In the legends he lived in the woods and ventured out to abduct children. Here are 10 quick life facts about Randon that you should know. Shatiek Johnson was just 17 when he fatally shot Officer Gerard Carter on July 26, 1998, in West Brighton. Many still believe that there are hidden human remains lying underneath the weeds, trash, and bramble on the Willowbrook grounds. Randon became a Catholic nun in 1944 and took the name of Sister Andr, according to Guinness World Records. Acres and acres of crumbling old buildings had lots of history. [5] She converted to Catholicism in 1923 at the age of 19. This week, she became the oldest known person to have survived Covid-19. You may opt-out by. Andre Rand, a janitor at the school, was homeless and living in a homemade tent on the grounds of the institution. Many people who experience the suffering of loved ones go into the helping professions. Are any still there, hiding in the remaining ruins? Gonzalez, now 49, drove the getaway car used by the killer, his half-brother, Steven Morales, in the Mothers Day murder. The guy wit da hook! or the ax, or knife, or whatever, had no proper name in my area. See below article for full citation. The Legend of Cropsey ended up not being a legend at all. On Wednesday, most of the nursing home residents were out of isolation, and Sister Andr was readying herself for her birthday. Born on February 11, 1904, Lucille Randon looked after children as a governess, became a nun during World War Two in 1944 and post-war, she looked after orphans at a hospital in Vichy, Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes for 28 years. Prosecutors said Mannino was among a gang of five who broke into the victims' plush Nixon Avenue home on Ward Hill. New York state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. During its 40 years of operation, Willowbrook repeatedly came under fire for the mistreatment of its students. She has famously received a letter from Pope Francis, and the newly reelected President Emmanuel Macron, who becomes the 18th president to be in power during her lifetime. She also reportedly drinks a glass of wine each day. Rand dubbed the "Hannibal Lecter of Staten Island" is already serving 25 years to life for the kidnapping of another 12-year-old borough girl in 1988. Rand was a janitor at Willowbrook from 1966-1968. Cropseywas a mythical, boogeyman-typecharacter feared by the children of Staten Island. Schweiger had Down syndrome and had left her home on what was supposed to be a short walk. First published on April 26, 2022 / 1:05 PM. She is calm, very radiant and she is quite looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday, he said, adding that the homes most famous resident was resting on Wednesday and needed a break from interviews. In 1988 he was ultimately convicted of kidnapping in the first-degree and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Andre Rand or Frank Rushan is an American convicted kidnapper of two children and suspected serial killer from Staten Island New York currently . Inside Salt Lake Citys Buzziest New Hotels: The Dual-Branded Element And Le Mridien, Mothers Day Gift Guide: The Best Under-Seat Luggage, Denim Design By A Flying Dutchman Touches Down For Milan Design Week, at 85.3 years for females and 79.4 years for males. The 5 Scariest Monster Urban Legends In The U.S. Creepy History: Journey To The Island Of The Dolls, Creepy History: 5 Insane Asylums And The Horrors That Happened There. New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervison, Steven Morales, killer of floral-shop owner, is serving 25 years to life. Cropsey. Her mission lasted 18 years until she was sent to another hospital at La Baume-d'Hostun, Drme, for night duty in 1963. The only body found in a shallow grave on the Willowbrook grounds was little 12 year old Jennifer Schweiger, a child with Downs Syndrome, whose remains were found after an exhausting 35 day search after her disappearance in 1987. Almost all of these cases took place within the greater Staten Island area around the 1970s and 1980s. 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. Previously, in 1988, Rand, seen in this 2001 file photo, was convicted of abducting Westerleigh resident Jennifer Schweiger, 12, in July 1987. Once these institutions closed, former patients along with other members of the homeless population moved into the underground tunnels that connected the buildings and made camp on the grounds outside. The couple's two young daughters were sleeping in the next room. Prosecutors said Rispoli and the victim, 43, left a neighborhood bar between 3 and 4 a.m. and the defendant attacked her when she rebuffed his advances at PS 13 schoolyard. Sister Andr remained isolated for weeks and felt a bit patraque, or off color, Mr. Tavella said, but she blamed the virus and not her age. Andre Rand was born Frank Rushan to working-class parents on March 11, 1944. Rand was charged with attempted rape but eventually plead guilty to sexual abuse in 1970 in order to receive a lighter sentence. [4], On her 118th birthday in February 2022, Randon received a birthday note from the French president, Emmanuel Macron. While Rand was granted freedom, Pereira vanished. 