Further information and reading on: Cropsey/The murder of Michelle Wallace/The girl in the box.
Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box
Cropsey started as an urban legend, the sort of story parents used to threaten their children into good behavior.
Willowbrook State hospital was home to over six thousand mentally handicapped patients, the over populated hospital was known for its abuse of patients most of whom were children. That was until the 1980s when Geraldo Rivera lead an expose documenting the neglect and abuse for all of America to see, thus closing the doors of Willowbrook.
The hospital sitting vacant in the woods became the perfect backdrop for urban legends, they kind that parents used to threaten their children into good behavior and the lead character was called Cropsey. A man who lurked in the shadows sometimes with a hook for a hand other stories have him wielding a bloody axe. It was told that he lived in the tunnels under the hospital and came out at night to snatch and murder the local children. It wasn’t long until the stories became a reality for this N.Y. town, as children began to go missing.
Andre Rand a former custodian at Willowbrook was first charged with offenses such as the attempted rape of a 9 year old girl, to this he served a total of 10 moths. As time went on and more children were disappearing Rand became a more nefarious character in this story. Jennifer Schweiger, a 12 year old girl born with down syndrome went missing in 1987. At the end of the 35 day investigation they found her remains in a shallow grave on the old WillowBrook property not far from the camp that Rand called home.
As of today Andre Rand sits behind bars and will be eligible for parol in 2037 at the age of 93. The story of Cropsey yet again proves to us, that behind the mask of the boogeyman is a human being who is much much more terrifying.
Episode: 4