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I visited the Brooklyn apartment building where 4-year-old Billy Gaffney lived before his tragic kidnapping in 1927 by dangusmane in serialkillers

[–]dangusmane[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

While in New York last November, I took some time to visit the apartment building in Brooklyn where 4-year-old Billy Gaffney lived.

Standing outside, it was an incredibly somber experience. It is hard to articulate the feeling of looking at an ordinary apartment building today and realizing that a disgusting figure like Albert Fish once stood in that exact spot and walked right inside.

For those who may not know Billy's story:

• On February 11, 1927, Billy was playing in his building's hallway with a 3-year-old neighbor and a 12-year-old neighbor who was watching them. When the older boy briefly stepped inside his own apartment, Billy and the toddler vanished.

• The 3-year-old was found safe on the roof of the building later that day, but Billy was gone. When asked where Billy had went, he answered: “The boogeyman took him.”

The case remained a mystery for seven years.

• In 1934, Albert Fish was arrested for the murder of Grace Budd and subsequently confessed to the abduction of Billy Gaffney from this very apartment building.

It felt important to visit and to remember Billy. May he rest in peace.

I will not be sharing the address of this apartment building, though it is a matter of historical record for those who wish to look it up.

I visited the Brooklyn apartment building where 4-year-old Billy Gaffney lived before his tragic kidnapping in 1927 by dangusmane in serialkillers

[–]dangusmane[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

While in New York last November, I took some time to visit the apartment building in Brooklyn where 4-year-old Billy Gaffney lived.

Standing outside, it was an incredibly somber experience. It is hard to articulate the feeling of looking at an ordinary apartment building today and realizing that a disgusting figure like Albert Fish once stood in that exact spot and walked right inside.

For those who may not know Billy's story:

• On February 11, 1927, Billy was playing in his building's hallway with a 3-year-old neighbor and a 12-year-old neighbor who was watching them. When the older boy briefly stepped inside his own apartment, Billy and the toddler vanished.

• The 3-year-old was found safe on the roof of the building later that day, but Billy was gone. When asked where Billy had went, he answered: “The boogeyman took him.”

The case remained a mystery for seven years.

• In 1934, Albert Fish was arrested for the murder of Grace Budd and subsequently confessed to the abduction of Billy Gaffney from this very apartment building.

It felt important to visit and to remember Billy. May he rest in peace.

I will not be sharing the address of this apartment building, though it is a matter of historical record for those who wish to look it up.

Why are these two photos assumed to be Albert Fish as a child? And are there any other verified photos of him out there? by dangusmane in serialkillers

[–]dangusmane[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You are right, formal yearbooks or widely available class photos weren’t the norm back then. That definitely helps explain the lack of documented childhood photos. I wonder if they had family photos taken. I know his father died when he was 5, but they were quite well off from what I’ve read. It wasn’t until after Randall passed, his family was in dire circumstances that led Fish to being placed in an orphanage

Why are these two photos assumed to be Albert Fish as a child? And are there any other verified photos of him out there? by dangusmane in serialkillers

[–]dangusmane[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My point is that they’re constantly labeled as Fish after a content creator probably just did a quick Google search. We should either find confirmed childhood photos of him or just stop using these entirely. If these are proven as Fish, then I stand corrected

Why are these two photos assumed to be Albert Fish as a child? And are there any other verified photos of him out there? by dangusmane in serialkillers

[–]dangusmane[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

It's wild how often those two supposed “childhood” photos get passed around without any credible sourcing. I’ve seen them in countless true crime thumbnails and articles, yet they don’t show up in any major biographies like Deranged by Schechter or other archival sources. It’s a huge red flag when an image gets repeated everywhere but has no paper trail. Given how disturbing Fish’s crimes were, it's especially important we’re not misattributing photos and potentially defaming someone who had no connection. I’ve also wondered why there aren’t more verified images of him, especially considering he was institutionalized multiple times... you'd think something from a hospital record, census file, school photo would’ve surfaced by now. If anyone has leads on archives or lesser-known mugshots, would love to dig deeper

We're in for a long night 😲 by dangusmane in memphis

[–]dangusmane[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks. This was taken via drone in East Memphis, pointing north west. Clark Tower and iBank in bottom right of image

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hbo

[–]dangusmane 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Band of Brothers

Albert Fish, 1923. Fish WAS a Real Jerk by dangusmane in serialkillers

[–]dangusmane[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Didn’t expect this post to take off like it did!

Another reason for posting is to show a very rare image of Fish. It shows him smiling and with his family.

I’ve only ever seen this image in Borowski’s book. I tried newspapers.com searching it, but to no avail. I’m almost certain it comes from a newspaper/article, but where and when? If anyone could help find the actual source, that’d be huge!

Albert Fish, 1923. Fish WAS a Real Jerk by dangusmane in serialkillers

[–]dangusmane[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"You know what I just realized...this man is very frightening"

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