Andre Rand

Andre Rand (born Frank Rushan on March 11, 1944, also referred to in the media as "The Pied Piper of Staten Island") is an American convicted kidnapper of two children and suspected serial killer, currently serving 25 years to life in prison. He is eligible for parole in 2037. He is the subject of the 2009 documentary Cropsey which states that he may have been the source of the "Cropsey" legend.

Biography

Early life

Rand was born Frank Rostum Rushan. The origins of the name "Andre Rand" are unknown. According to his younger sister in the 2009 documentary Cropsey, neither she nor Rand were sexually or physically abused as children. His father died on March 27, 1958 when Rand was 14. His mother was institutionalized at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, New York, where Rand and his sister would visit her as teenagers.

Willowbrook State School

In the mid 1960s, Rand worked as a custodian, orderly and physical therapist at Willowbrook State School.

Early crime record

In 1983, Rand picked up a group of 11 children from the YMCA located on Staten Island in a school bus, purchased a meal for them without the consent of any of their parents, and took them to the Newark Liberty International Airport in the state of New Jersey. None of the children were harmed in this encounter, but Rand was apprehended and served 10 months in jail for unlawful imprisonment.

Alleged victims

• 5-year-old Alice Pereira was last seen near her family's residence at Tysens Lane Apartments in the 600 block of Tysens Lane in the New York City borough of Staten Island on July 7, 1972. Alice was playing in the lobby of the building with her brother. She vanished at approximately 3:30 p.m., after her brother left her alone for a brief moment. Alice may have been sighted shortly thereafter in a park near the apartment building in the New Dorp area of the Island. She has never been heard from again. Her mother reported her missing at 6:15 p.m. Her parents were separated at the time of her disappearance. She lived with her mother, and her father lived in Manhattan. Authorities at first believed the child's father had taken her, but he was later cleared as a suspect. Andre Rand is a prime suspect in Alice's case. He worked as a painter in Tysens Lane Apartments at the time of Alice's disappearance.

• 18-year-old Audrey Lyn Nerenberg was last seen leaving her family's residence in the 1200 block of Ryder Street in the Canarsie section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn at 2:00 p.m. on July 5, 1977, one of the hottest days on record. The house was located near Kings Highway, Flatlands Avenue and Flatbush Avenue. Nerenberg told her mother she was going two blocks away to purchase cigarettes and would be right back, but she has never been heard from again. Nerenberg's father received a call from an anonymous individual later during the day. The person claimed he abducted Nerenberg and instructed her father to collect as much money as possible before he called back. Her father contacted the FBI and the agency sent conspicuously dressed officials to the Nerenbergs' home. The agents left after the caller failed to communicate within three hours. They made no attempt to trace the call. Nerenberg's father thinks the caller was possibly someone from the Flatbush area, possibly someone known to the family, who watched as the officials entered their house. Nerenberg had been hospitalised for brief periods of time in several New York City medical facilities from 1974 to 1977 as a result of her hebephrenic schizophrenia. She has been a patient at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, Gracie Square Hospital in Manhattan and Hillside Medical Center in Queens. Nerenberg was an outpatient at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn at the time she disappeared. She was not carrying any identification or medication with her at the time she was last seen. Nerenberg accompanied her family to the borough of Staten Island during the evening of July 4, 1977, the day prior to her disappearance. They watched a movie at the former Jerry Lewis Theater on Forest Avenue in Mariners Harbor on the Island. The theater was close in proximity to a campsite once used by Andre Rand. Nerenberg's mental illness sometimes caused her to repeat her actions, and there is speculation that she may have traveled back to the Island on July 5 while disoriented and may have come into contact with Rand. He has not been linked to Nerenberg's case.

• 42-year-old Ethel Louise Atwell was last seen at the Staten Island Developmental Center (formerly called the Willowbrook State School), the institution for mentally disabled children where she worked as a physical therapy aide, in the New York City borough of Staten Island, on October 24, 1978. She arrived at 6:00 a.m., parked behind Building 47 and locked her car. Before she could get from the parking lot into her building, two female employees inside the building heard a male voice outside say "Come on, come on," and Atwell say "No, you'll beat me." Then she screamed. The employees called the police after hearing the screams. The parking lot was still dark, the streetlights were off, and it was difficult for them to see anything. When authorities responded, they found Atwell's tan pocketbook, one earring, one black shoe, three black coat buttons and half her set of dentures scattered on the ground at the left side of her car, which was locked. Her keys turned up in the woods about seventy-five feet away. An extensive search of the area turned up no sign of her; Atwell has never been seen or heard from again. Rand had ties to the Willowbrook State School and is also considered a suspect in the rape and murder of Shin Lee, another Willowbrook aide. But it has not been proven that Rand was involved in either case.

