a suspect, as her parents were
living apart at the time of her disappearance, he was later cleared.
Rand became a suspect pretty quickly. He worked in the
apartment complex and was a convicted child sex offender. No one has been
convicted in Alice’s case, and she has never been found, though the community
still look for her and other Rand victims twice a year.
Audrey Nerenberg
07/05/1977
18 years old
Audrey was last seen leaving her home around 2 p.m. on July
5th to buy cigarettes. Her parents later received a ransom call. FBI
became involved, and the caller never made contact again. While Audrey was on
medication for schizophrenia, her family stated that she was capable of getting
to and from on her own. The day before her disappearance, Audrey went to the movies
with her family. The theater was close to Rand’s campground, and Audrey is
known to have made repetitive actions due to her mental illness. Other theories
in her disappearance have been followed up on, with no results.
Ethel Atwell
10/24/1978
42 years old
Ethel was last seen at her workplace; Staten Island
Developmental Center (Willowbrook State School) around 6 a.m. on October 24th.
Coworkers heard her pleading with a male to not take her for fear that he would
“beat her”. It was dark, and there were no streetlights on at the time. The coworkers
called the police, but they had not seen anything due to the darkness. When police
arrived, there was evidence of a struggle, including buttons torn from Ethel’s
coat and her dentures found around her car, and her keys were found several
feet away. There is a sketch of a suspect in this case. Rand is also a suspect,
as he is known to have lived in the area at the time.
Holly Ann Hughes
07/15/1981
7 years old
Holly Ann left her home around 9:30 p.m. on July 15th
to go to a nearby deli to purchase a bar of soap for her mother. She purchased the
soap but never returned home.
In August 1981, Holly Ann’s mother received a call from a
man going by the name “Sal”, who claimed to have Holly Ann and demanded a
meeting to for Holly Ann’s mother to preform sexual favors in return for her
child. Holly Ann’s mother didn’t believe him, but she went to the meeting
place. “Sal” never showed up.
Holly Ann’s family feel the police didn’t do as thorough of
a job as they could have on the investigation. It wasn’t until 2004, when the
family would see someone tried and convicted; Andre Rand. Rand was sentenced to
25 years to life.
Tiahease Jackson
08/14/1983
10 years old
Tiahease was asked by a neighbor to pick up some groceries for
them at a nearby supermarket around 1:30 p.m. on August 14th. Tiahease’s
mother was sleeping, but awoke a few hours later to find her daughter still
gone, and she reported her missing at 4:30 p.m. Tiahease was said to have known
her way around and be able to handle herself well in public. She had several
medical conditions that required medication at the time of her disappearance. Tiahease
went missing 12 days after Andre Rand was released from prison, and his campsite
was close to the motel her family was living in at the time. Tiahease’s mother
had also seen him in the parking lot.
Henry Gafforio
06/09/1984
22 years old
Henry was out drinking the night he went missing. He was
last seen around 4 a.m. on June 9th and was reported missing at 7
p.m. that night. There is little information about his disappearance, but he
was a well known figure of the area, and he was mentally challenged, so people
looked out for him.
Jennifer Schweiger
07/09/1987
12 years old
12 year old Jennifer was on a walk when she was taken. Her body
was found over a month later on the grounds of Willowbrook State School. Jennifer
was seen walking with Andre Rand on the day she disappeared. Rand was also known
to live on the grounds of Willowbrook at the time. Rand claimed to not know
Jennifer until witnesses came forward saying otherwise. Rand was not charged with
her murder, but he was charged with her kidnapping.
The Devil himself
Born Frank Rushan on March 11th, 1944, Rand grew
up in Ithaca. He briefly served in the military before becoming a janitor at
Willowbrook in the late 60’s. He legally changed his name in 1968 and began
moving from temporary shelter to temporary shelter.
In 1969, Rand committed his first kidnapping. He also
attempted to rape his victim, but he was caught and sentenced to 16 months in prison.
In 1981, Rand had another failed abduction attempt. Unfortunately,
later in the year, he would succeed with Holly Ann.
In 1983, Rand unlawfull imprisoned 11 YMCA children and
received 10 months in prison for his efforts. Tiahease would go missing later
that year.
Finally, in 1987, he was charged with Jennifer’s kidnapping.
And in 2004, Rand was found guilty of kidnapping Holly Ann. He will be eligible
for parole in 2037.
When speaking about Rand, President of Friends of Jennifer
for Missing Children, Donna Cutugno stated, “He terrified a whole community. He
still haunts us.”
Justice for some but not others
Rand is a sick man, who never had to fully answer for his
crimes. Today, we remember all of his victims and hope that they will one day
be found. Locals still go in search of Holly Ann, Tiahease, Ethel, Henry, Alice,
and Audrey.
********I planned to make weekly posts, but this one was
hard for me. I’m sorry it took me a month to get out.
Resources:
Cropsey- Documentary by Joshua Zeman
Historicmysteries.com
Allthatsinteresting.com
Discover.hubpages.com
Charleyproject.org
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