The Night Crawler

sketch believed to be The Night Crawler: 1976

**The Night Crawler** or **The Night Snatcher** is a serial killer operating in the northern Michigan region of the United States. The Night Crawler's victims, with one notable exception, have been boys aged 7-14.

While one victim, George Lindsay, escaped from the Night Crawler and provided law enforcement with a description of the killer there have been no arrests made and police are stumped in the investigation.

## Victims

###

**Confirmed**

* Andrew Young, 9, disappeared from his tent at Interlochen State Park on July 9, 1954. His nude body was discovered 3 days later, there was evidence of sexual assault and the cause of death was determined to be strangulation.
* George Ryan, 12, was discovered by a trucker lying along the side of the M-61 outside of Standish, MI on September 18, 1958. The boy was nude and had obviously suffered from a violent sexual assault before being strangled with his own shirt. George had apparently been abducted from his bedroom in Standish the night before.
* Francis Dean, 11, and James Fletcher, 11, two Boy Scouts that disappeared in the night on May 27, 1961 from their camp on Big Bear Lake. Dean's skeletonized remains were discovered by hikers in 1980 and identified by his dental records but Fletcher has never been found. The boys were identified as Night Crawler victims long before the discovery of the remains with the release of the so-called Night Crawler Letter in 1977 and photographs of the the boys apparently taken just prior and just after death were included in the package sent to The Detroit News along with items identified as belonging to the boys.
* Edwin Glover, 7, the youngest victim of the killer, on the night of February 14th, 1962, Edwin Glover was raped and murdered in his Kingsley home while his family slept. His body was discovered the following morning by his mother when the boy did not come to breakfast when called.
* Joseph McDonald, 12, vanished from Cheboygan, MI on the night of August 29, 1964 walking home from dinner with his aunt and uncle. When he didn't arrive home a search was started by his parents and family, his torn and bloody shirt was found in a wooded area but the boy's body wouldn't be discovered for 2 more days. The coroner determined that he from injuries on his hands the boy fought back and he was severely beaten before succumbing to a blow to the head from a fallen limb. The boy's body was then violently sexually assaulted.
* Harland Tilman, 9, from Gladwin Mi was raped and murdered on the night of December 17, 1966. Tilman was last seen by a group of teenagers talking to a man in a blue Ford truck earlier in the evening. his body was discovered early the next morning in a dumpster behind the Tidy Kleen Washeteria.
* Deborah Lindsay, 38, George Lindsay, 10, and Johnathan Cook, 11 were attacked in the Lindsay family vacation cabin on Lake Michigan on the night of August 8, 1971. The Lindsay and Cook families were sharing a vacation in the Lindsay family vacation home. The families had spent the day boating on the lake when Deborah brought George and Johnathan home as both boys had developed sunburns and were feeling ill. After putting the boys to bed Deborah went outside to sit on the front porch not knowing that the killer was coming in through a back window. He found the boys in where they were sleeping and woke them. He brandished a gun and told both to be quiet, afterwards he handcuffed both boys and was gagging Johnathan when Deborah entered the room. The killer panicked and began to fire his gun striking Deborah, Johnathan, and George in the chaos. Johnathan was killed instantly and even though she proved to be mortaly wounded Deborah manged to strike the killer with a photo frame severely cutting the man and causing him to flee. George's wound proved superficial and he was found soon after still handcuffed with the bodies of his cousin and mother next to him. This assault was suspected of being connected to the previous murders but it wasn't verified until 1977's release of the Night Crawler Letter.
* Timothy Foster, 8, disappeared from his backyard in Rambault, MI on September 3, 1974. His remains wouldn't be discovered until the Night Crawler Letter revealed it's location 3 years later.
* Eugene Smith, 8, was taken on September 3, 1976 while visiting the Northwestern Michigan State Fair with his grandparents. While his grandparents and security searched the fairgrounds thinking the boy had just become lost in the crowd Eugene was discovered in the parking lot half naked and badly injured. The teenaged boys who discovered the boy reported a man running off upon their approach. While Eugene was still alive when the teens found him, he died two days later from his injuries.
* Robert Morgan, 10, was taken from his home in Lewsiton, MI New Years Day 1977. Four months later The Detroit News received the Night Crawler Letter which included a series of super 8 movies that chronicled the treatment of the boy over a two month period ending with his murder on March 19, 1977. No body has ever been found.
* Douglas Clark, 8, and Robert James, 13, cousins from Traverse City, MI, had been left alone while their parents went to dinner on October 29, 1982. When the parents arrived home they discovered both boys dead with signs of sexual assault.

### **Claimed but Unverified Victims**

* Thomas Briggs, disappeared March 3, 1954
* Jeffery Burns, disappeared December 9, 1957
* Walter Burns, disappeared December 9, 1957
* Alan Greene, disappeared May 22, 1969
* Roland King, disappeared May 3, 1970
* Lonnie Hayes, January 14, 1975
* Derek Floyd, September 16, 1980

### **Suspected Victim**

John Taylor, 8, brutally raped and murdered August 10, 1971

## The Night Crawler Letter

On April 14, 1977 a package arrived at the offices of the Detroit News addressed to reporter Alice Gomez. Inside were 47 photos, a super 8 film and a 36 page letter.

The letter purported to be from the killer the press had started calling the Night Snatcher and in it he expressed his dislike of the name and his preference for the Detroit News' use of the Night Crawler moniker. He then confessed to the murder of 18 people with evidence provided in the form of photographs and one film.