• 7-year-old Holly Ann Hughes was last seen at approximately 9:30 p.m. on July 15, 1981 near Richmond Terrace and Park Avenue in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Her mother sent her to the Port Richmond Deli two blocks away to purchase a bar of Ivory soap, and she was last seen buying it. She never returned home and has never been heard from again. A month after Holly's disappearance, her mother, Holly Cederholm, received a phone call from a man who identified himself as "Sal." Sal told Cederholm he was holding the child captive, and demanded that Cederholm meet him and perform sex acts on film in exchange for Holly's safe return. Cederholm went with detectives to meet Sal at Penn Station in New York City, but he never showed up. She stated that she never believed Sal really had Holly; by this time, she thought Holly was dead. Officials searched the yard of Rand's former Vreeland Street residence in Staten Island in January 2002, but evidence related to Holly's case was not located. Authorities questioned Rand and searched his vehicle shortly after Holly disappeared, but he was not charged in her case until 20 years later. Cederholm identified Rand's voice as the same voice she heard during the extortion phone call. Witnesses testified that they saw Rand's green Volkswagen circling the area of the store where Holly disappeared in 1981. Some say they even saw Holly in Rand's car. He admitted to playing a hide-and-go-seek game with Holly on the day of her disappearance, and to giving her money to buy soap because she was "dirty," but says he left her before she disappeared. Authorities also determined that Rand's aunt lived in the same Port Richmond apartment building where Holly's family resided in 1981. Rand's attorneys maintained that their client is innocent, and that the witnesses who claim to have seen Holly in his car are lying or mistaken. His lawyers attempted to throw suspicion on the child's family. Prior to her disappearance, Holly had been the subject of a custody dispute between her parents and had been taken by both of them at one time or another, but her parents have been ruled out as suspects in her 1981 disappearance. Rand was convicted of kidnapping Holly in October 2004. Rand was never charged with the child's murder due to a lack of evidence. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He is also serving 25 years to life for the Schweiger kidnapping. The second sentence makes it extremely unlikely that he will ever be freed.

• 11-year-old Tiahease Jackson was last seen leaving the Mariner's Harbor Motel on Forest Avenue in the New York City borough of Staten Island on August 14, 1983, twelve days after Rand was released from prison. She lived in the hotel with her mother and three siblings, the family having moved there after getting burned out of their apartment. The Jacksons planned to relocate to the southern United States. At 1:30 p.m., while Tiahease's mother was asleep, another resident of the hotel sent Tiahease out to purchase chicken wings from the Crown Supermarket in the 900 block of Richmond Avenue. Tiahease never returned to the hotel and has never been heard from again. Her mother woke up at 4:30 p.m., and, discovering her daughter had been missing for three hours, immediately called police. Tiahease's mother and uncle both passed lie detector tests and are not considered suspects in her disappearance. Andre Rand had a campsite at the Baron Hirsch Cemetery less than half a mile from the Mariner's Harbor Motel, and Tiahease's mother said she had seen a man matching his description loitering in the motel's parking lot. Rand was questioned, but no charges were brought.

• 22-year-old Staten Island resident Hank Gafforio was last seen at the Spa Lounge in the Port Richmond area of the New York City borough of Staten Island at 4:00 a.m. on June 9, 1984. He had gone out drinking and first went to Mugs Away, but was declined service. He then went to the Spa Lounge and stayed there until closing time. He was possibly seen at the diner with Andre Rand before he went missing. Gafforio has never been heard from again. He was reported missing at 7:00 p.m. Gafforio lived with his parents and three brothers in the 90 block of Heberton Avenue, on the same block as Rand and just around the corner from Holly's residence.

• 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger, born with Down syndrome, was reported missing on July 9, 1987. Witnesses spotted Jennifer walking with Rand. Her body was found underground after a 35-day search. While combing the area around Willowbrook State School, a particular spot caught the eye of retired New York City firefighter George Kramer. He returned with the police, the entire body was unearthed from the shallow grave, and the remains were positively identified as those of Schweiger. Police searched the grounds for evidence and found one of Rand’s makeshift campsites in proximity to Schweiger’s grave.

Convictions

In 1988, Andre Rand was charged with the kidnapping and first-degree murder of Jennifer Schweiger. The Staten Island jury could not reach a verdict on the murder charge, but convicted Rand of the first-degree kidnapping charge. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He would have been eligible for parole in 2008 if not convicted of a second kidnapping.

According to the documentary Cropsey, some people along with detectives speculated that Rand may have been involved with Satanism and provided the children to be sacrificed. There were people who also thought that Rand was not alone in the commission of his crimes and many believed he was passing the children around to his friends in the underground network of homeless and mentally disabled people living in the tunnel systems of the former Willowbrook state school.

Officers and inmates at the prison where Rand is currently incarcerated testified regarding conversations in which he allegedly bragged about his pedophiliac exploits. He reportedly confessed Holly's murder to an inmate and compared himself to the serial killer Ted Bundy. Volunteers continue to search the abandoned property twice a year for evidence related to Rand's other alleged victims, but nothing has been discovered.

In 2004, Rand was again brought to trial, this time charged with the kidnapping of Holly Ann Hughes 23 years earlier. There is no statute of limitations in New York for first-degree kidnapping, which made this charge possible. A jury convicted Rand of the kidnapping in October 2004, and he was sentenced to another consecutive 25 years to life in prison. He will become eligible for parole in 2037, when he will be 93 years old. All of the victims vanished from or were murdered in the Staten Island area, with the exception of Nerenberg. Their cases remain unsolved.

See also

• List of serial killers in the United States