Andre Rand: The Suspected “Pied Piper” of Staten Island
Background
Andre Rand, born Frank Rostum Rushan on March 11, 1944, is an American convicted child abductor, sex offender and suspected serial killer whose name became associated with a series of disappearances on Staten Island, New York. He also used the names Frank Bruchette and Frank Rushan. Newspapers later called him the “Pied Piper of Staten Island” because of his disturbing ability to approach children, gain their confidence and lead them away without immediately attracting attention.
Rand was never convicted of murder. However, he received two separate convictions for the first-degree kidnappings of 12-year-old Jennifer Schweiger and seven-year-old Holly Ann Hughes. Schweiger was found dead near one of Rand’s campsites, while Hughes has never been located. Investigators also examined Rand as a possible suspect in several other disappearances and one unsolved murder connected to Staten Island and the former Willowbrook State School.
Employment at Willowbrook
Between approximately 1966 and 1968, Rand worked under the name Frank Bruchette at Willowbrook State School, an institution for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. His positions reportedly included custodian, orderly and physical-therapy aide. Willowbrook later became notorious for severe overcrowding, neglect and abusive conditions before it closed and was renamed the Staten Island Developmental Center.
Rand’s familiarity with Willowbrook became important during the investigation into Jennifer Schweiger’s disappearance. After leaving regular employment, he frequently lived outdoors in makeshift shelters and campsites around Staten Island. One of those camps was on the overgrown grounds surrounding the abandoned Willowbrook complex.
Early Sexual-Offense Conviction
On May 5, 1969, Rand was arrested in the South Bronx after taking a nine-year-old girl into his vehicle and driving her to a vacant lot. He removed his clothing and the child’s clothing, but a passing police patrol interrupted the assault. He was originally accused of kidnapping and attempted rape before pleading guilty to sexual abuse.
Rand received a four-year prison sentence and served approximately 16 months before being paroled in January 1972. After his release, he legally changed his name to Andre Rand. His later criminal record included arrests for burglary and other offenses, as well as allegations of sexual violence that did not result in convictions.
The 1983 Airport Incident
In 1983, Rand was employed as a school-bus driver when he collected a group of 11 children connected to a Staten Island YMCA. Without obtaining permission from their parents, he bought food for the children and drove them across state lines to Newark International Airport in New Jersey, where they watched airplanes.
The children were eventually recovered unharmed, but Rand was arrested and convicted of unlawful imprisonment. He received a ten-month jail sentence. His decision to take a large group of children without authorization demonstrated the same pattern of manipulation and boundary violations that later became central to the cases against him.
The Disappearance of Jennifer Schweiger
Jennifer Schweiger was a 12-year-old Staten Island girl with Down syndrome. She disappeared on July 9, 1987, after leaving her family’s home in the Westerleigh section of Staten Island. Witnesses reported seeing Jennifer walking with Rand in the direction of the abandoned Staten Island Developmental Center.
Searchers concentrated on the wooded and neglected grounds surrounding the former Willowbrook institution. Rand was known to camp in the area, and investigators found evidence of one of his makeshift shelters. He was arrested during the search and accused of kidnapping Jennifer.
On August 12, 1987, approximately five weeks after Jennifer disappeared, searchers discovered her body buried in a shallow grave on the Willowbrook grounds. The grave was about 150 yards from a campsite associated with Rand. Jennifer was believed to have died shortly after her disappearance on July 9, although the precise time and medical circumstances of her death were not conclusively established in court.
Rand was tried on charges of first-degree kidnapping and murder. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the murder charge, but it convicted him of kidnapping Jennifer. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Despite the location of Jennifer’s body and the testimony placing her with Rand, he has never been legally convicted of causing her death.
The Disappearance of Holly Ann Hughes
Holly Ann Hughes was seven years old when she disappeared from the Port Richmond section of Staten Island on July 15, 1981. Her mother sent her to the Port Richmond Deli, about two blocks from the family’s residence, to purchase a bar of Ivory soap. Holly was seen buying the soap at approximately 9:30 p.m., but she never returned home.