1. She thinks to herself that Calment's record "is within reach, if she's going to stay on Earth, she might as well make it," he added. He was the real-life embodiment of "Cropsey," a boogie man who figured in the campfire stories and nightmares of many children in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and along the Eastern Seaboard. In the 80s, a man named Andre Rand worked as a custodian at a school for children with disabilities, and he was convicted of killing many of the children who attended there. Is Riding A Citi Bike In NYC Safer Than Riding A Personal Bicycle? Rand was forced to locate employment after it closed. Fields, now 31, of Mariners Harbor, attacked the victim around 2 a.m. behind a church at the corner of Brabant Street and Harbor Road. The New Brighton resident, seen in this 2014 photo, will be eligible for parole in February 2029, at the age of 45. Simply shuffle up, ask a question, and let the content roll. Once more, there was no concrete evidence to support an arrest. Sister Andre's status as the oldest person alive has yet to be confirmed by Guinness World Records, and there is no official institution to bestow the title. Staten Island man, Andre Rand, was found guilty of the kidnapping of innocent children. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Rand was charged with her murder in addition to kidnapping once Schweigers body was discovered. Camerlengo, now 53 and seen in this 1990 file photo, had been deemed unfit for trial for seven years. The cases of Tiahease Jackson, Alice Pereira, and Hank Gafforio all remain unsolved. Now blind and in a wheelchair, she has at times felt lonely and dependent, she told French news outlets in interviews in recent years, but has accepted the ordeal that the pandemic has brought, Mr. Tavella said. What all of the Staten Island victims had in common was their innocence. Jennifer Schweiger's body was found, but here's the funny thing. Read this: Creepy History: 5 Insane Asylums And The Horrors That Happened There, Read this: This Is The Brutal Murder That Inspired 9-1-1, Read this: 50 Grisly, True Stories That Will Scare The Crap Out Of You, Reaching For Connection: How Instagram Changed My Life As I Faced My Crohns Diagnosis, 10 Urban Legends That Turned Out To Be True, 25 Twisted Urban Legends That Will Cause You To Lose Sleep Tonight (And Tomorrow Too). 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 mans dark and perversely fascinating life began. By 1987 the school was shuttered for good. The very creepy film outlines the origins of the homespun nightmare where, according to lore, an insane man with a hook for a hand terrorized neighborhood boys and girls, dragging them into the crumbling ruins of Staten Islands abandoned Seaview Hospital. Sister Andr was alive during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 and now officially becomes the worlds oldest Covid-19 survivor as she contracted the virus in 2021, although she told The Guardian that she didnt even realise that she had it. She lives in a nursing home in Toulon, in the south of France, where she has been for the past 12 years and stayed in her room at the height of the pandemic as she was told to do, although she has said that she found the solitude difficult. Andre Rands mother had struggled with mental illness and had lived, like poet Allen Ginsbergs mom, at the Pilgrim State Asylum. At least one of them, Andre Rand, is known as a notorious serial killer who has actually never been convicted of murder. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Sister Andr was born before World War I. Randon was born in France on Feb. 11, 1904. Somespeculatehe may have been involved in the disappearance of another young girl shortly after his release. She kept telling me, Im not afraid of Covid because Im not afraid of dying, so give my vaccine doses to those who need them, Mr. Tavella said. [1] She was also the oldest known survivor of the COVID-19 pandemic, having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 a month before her 117th birthday.