Andre Rand, who was born on March 11, 1944, in Manhattan, New York, is regarded as the most renowned criminal to have ever lived on Staten Island. This classification is mostly a result of his heinous criminality, which involved young children.
Andre Rand ended up with a life term in prison
Thankfully, Andre Rand’s journey came to an end with a life term in prison, but the convicted kidnapper and suspected child serial killer left behind enough suffering that this story isn’t at all uplifting. He is now completing two sentences of 25 years to life in prison.
A real-life bedtime story about a boogeyman-like monster with a hook for a hand was told to Staten Island children, and that is how the man’s dark and perversely fascinating life began. Children would be dragged from the security of their homes and transported to an abandoned hospital by the shape.
This evil character was given the name Cropsey. Andre Rand quickly took on as he tormented the residents of Staten Island by engaging in eerily identical behavior.
Andre Rand was your real-life boogeyman
Even though scary bedtime stories are a common and exciting aspect of early childhood for most people, these gloomy little tales quickly become unsettlingly real. The disappearances and accumulation of bodies of local children caused fact and fantasy to blur together.
In the 1960s, Andre Rand worked as a custodian at Willowbrook State School in Staten Island. The state of New York provided funding for this facility for young people with impairments. The operation seemed to be running nicely until officials noticed dubious conditions and strange medical procedures.
Rand was forced to locate employment after it closed. Sadly, he engaged in more sinister pursuits with his time. Several young girls in the neighborhood vanished between the time the school closed and the early 1970s. Alice Pereira, who is five years old, was the first.
The first surprise happened on July 10, 1972. While playing in her neighborhood, just a few miles southeast of Willowbrook, the toddler appeared to vanish into thin air. For the kidnapping of multiple children, Rand had already served 10 months in jail at this point.
Since none of the children were hurt, he was never found guilty of kidnapping or abduction, but he did do time for unlawful incarceration. While Rand was granted freedom, Pereira vanished. Naturally, the police thought he was the main suspect in her disappearance.
Rand managed to avoid prosecution
But there wasn’t enough proof to prosecute him, and the young girl vanished without a trace.
Holly Ann Hughes, at 7 years old, vanished on July 15, 1981. A number of witnesses claimed to have seen the girl with Rand just before she vanished, and her parents reported her missing. Once more, there was no concrete evidence to support an arrest.
Two years later, when 11-year-old Tiahease Jackson vanished, Rand was once more the main suspect. Hank Gafforio, then 21 years old, disappeared in 1984. A town was terrified as a result of these unsettling happenings, which was made worse by the fact that no one was found guilty or identified as the culprit.
The cops finally got a break in the investigation three years later. On July 9, 1987, a 12-year-old Down syndrome patient named Jennifer Schweiger was reported missing. The 35-day search for her or her body resulted in trauma.
The New York Times reports that Schweiger was discovered deceased in a shallow grave on the grounds of the former Willowbrook State School.
Bob Devine, a volunteer on the search team for Schweiger, recalled the moment they dug it up and discovered a small foot there. It’s something you’ll remember for the rest of your life.
Serial killer custodian caught in lie by media
Before the girl’s death was found, Rand had already been detained in connection with Schweiger’s kidnapping. He was caught lying to reporters, saying he had never met the girl, which was in direct opposition to the testimonies made by multiple witnesses. After learning about these particular reports, his defence attorney convinced him to revise his entire tale.
Rand was charged with her murder in addition to kidnapping once Schweiger’s body was discovered. Although the jury was unable to find him guilty of the murder allegation, they did find him guilty of first-degree kidnapping. It was 1988.
Although there wasn’t enough proof at the time, according to The New York Daily News, Rand was convicted of Hughes’ kidnapping in 2004 — more than 20 years after she vanished. It was able to accuse and convict Rand of the crime because first-degree kidnapping in New York has no statute of limitations.
He received a second sentence of 25 years to life in addition to the one he was already serving. For all intents and purposes, the Staten Island boogeyman is still imprisoned today in connection with the abductions of Holly Ann Hughes and Jennifer Schweiger and won’t be eligible for parole until 2037. He will be 93 years old if he survives that long.
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