Rand was questioned shortly after Holly vanished. Witnesses reportedly saw his green Volkswagen near the business, and evidence presented years later indicated that Holly had been seen in or around Rand’s vehicle. Rand acknowledged that he had interacted with Holly that day, claiming that he played hide-and-seek with her and gave her money to buy soap. He maintained that he left her alive.
Approximately one month after the disappearance, Holly’s mother received a telephone call from a man who identified himself as “Sal.” The caller claimed that Holly was being held captive and attempted to arrange a sexually exploitative exchange for her release. The caller failed to appear at a meeting arranged under police surveillance. Holly’s mother later identified Rand’s voice as resembling the caller’s voice.
More than two decades after Holly disappeared, prosecutors charged Rand with her kidnapping. Because New York law did not impose a statute of limitations on first-degree kidnapping, the case could still be brought to trial. In October 2004, a jury convicted Rand of kidnapping Holly. He received another sentence of 25 years to life, ordered to run consecutively to his sentence in the Schweiger case. Holly’s remains have never been found, and Rand was not charged with her murder.
Confirmed and Suspected Victims
- Jennifer Schweiger, age 12: Jennifer disappeared from Westerleigh, Staten Island, on July 9, 1987. Witnesses reported seeing her walking with Rand toward the former Willowbrook State School. Her body was discovered in a shallow grave on the institution’s grounds on August 12, 1987, near a campsite associated with Rand. Rand was convicted of kidnapping her, but the jury did not reach a verdict on the murder charge.
- Holly Ann Hughes, age 7: Holly disappeared near Richmond Terrace and Park Avenue in Port Richmond, Staten Island, on July 15, 1981, after being sent to a nearby deli to buy soap. Her body has never been recovered, and no verified date of death has been established. Rand was convicted of her kidnapping in October 2004.
- Alice Pereira, age 5: Alice disappeared from the Tysens Lane Apartments on Staten Island on July 7, 1972. She had been playing in the apartment-building lobby with her brother before vanishing. Rand was reportedly working as a painter at the complex at the time and became a suspect, but he was never charged. Alice has never been found, and no confirmed date of death is available.
- Audrey Lyn Nerenberg, age 18: Audrey disappeared after leaving her home in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn on July 5, 1977. She told her mother she was walking a short distance to buy cigarettes and would return immediately. Audrey had received treatment for schizophrenia and had visited Staten Island with her family shortly before vanishing. Rand has been discussed as a possible suspect, although no evidence sufficient for charges has been established. Audrey remains missing.
- Shin Lee, age 44: Lee, a nurse employed at Willowbrook State School, was reported missing on July 20, 1978, after she was last seen leaving the campus and walking toward her nearby home. Her body was found on August 6, 1978, buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area on the Willowbrook grounds. She had been strangled. Rand has been mentioned as a possible suspect because of his history at Willowbrook, but he was never charged in Lee’s murder and her exact date of death was not publicly established.
- Ethel Louise Atwell, age 42: Atwell, a physical-therapy assistant at Willowbrook, disappeared from the institution’s parking area during the early morning of October 24, 1978. Coworkers heard a man’s voice, Atwell resisting and then a scream. Her purse, shoe, coat buttons, earring and part of her dentures were found near her locked vehicle. Her keys were recovered in nearby woods. Atwell has never been found, and Rand was never charged in her disappearance.
- Tiahease Tiawanna Jackson, age 11: Tiahease disappeared from the Mariners Harbor Motel area of Staten Island on August 14, 1983. She had been sent to purchase chicken wings at a nearby supermarket and never returned. Rand maintained a campsite in Baron Hirsch Cemetery, less than half a mile from the motel, and Tiahease’s mother reported seeing a man resembling him in the parking lot. Rand was questioned but not charged. Tiahease remains missing.