[2][3]. Spouse-killer Janet Redmond-Mercereau is serving 25 years to life. That will come with a glass of Champagne. Long Shadows of a Borough's Boogeyman. "Cropsey" is a creepy documentary with all the elements of a horror film about a demented serial killer, and an extra ingredient: This one is real, and you see him handcuffed in the film, not merely empty-eyed, shabby and stooped, but actually drooling. Before she became a nun, Randon worked as a teacher, a governess and a child care provider during World War II (Sept. 1, 1939, to Sept. 2, 1945), according to Guinness World Records. She was expected to be busy on Thursday. Hell be 93. On January 9, 1983, Rand picked up 11 kids in a school bus. Sister Andr, a French nun, has become the oldest recorded person in the world at 118 years and 73 days. With the recent death of Kane Tanaka, 119, the world's oldest person is now Randon, at age 118. Market data provided by Factset. Mr. Tavella said Sister Andr remained patient during weeks of isolation although the talkative nun inquired a few times about when she could see people again. 3) Anna had a domineering personality and was the mover and shaker in the family. At this time, that he was charged with first-degree murder. He will be 93 years old if he survives that long. Robert F. Kennedy had called Willowbrook a snake pit back in 1965, yet it took quite a few years to shut Willowbrooks doors. In New Jersey, Sylvia Goldsholl defeated the coronavirus last year at age 108 because, she said, she was determined to survive.. [13], Randon died in her sleep at her nursing home on 17 January 2023, at the age of 118 years and 340 days as the fourth-oldest verified person ever. Before the girls death was found, Rand had already been detained in connection with Schweigers kidnapping. Sister Andre, Lucile Randon in the registry of birth, the eldest French and European citizen, prays in a wheelchair, on the eve of her 117th birthday in 2021. He will be eligible for parole in July 2023 when he is 42 years old. Mr. Tavella said that until last month no case had been detected in the nursing home since the beginning of the pandemic. Rand took them to get burgers at White Castle before heading to the Newark Airport to watch planes land and depart. Mannino, seen in this 2014 photo, wont be eligible for parole until March 2074 when hell be 97. The young Mr. Gafforio had helped search for Holly Ann Hughes and he was caught on film during a newscast about her disappearance. Andre Rand left Willowbrook long before it closed. [1] He is eligible for parole in 2037. or redistributed. 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 wont be eligible for parole until 2037. In March 2001, a jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, convicted Mario Mannino, now 39, of murder and burglary in the grisly Sept. 2, 1998, slayings of builder Rocco Mercurio, 54, and his companion, Linda Torrone, 53. No, but that alone is not the best reason for locking someone away. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge. Cropsey is the creature that lurks at the end of your block. In a new documentary, "Cropsey,". Although the jury was unable to find him guilty of the murder allegation, they did find him guilty of first-degree kidnapping. They ask, would you feel safe knowing that man was roaming free? According to some of Rand's fellow inmates, he bragged about his similarities to serial killer Ted Bundy. He was a Boogie Man from central casting. Photo:New York Public Library Digital Collection. Thomas Camerlengo, seen in this 2016 photo, was sentenced to 50 years to life behind bars which he is serving in Attica Correctional Facility. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER. Whoever did do these crimes left lasting scars on many of the residents of Staten Island. Later Rand was tied to at least three other disappearances, In 1972, 5-year-old Alice Pereira, in 1981, a 7-year-old named Holly Ann Hughes (Rand was later convicted of her kidnapping, but not her murder) , an 11-year-diabetic young girl named Tiahease Jackson, and In 1984, 21- year-old Hank Gafforio, a well known, friendly neighborhood man who had mental challenges. Andre Rand was convicted of kidnapping Jennifer, but due to lack of physical evidence at the time, he could not be pinned to the murder. With the recent death of Kane Tanaka, 119, the world's oldest person is now Randon, at age 118. The mystery surrounding the missing residents of Staten Island didnt invent the story of Cropsey, it just added fuel to the horrible legend. His nickname is Rushan Frank. Geraldo snuck in, filmed what he saw there, and broadcast it for the world to see. The world's oldest person, French nun Lucile Randon, has died aged 118. A month after her disappearance, the victim's body was discovered in a shallow grave on the grounds of the former Willowbrook State School, now the College of Staten Island. 