Cropsey Echoes Through the Trees

The Cropsey case refers to a series of child abductions and murders on Staten Island, New York, in the 1970s and 1980s, tied to the local urban legend of "Cropsey"—a boogeyman said to escape from the abandoned Willowbrook State School and snatch children. Andre Rand, a former Willowbrook custodian turned drifter who lived in the school's ruins, became known as the real-life Cropsey after his arrests. Key Events Children began vanishing near Willowbrook, including five-year-old Alice Pereira in 1972 and seven-year-old Holly Ann Hughes in 1981, who was never found. In 1983, Rand was jailed briefly for unlawfully taking YMCA kids on an outing. The case broke in 1987 when 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger, who had Down syndrome, disappeared; witnesses saw Rand with her, and her body was later found shallowly buried near his campsite. Convictions and Legacy Rand was convicted of kidnapping Schweiger in 1988 (25 years to life), though the jury deadlocked on murder, and in 2004 for Hughes' kidnapping (another 25-to-life term; parole possible at 93 in 2037). He's linked to other disappearances like Tiahease Jackson and adults, but many cases remain unsolved, fueling documentaries like Cropsey (2009).