- Henry “Hank” Gafforio, age 22: Gafforio disappeared after spending the night of June 8, 1984, drinking in the Port Richmond area. He was reportedly seen with Rand at a diner during the hours before he vanished. Gafforio had cognitive limitations and lived near both Rand and Holly Hughes’s former residence. His body has never been found, and Rand’s involvement has not been proven.
Investigative Questions and Unproven Allegations
The cases associated with Rand contain significant differences in the strength of the evidence. His responsibility for abducting Jennifer Schweiger and Holly Hughes was established by criminal convictions. His responsibility for Jennifer’s death, however, was not established by a murder conviction. In the remaining cases, Rand was investigated or publicly identified as a possible suspect, but prosecutors did not obtain sufficient evidence to charge him.
Several circumstances caused investigators to repeatedly examine Rand. He had direct access to children and vulnerable people, worked at Willowbrook, camped in secluded areas near disappearance locations and had a documented history of sexually abusing and unlawfully transporting children. Witnesses also placed him with Jennifer and linked him to Holly shortly before they vanished.
Investigators searched the extensive Willowbrook grounds for additional remains following the discovery of Jennifer’s grave. The former institution contained hundreds of acres of woods, abandoned buildings, tunnels and disturbed ground. Although the searches generated intense public speculation, authorities did not announce the discovery of additional victims conclusively connected to Rand.
Trials and Sentences
Rand’s first major kidnapping trial concerned Jennifer Schweiger. Prosecutors argued that he deliberately took advantage of Jennifer’s trusting nature and led her into the isolated Willowbrook property. The proximity of her grave to his campsite, combined with witness testimony, supported the kidnapping charge. The jury convicted him of first-degree kidnapping but deadlocked on whether he had murdered her.
The Holly Hughes prosecution relied on a case reconstructed more than 20 years after the crime. Witness testimony, Rand’s admitted contact with Holly and evidence placing his vehicle near the location were used to establish that he had abducted her. His 2004 conviction resulted in a second consecutive sentence of 25 years to life.
The consecutive sentences effectively ensured that Rand would remain imprisoned for the remainder of his life. Although often described as a serial killer, his precise legal status is that of a convicted child kidnapper and sex offender suspected of committing multiple murders and disappearances.
The “Cropsey” Association
Rand’s crimes became intertwined with the Staten Island legend of “Cropsey,” a fictional boogeyman said to live in abandoned buildings or wooded areas and abduct children. Variations of the story existed before Rand became publicly known, but his appearance, transient lifestyle and connection to the deserted Willowbrook grounds caused residents to identify him with the legend.
The association became stronger after Jennifer Schweiger’s body was found. For many Staten Island residents, Rand appeared to embody fears that had previously existed only in campfire stories. The nickname sometimes obscured the reality that the cases involved real children, adults and families whose losses remained unresolved.
Legacy of the Cases
Andre Rand remains one of the most notorious criminal figures in Staten Island history. His convictions resolved the legal question of who kidnapped Jennifer Schweiger and Holly Ann Hughes, but they did not answer every question surrounding the girls’ deaths or disappearances. Jennifer’s murder charge ended without a verdict, while Holly’s body has never been recovered.
The disappearances of Alice Pereira, Audrey Nerenberg, Ethel Atwell, Tiahease Jackson and Henry Gafforio remain unresolved. Shin Lee’s strangulation also remains separate from Rand’s confirmed convictions. Although similarities in geography, timing and victim vulnerability prompted investigators to examine him, suspicion alone does not establish that he committed those crimes.
The continuing uncertainty surrounding the cases has left Staten Island with a history in which proven crimes, unresolved disappearances and urban legend became deeply entangled. Rand’s established offenses demonstrate a persistent pattern of targeting children and exploiting vulnerable victims, while the suspected cases continue to represent unanswered questions for investigators and the victims’ families.
