MYSTERY: Cropsey of Staten Island

About this episode

For Staten Island kids in the 1970s and '80s, the boogeyman had a name: Cropsey, a madman said to live in the tunnels beneath Willowbrook State School and take any child who stayed out too late. Then children began disappearing for real: five-year-old Alice Pereira in 1972, seven-year-old Holly Ann Hughes in 1981, eleven-year-old Tiahease Jackson in 1983. On July 9, 1987, 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger, a girl with Down syndrome known to every neighbor on her block, went out for a walk and never came home. Thirty-five days later, a volunteer found her in a shallow grave near a Willowbrook campsite used by Andre Rand, a former custodian there. In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, host Carter Roy examines the legend that haunted a borough for two decades, the children who vanished without answers, and the grave behind Willowbrook that turned a bedtime story into a police investigation. Please note, this episode contains discussion of the abduction of children and may not be suitable for all audiences. Head over to our YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Murder: True Crime Stori