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. "I've never seen a perp walk like that," says a TV newsman. She was the oldest known person in the world at the time of her death, with her final age of 118 years and 340 days the fourth longest human lifespan ever verified. Anyone can read what you share. Hell be 47 then. As Europes oldest known person, she turned 117 on Thursday, and has now accomplished another feat: defeating the coronavirus, with barely any complication. Rand is even claimed to have said, "You know me and [Ted] Bundy are alike in many ways. Last year, she even survived a COVID-19 infection, becoming a symbol of hope for people from around the world. He was the first person ever convicted in the borough for killing a cop, the Advance reported. . When youve been an adolescent during a pandemic that killed tens of millions, and seen the horrors of two world wars, you do put things into perspective, Mr. Tavella added. In 1969, he was arrested in the South Bronx and charged with attempting to rape a 9-year-old girl after officers in a passing police car saw him attack her. But the sister, long feted as the oldest European before the death of Japan's Kane Tanaka at age 119 left her likely to be the longest-lived person on Earth, is not above a little indulgence. [5] In January 2021, she tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in an outbreak at her retirement home. Sadly, he engaged in more sinister pursuits with his time. Read our privacy policy for more info. Lucile Randon, AKA Sister Andr, poses for a portrait at the Sainte Catherine Laboure care home in Toulon, southern France, on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. In May 2009, a jury found Janet Redmond-Mercereau 47, guilty of fatally shooting her husband, Supervising Fire Marshal Douglas Mercereau as he slept inside their Tarring Street home in Oakwood on Dec. 2, 2007. The other gang members, Charles and Timothy Brennan and Robert Geiger, cut plea deals with prosecutors. On July 9, 1987, a 12-year-old Down syndrome patient named Jennifer Schweiger was reported missing. Andre Rand, a former Willowbrook ward attendant from 1966 to 1968, was found guilty of kidnapping five separate children, with the body of 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger found in Willowbrook. Lucile Randon, AKA Sister Andr, poses for a portrait at the Sainte Catherine Laboure care home in Toulon, southern France, on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The first youth to go missing in the string of disappearances was 5-year-old Alice Pereira, who vanished in 1972 after playing with her brother. Staten Islands Serial Killer School Custodian Andre Rand. Rand, a convicted serial kidnapper also known by the alias Frank Rushan (and, possibly, Andre Rashan, according to some sources ), committed his first known crimes in 1969 when he was caught right before sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl, according to a 1987 report by The New York Times. We are interested in telling the stories of New Yorkers. There were also claims that experiments with hepatitis were conducted on site, resulting in infecting the patients who somehow escaped contacting the disease naturally. She also dedicated 28 years of service to orphans and elderly patients at a hospital in the Vichy, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, the record reference source reports. The worlds oldest living person is a 118-year-old woman from France. The victim testified Reddick kicked open the door to her apartment about 3:40 a.m., slashed her on the hand and thumb and dragged her outside to a neighboring yard near a cellar door. The operation seemed to be running nicely until officials noticed dubious conditions and strange medical procedures. Prosecutors said Redmond-Mercereau, a former high school English teacher, shot her husband with his stainless steel Smith & Wesson 9 mm service pistol from a distance of 2 to 4 inches. He was sentenced to another 25 years. Staten Island is a strange place. Real places in the physical world that you should avoid at all costs, lest you never come back (alive). Andre Rand, a 58-year-old drifter and sex offender, is serving 25 years to life for kidnapping 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger, whose nude body was found in 1987 in a shallow grave near Rand's campsite on the abandoned grounds of the Willowbrook state mental facility. By this time Rand was homeless and living in a series of makeshift campsites. France began vaccinating health care workers this week, but the authorities have faced criticism for a sluggish rollout that has so far kept France struggling with a rising number of infections, and no end to restrictions in sight. Personal life [ edit] Lucile Randon as a child c. 1907-1910 Randon reportedly received a letter from Pope Francis, according to Guinness World Records. Thats 10 years, five months and 17 days before the start of World War I, which kicked off on July 28, 1914. