CRYSTAL BEACH, Fla. - Author MF Gross discovered the story of the 1949 Crystal Beach murder while flipping through an old book. When he read eyewitness descriptions of what happened, he was captivated.

What they're saying:

"(They said) don't go out at night, stay away from the woods, Rastus comes out at night."

Rastus was the childhood nickname given to John Calvin Russell, a Thonotosassa boy who became a small-time thief, going in and out of mental institutions and sometimes jail.

There's a reason he made such a splash in Crystal Beach.

"This looks much like in 1949," Gross said. "Even the houses here are mostly from that era. So it's still one of the places in Florida where you get that old Florida feel."

That's why Gross still lives in Crystal Beach.

"I actually went through an

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