FALSE HOPE: PSYCHIC DETECTIVES AND THE BEREAVED

By Emma-Louise Rhodes

There has been a great deal written about psychic detectives and their alleged ‘ability’ to find missing persons, identify exact murder scenes and track down suspects. However, a particular incident was brought to my attention recently via an email I received from a venue that had been approached by a ‘TV Psychic Medium’ who had been called to their local area to track down a missing person. In the process he had decided to try and lucratively hold an ‘Evening of Clairvoyance’ at the town’s largest theatre.

Claims from psychic detectives in connection to crimes have increased in recent years - possibly prompted by a trend to portray them in popular US TV dramas. There are many ways in which mediums purport to contact those who have been murdered or visualise crime scenes. These involve communication through their ‘spirit guide’, retrocognition (where the psychic literally ‘looks into the past’ and pictures what has taken place) and psychometry (where information is supposedly obtained by the handling of an object belonging to the person in question).

However, whatever means used by the psychic, it appears that, in most circumstances, they or their management make sure that the ‘help’ given does not go unpublicised, as was very obviously the case with the ‘TV Psychic Medium’ and missing person that was brought to my attention.

PLAYING THE MEDIA

The email from the medium’s agent stated that the family of the missing woman were ‘very keen to get much publicity to highlight the case and bring closure’ and the psychic was, therefore, eager to perform a public demonstration of his mediumship. However, after nominal research I discovered that the investigation had, in fact, run for several years in the local newspapers and received an immense amount of publicity. With this in mind, the email contradicted itself somewhat, as it continued:

‘There is alot (sic) of media interest in this that
will be out in the local papers, radio and TV
over the next couple of weeks, so I was hoping
to put this night on at the end of May this year.’

Although the terms of the show were not mentioned in the correspondence, the medium in question was obviously hoping to fill the venue and secure a profitable night’s work.

Unlike the many ‘celebrity mediums’ who appoint themselves with such titles, this particular psychic had, indeed, enjoyed some international media coverage in the past, along with a certain amount of criticism from sceptics. According to the email, the psychic detective was ‘traveling down … to meet with the family and help them to find there Daughter.’ (sic)

The management of the venue approached, had immediately sent back an email informing the agent that, regrettably, they did not want such an evening to be held at the theatre. They later informed me, when forwarding the initial agent’s email, that:

‘Regardless of the fact that the evening would
have been financially beneficial to our
establishment, we would not tolerate such
obvious manipulation of both the missing
woman’s family and the media circus which
will ensue. The intention of both the psychic
and the agent was very clear and, in our view,
it was not to help the grieving relatives.’

Just as the agent had ‘predicted’, the subsequent three weeks yielded the local newspaper headlines: ‘MISSING WOMAN: PSYCHIC CALLED IN’, ‘PSYCHIC MAY FIND BODY’ and ‘PSYCHIC “CAN LEAD POLICE TO BODY”, accompanied by a publicity shot of the medium in question. Local television stations also featured the story, interviewing the celebrity medium and grieving family.

A final newspaper report claimed that the family of the missing woman had decided to consult the medium in a ‘last ditch’ attempt to solve the mystery of their daughter’s disappearance. After the sitting, the psychic detective assured the family that:

‘I believe without doubt that (the missing
woman) is in the spirit world and she has
made contact with me.’

The medium was given apparent images of the place the police needed to search and accompanied the family to the spot – a vast area of wasteland. In its conclusion, the newspaper report summed up the findings, along with the mediums visit, with the following affirmation:

‘The psychic detective said he will keep
in touch with the family but his job is
done.’

One would assume by this that the press failed to see the very irony of the statement in terms of the fact that ‘his job’ had merely been shrewd publicity at the expense of an anguished family. Unfortunately, for him, he failed to profit as much as he would have liked from the spin-off ‘Evening of Clairvoyance’.

Research shows that there has been no police investigation at the wasteland cited by the medium and the case still remains unsolved.

MANIPULATION OF THE NEEDY?

The astounding fact in the ‘phenomena’ surrounding psychic detectives is the reality that most mediums who involve themselves are primarily searching for self-promotion. A recent article by Jon Donnis of Bad Psychics (.1.) illustrated this in regard to the Madeleine McCann case. Although numerous psychics had contacted the media, sending their predictions in the form of press releases, Bad Psychics stated that :

‘NO psychic has been able to find Madeleine,
or offer the police any help whatsoever …’

The article also criticised the mediums involved for unashamed ‘ …self promotion off the back of a very sensitive case’, adding:

‘We don't give these frauds the benefit of the
doubt because they do not deserve it. They
are self proclaimed unproven Acorah
wannabes, people who go to every audition
for a psychic on TV, trust me I know I have
seen them.’