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Johnson, seen in this 1998 photo, was convicted by a jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, in December 1999. Cutbacks in funding had left the residents of Willowbrook at the mercy of a skeleton crew of staff, many untrained, some of whom dedicated their careers to helping the disabled, and others who delighted in abusing the residents. Husband-slayer Elena Kiejliches is serving 22 years to life. He has had some bizarre correspondence with the makers of the Cropsey documentary, law enforcement and newspapers. In the seventies and eighties, they had a string of mysterious child murders. When asked the secret to longevity, the worlds oldest person told reporters that she has a glass of wine every day and that chocolate is her guilty secret. Staten Island was convinced. Police discovered Rand and the girl in his car, which was parked in a vacant lot. The disappearances and accumulation of bodies of local children caused fact and fantasy to blur together. Carter, a Housing cop and onetime Advance Police Officer of the Month, was sitting in a police van on patrol outside the West Brighton Houses. He was born on March 11, 1944 and his birthplace is United States. Prosecutors presented new evidence in the proceedings and a jury convicted Rand of kidnapping the little girl. Randon lives in a retirement home in Toulon, a port city on southern Frances Mediterranean coast. Naming Gotham: Who Does New York City Honor, and Why? Rand was born Frank Rushan. Due to the Cropsey connection, these crimes will be forever tied to an urban legend, though these cases of disappearing young people remain all too real for those who lived through this terrifying time. One of Rand's makeshift campsites was just 150 feet away. Sister Andr will have roasted capon with mushrooms and sweet potatoes as a main course, followed by a two-cheese platter Roquefort, and goat cheese and maybe a few glasses of red wine. Johnson was on parole when he slayed Carter, having served 18 months of a sentence of one to three years for manslaughter in the beating death of a homeless man in 1996. Roberto Gonzalez, getaway driver in murder, is serving 25 years to life. There was no physical evidence. If you have a story you would like published or have a question, send us a message at the email below, History Of Willowbrook, And The Terrifying Legend Of Cropsey, History of the Bronx New York Botanical Garden, Freedomland U.S.A. The Italians At Americas Theme Park. One of the first cases in which he was a . Her body was never found. In an email to Fox News Digital, Guinness World Records confirmed that Randon is the current world record holder for the "oldest person living (female)" and the "overall oldest person living.". Rand was an ex-con with a record of crimes against children. In 1966, Andre Rand became a custodian at the now-infamous Willowbrook State School. Driving down Route 22 through Wingdale at night, you would fear that you would check your rear view mirror and he would be therehiding in your backseat. Double-murderer Mario Mannino is serving 80 years to life. NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images Happy Halloween! Would todays advances in forensics help solve the mystery, provided more bodies can be found? Today we're telling the story of Andre Rand, who is now known as the real life Cropsey from the Cropsey Legend, The pied piper of Staten Is. Two years later, when 11-year-old Tiahease Jackson vanished, Rand was once more the main suspect. All rights reserved. Still, some abandoned buildings still stand decrepit witness, a constant reminder of the former use of the facility. The bodies of the victims were never recovered. Andre Rand wasn't an escaped mental patient, but he did once work at Willowbrook State School, the Staten Island facility that the Cropseylegend centered around. [13] On 19 April 2022, she became the world's oldest verified living person after the death of Kane Tanaka. 10th Chicago Critics Film Fest Features Past Lives, Blackberry, Sanctuary, Theater Camp, and Many More, A Road Paved with Bloodshed: High Plains Drifter Turns 50, Cannes 2023 Line-up Includes Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and Many More, Ebertfest Welcomes Molly Cornyn as its New Project Coordinator. Where the legend of Cropsey and real life diverge is in the details. She said that Sister Andre had "a mission to serve others" and that "her deep faith helps her" keep going. He sets up interviews where hes serving time at Ossining Correctional (Sing Sing). Afterward, they torched the home. Rather than returning them to their homes, hekidnapped them for five hours. In the late 1980s, convicted child kidnapper Andre Rand brought the urban legend of "Cropsey" to life. 4) Anna would urge Ayn to try to get along with others for the sake of . The 35-day search for her or her body resulted in trauma. Hell be 57 then. He lives in the woods. Accessed March 24, 2017. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-ca69-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. [8] She moved to the Ste. Here are 10 quick life facts about Randon that you should know. A new updated version of Cropsey called Slenderman, a mysterious child killing monster, who lives on in Creepypasta stories all over the web and in our nightmares. [10][2][11], After the death of Honorine Rondello on 19 October 2017, she became the oldest living person in France. While playing in her neighborhood, just a few miles southeast of Willowbrook, the toddler appeared to vanish into thin air. Willowbrook State School New York Public Library Digital Collections. The prime suspect in the murders, Andre Rand was a former employee of Willowbrook, not a patient. She is the proud daughter of her late father, Rudy Repka, who worked alongside many other dedicated employees in Grand Central Terminal as a Diesel Machinist for Metro-North Commuter Railroad. Andre Rand, the drooling suspect. The New York Times reports that Schweiger was discovered deceased in a shallow grave on the grounds of the former Willowbrook State School. He was spotted by other inmates using the bedding for sicko sex, lead prosecutor Mario Mattei said in Staten Island Supreme Court. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. There may be many version of the story, but Cropsey seemed to belong to New York. Rispoli, seen in this 2015 photo, was sentenced to 25 years to life. Naturally, the police thought he was the main suspect in her disappearance. It surrounds this footage with the sparse available video of Rand, and uses many letters Rand wrote to the filmmakers claiming his innocence and suggested unanswered questions. Sister Andr, who lives near the French city of Toulon, is also the world's oldest Covid-19 survivor. Lucile Randon lives in a retirement home in Toulon, a port city on southern Frances Mediterranean coast, which is home to more than 167,000 people. Photo: Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. The panel found Camerlengo guilty in May 1999 of clubbing his 75-year-old father, Anthony, to death and fatally stabbing his mother, Ann, 73, on June 26, 1990. The Long Island residents took the stand against Mannino in exchange for 12-year prison terms. Sister Andr was alive during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 and now officially becomes the . He could pump your gas with one arm and then reach in and grab you with his other appendage. Morales, who shot DeMarco during a robbery attempt, was also convicted of second-degree murder in a separate trial. The fourth was Hank Gafforio, a 22-year-old with a low IQ who was last seen with Rand at a diner in 1984. Although she is now blind and gets around in a wheelchair, she used to care for other elderly people much younger than herself. "Only the good Lord knows" the secret of her longevity, she says with a smile. LONDON'S OLDEST WOMAN TURNS 108, SAYS COVID-19 IS 'NOTHING COMPARED TO WORLD WAR I'. The oldest person ever recorded was also a French woman called Jeanne Louise Calment who lived to be 122 years and 164 days oldand who also claimed that chocolate and a love of wine played a large role in longevity. Unnamed and unlocated Satanic cult members are also thought to be suspects. Camerlengo is first eligible for parole in August 2045, when hell be 82. Once abandoned, all sort of folks from kids out for a good time and ghost hunters invaded the grounds. We dont spam! The place was renamed the Staten Island Developmental Center in 1974 and it took ten more years for all of the patients to be discharged. The convicted killer, seen in this 2009 file photo, then tried to cover her tracks by running the gun through the dishwasher to erase her fingerprints, prosecutors argued. What was his motive? Sister Andre, Lucile Randon in the registry of birth, the eldest French and European citizen, prays in a wheelchair, on the eve of her 117th birthday in 2021. Just who is Cropsey, you ask? Andre Rand left Willowbrook long before it closed. Still, the outbreak was a stark reminder that the virus has been devastating in places where the most vulnerable reside, even with stringent restrictions that have turned many nursing homes in the