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 Stories to never miss a case! Want all 2 parts of every case all at once? Join Crime House+ and get both parts of each case dropped at once ad-free. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Murder: True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios.

🎧 Need More to Binge?

Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of Reddit, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Crime House 24/7, and more wherever you get your podcasts!

Follow me on Social

• Instagram: @Crimehouse
• TikTok: @Crimehouse
• Facebook: @crimehousestudios
• X: @crimehousemedia
• YouTube: @crimehousestudios