Urban legends are everywhere. There’s the famous ones, like Bloody Mary, the licked hand, and the killer in the backseat. There are also local legends unique to certain towns and communities, such as the Loch Ness Monster. But few are as disturbing as Cropsey, the urban legend about a “boogeyman” in Staten Island that became popular in the 1970s. Its tale involved an escaped mental patient with a hook hand or axe who would kidnap and murder kids. However, Cropsey turned out to be real when the police arrested a child abductor and killer that scarily resembled the story.
The Legend of Cropsey
At the time, Staten Island was different compared to the rest of New York. Instead of urban skyscrapers, it had patches of rough woodland surrounding neighborhoods that were easy to get lost in. And perfect for the setting of a spooky campfire story. The Cropsey tale differed based on who’s telling it. Sometimes he had a hook for hand, or disfiguring scars and burns. Sometimes he had a son who had died, which set him on his disturbing spree to find a kid to replace him.
The Real “Cropsey”
However, if you remove the embellishments of the hook hand, disfiguration, and dead son, you’d find a real person named Andre Rand, who was eventually arrested and convicted. This is the basis of the 2009 “Cropsey” documentary, which was created by filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio, who had grown up in Staten Island, and saw their childhood boogeyman turn out to be real.
Read More: Man Documents Everything While Visiting the Highest City On Earth That Has No Laws
Who was Andre Rand?
Rand was born in the 1940s, and worked as a custodian at the Willowbrook State School of Staten Island in 1983. That year, he drove a school bus with 11 kids inside without any authorization and went to the Newark Liberty International Airport. This kidnapping attempt was fortunately thwarted, and he was sentenced to ten months in prison. Even today, it’s unclear why he decided to do this.
A suspicious figure
Unlike other famous serial killers, Rand wasn’t charismatic and well-liked in his community. Many parents were wary of him because he would try to befriend young children and take them for walks or to the local diner. He was also often the last person seen with a missing child. Although people would accuse him of kidnapping, even killing, there was no evidence of it.
Arrested and convicted
No evidence… Until 1987, when Jennifer Schweiger, a 12-year-old with Down’s syndrome, disappeared. Only a year later, he was arrested for kidnapping and first-degree murder of Jennifer. He then was accused of being responsible for the abduction of other kids in Staten Island, namely Alice Pereira, Holly Ann Hughes, Tiahease Jackson, and Hank Gafforio. However, although there were clues of him taking the children, the authorities couldn’t definitively prove he had murdered them. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, to be released in 2037. The legends surrounding “Cropsey” didn’t end with Rand’s arrest. Some people theorize he wasn’t working alone, or that he took children for Satanic rituals.
The horrors of the Willowbrook State School
What’s even more troubling is that Rand was no stranger to the police. In 1969, he served 16 months in jail for attempting to assault a nine-year-old child. Somehow, he got a job as a school custodian after that. But this may be no surprise to people familiar with the reputation of Willowbrook State School at the time. The facility was intended for kids with learning difficulties, but it was not a safe environment. On the contrary, the children were subjected to physical and sexual abuse as well as unsanitary conditions. It’s possible that Rand had committed more crimes against children than people realize.
“Cropsey” declines a documentary interview
Unfortunately, the story of Cropsey shows that reality can be scarier than the creepiest of urban legends. The 2009 documentary delved into the legend and the crimes surrounding it. The filmmakers had reached out to Rand for an interviewer, but he declined last minute. Throughout his incarceration, he has insisted upon his innocence, the documentary explains. However, Zeman and Brancaccio do speak to relatives of the victims, police officers, activists, reporters, neighbors, and people who participated in the original search parties. The film received a few awards and nominations, including the Audience Award Winner at the Staten Island Film Festival.