10 Urban Legends That Turned Out To Be True
8. Cropsey
The legend: A bogey man stalked Staten Island in the 1970s and '80s, a monstrous child killer the locals came to refer to as Cropsey. He was said to have lived in the tunnels beneath the Willowbrook State School for children with developmental disabilities and preyed on kids as they wandered in the nearby woods.
The truth: Chillingly, Cropsey was more than just the subject of a tall tale Staten Island parents used to scare their kids straight. The myth appears to be loosely based on the terrible deeds carried out by Andre Rand, a convinced child kidnapper who lived in a makeshift campsite on the grounds of the school.
Rand is serving 25 years to life in prison for the kidnapping of two youngsters, but his crimes are believed to be more severe. He is the chief suspect in the disappearances of four other kids, who are presumed dead, and is thought to be a serial killer.
The subject of Cropsey and how the myth intertwines with Rand's crimes was explored in Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio's hit documentary Cropsey.