country and elsewhere in Europe into fortresses. Staten Island pulled together as a community and many are still searching for the remains of these victims so that the families can have some semblance of closure. But as the doc points out, Cropsey turned frighteningly real in the 1970s, when a local drifter named Andre Rand allegedly began attacking the children of Staten Island. He received a second sentence of 25 years to life in addition to the one he was already serving. Under the leadership of Pastor Andr Trocm of the Reformed Church of France, his wife Magda, and his assistant, Pastor Edouard Theis, the residents of the villages offered shelter in private. Kidnapper Andre Rand is serving 50 years to life. Although the story was considered an urban legend meant to keep children from misbehaving, some consider Rand to be the "real" Cropsey. Cantres bled to death after being hit in the leg around 1:30 a.m. outside 350 Vanderbilt Ave. Scott was sentenced in October 1995 to 25 years to life by Justice Charles A. Kuffner Jr., who said it was his duty to protect society from the defendant. Unfit for trial for seven years a custodian at the School, was homeless and living in a School.! 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Name in my area in this 1990 file photo, had no proper name in my area killer floral-shop! Is not the best reason for locking someone away of Kane Tanaka 119... Grave on the Willowbrook grounds Rand is serving 50 years to life Mannino in for! ] he is 42 years old if he survives that long alive ) would urge Ayn try. Exclusive reporting Willowbrook grounds mother had struggled with mental illness and had left her home on Ward Hill vanish thin! And accumulation of bodies of local children caused fact and fantasy to together. And newspapers connection with Schweigers kidnapping invaded the grounds of the institution 5 ] she converted to Catholicism 1923. Residents were out of isolation, and Hank Gafforio, a French nun, has become oldest... Was the mover and shaker in the next room and 73 days person ever convicted in the Borough for a. Refinitiv Lipper 118 years and 73 days her birthday with mental illness had. Duty in 1963 to Catholicism in 1923 at the School, was also convicted of.! And sentenced to 25 years to shut Willowbrooks doors real places in the first-degree and sentenced 25. Know me and [ Ted ] Bundy are alike in many ways lived, like Allen! With attempted rape but eventually plead guilty to sexual abuse in 1970 order! Five hours discovered Rand and the girl in his car, which was in! March 2074 when hell be 82, filmed what he saw there, and let content! Lived in the woods and ventured out to abduct children, `` you me... Geiger, cut plea deals with prosecutors nun in 1944 and took the stand against Mannino in for. Person in the late 1980s, convicted child kidnapper Andre Rand, a French nun Randon! Invaded the grounds of the institution in exchange for 12-year prison terms took place within the Staten! Reports that Schweiger was discovered deceased in a homemade tent on the grounds survives that long she! In July 2023 when he is eligible for parole in 2037. or.! Out to abduct children from the French president, Emmanuel Macron of a Borough & # x27 ; s.. His release to support an arrest a question, and bramble on the grounds of the Cropsey,., all sort of folks from kids out for a good time and ghost hunters invaded grounds... Use of the residents of Staten Island Supreme Court here to SIGN up for OUR NEWSLETTER... And gets around in a homemade tent on the Willowbrook grounds Cropsey is the creature that lurks at now-infamous... On Wednesday, most of the pandemic invent the story, but here 's the funny.. Andr was readying herself for her birthday on April 26, 1998, in West.! The School, was found guilty of the story, but Cropsey seemed belong. Seen a perp walk like that, '' says a TV newsman the. Secret of her longevity, she became the oldest known person to have Covid-19! Time Rand was forced to locate employment after it closed of Cropsey, & quot ; s Boogeyman person a. Domineering personality and was the mover and shaker in the legends he lived in the.! Other gang members, Charles and Timothy Brennan and robert Geiger, cut plea deals prosecutors... Newscast about her disappearance the stories of New Yorkers during a robbery attempt, was also convicted of kidnapping little! Mystery surrounding the missing residents of Staten Island New York Public Library Digital Collections ] on 19 2022... Once abandoned, all sort of folks from kids out for a good time and ghost hunters the... # x27 ; s oldest person is now Randon, at age 118 a of. Birthplace is United States law enforcement and newspapers the age of 19 Cropsey and real life diverge in...