‘Goldy’, the medium targeted in the article, had previously attacked Bad Psychics asking:

‘ …why do skeptics not give psychics the
benefit of the doubt before they jump on the so
called band wagon so they could in turn say 'told
you so’! … whilst its (sic) healthy being a
skeptic its (sic) sick knocking others for doing
something they believe in …’

Strong words regarding a contentious and delicate issue.

In her book Second Sight, psychic medium Sharon Neill lists the copious times she has helped the bereaved to track missing loved ones or bring closure to an unsolved case. She writes that:

‘One case involved a murder and I was able
to tell the detectives about a footprint
which they had missed on the window sill
at the back of the property. This helped
bring the killer to justice.’

Somewhat arrogantly, after other abundant revelations regarding her involvement as a psychic detective, Neill states that the police deny any contribution by a medium that may help them in their investigations.

‘Unfortunately, the police forces in the UK
won’t admit that they use psychics to help
them solve crimes.’

UK POLICE AND THE STATISTICS

In 2006, Eddie Silence researched the claims of psychic detectives aiding the police, in his article The Police and Psychics for Uk-Skeptics. (.2.) Silence sent a letter to countless British police forces, asking when and to what public cost psychics had been deployed and, if they had, whether the input was useful.

Although not all forces responded, Silence concluded that:

‘ … there were enough responses to draw
the conclusion that police forces do not use
psychics.’

The Police and Psychics lists twenty-seven letters from police constabularies across England, Scotland and Wales. The findings are incredibly interesting and the statements issued by police officers are indicative of the British police force’s view of psychic detectives.

A letter from David Mirfield, Head of West Midlands Police Major Investigation Unit (MIU) stated:

‘I have personally received letters on an
unsolicited basis from individuals claiming to
have information; often these are of little if
any value and will not be acted upon. They
can often be misleading and inconsistent with
the facts.’

Detective Superintendent Ken Lawrence of Warwickshire Police noted of psychics:

‘I would not advocate using them. The police
deal in factual evidence admissible in a Court
of Law and all such evidence must be tangible
and credible.’

Kent Police Force, represented by Detective Chief Superintendent Kevin Turner, responded that:

‘I have never found a person claiming to have
psychic abilities to have been of benefit to an
investigation.’

Other letters received by Eddie Silence regarded the use of psychic detectives in much the same way. Only one, from the Metropolitan Police, cited a historical case, relating to the disappearance of Thomas Alfred Marks in 1965 and directed the researcher to the records relating to the case at the National Archives at Kew.

A similar investigation was carried out by the Skeptic Express (3.), also in 2006, surveying fifty-two police forces in the UK and asking the question: ‘Has the force ever used psychics in the course of an investigation?’ The survey produced answers from fifty of the forces questioned – 96% (48) of them stating ‘No’ and 4% (2) ‘No information held’. Regardless of the fact that psychic detectives, such as Neill, declare that they have assisted police in their investigations, no substantial evidence exists to support these facts and mediums have to resort to cover-up conspiracies to justify their claims.

The medium who was so intent on exploiting his moment in the limelight by staging an ‘Evening of Clairvoyance’, also asserts to have an extensive CV of aiding the police in high profile murder cases. Yet, it seems, his ‘efforts’ have been in vain in terms of recognition by the forces he has apparently worked with. Despite the claims of mediums, the above statistics point to the fact that the only statements released to the press regarding the involvement of psychic detectives are distributed solely by them and not legitimate sources in direct contact with the investigations.

REFERENCES

(1.) Donnis, Jon, Exposed Psychic ‘Goldy’ Attacks Sceptics Over Madeleine McCann Psychic Whores, 8 August, 2007 - www.badpsychics.com

(2.) Silence, Eddie, The Police and Psychics, UK-Skeptics, 2006 - www.skeptics.org.uk

(3.) UK Police and the Use of Psychics, The Skeptic Express, July, 2006 - www.theskepticexpress.com

Neill, Sharon, Second Sight, Orion, 2007.