A psychic detective is someone who claims to solve crimes by using special abilities that are not explained by science. These abilities include seeing the past, getting information from objects, sending thoughts to others, using tools to find hidden things, seeing events from far away, and claiming to see spirits of people who were murdered. Some people who say they have these abilities claim to help police solve crimes. However, many police departments do not support these claims and have said that they do not believe psychics are reliable or helpful in solving cases.
Prominent cases
Many important police cases, especially those involving missing people, have drawn the attention of people who claim to have psychic abilities. In November 2004, a person who claimed to be a psychic named Sylvia Browne told the mother of a kidnapped girl named Amanda Berry, who had been missing for 19 months, "She's not alive, honey." Browne also said she had seen Berry's jacket in the garbage with "DNA on it." Berry's mother died two years later believing her daughter had been killed. Berry was found alive in May 2013 after being kidnapped by Ariel Castro, along with Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus. After Berry was found alive, Browne received criticism for incorrectly saying Berry was dead. Browne also became involved in the case of Shawn Hornbeck, who disappeared on October 6, 2002. Psychics became interested in the case after Hornbeck went missing. Browne appeared on a television show and gave the parents of Shawn Hornbeck a detailed description of the abductor and where Hornbeck could be found. When asked if Hornbeck was still alive, Browne said "No." Hornbeck was found alive more than four years later, but few of Browne's details were correct. Shawn Hornbeck's father, Craig Akers, said that Browne's statement was "one of the hardest things that we've ever had to hear," and that her incorrect information wasted valuable police time.
When Washington, D.C. intern Chandra Levy went missing on May 1, 2001, psychics from around the world gave tips about where her body might be found, such as in the basement of a Smithsonian storage building, in the Potomac River, or buried in the Nevada desert. None of these tips led to her body. More than a year after her disappearance, Levy's body was accidentally discovered by a man walking his dog in a remote part of Rock Creek Park.
After Elizabeth Smart disappeared on June 5, 2002, police received up to 9,000 tips from psychics and others who claimed to have visions or dreams. Responding to these tips took "many police hours," according to a police chief in Salt Lake City. However, Elizabeth Smart's father, Ed Smart, said the family did not receive any useful information from psychics. Smart was found by witnesses who recognized her abductor from a police photograph. No psychic was ever credited with finding Elizabeth Smart.
In the case of the Long Island serial killer, a psychic claimed the body would be found in a shallow grave near water and a sign with a "G" nearby. The claim was vague because the body was not in a shallow grave, water is common in Long Island, and no sign with a "G" was found. Despite this, the New York Post said, "Psychic Nailed it!" Skeptic and author Benjamin Radford wrote that it was surprising that the psychic's incorrect information was described as a success on over 70,000 websites.
A body was found in the United States by psychic Annette Martin. A man named Dennis Prado had gone missing from his apartment, and police could not locate him. With no other leads, a police officer contacted psychic detective Annette Martin. Prado had lived near a large forest covering 2,000 square miles. Martin was given a map and circled a small area about the size of two city blocks. She said Prado had struggled for breath, died, and his body would be found there. She described the path he took and where the body would be found. A search dog was used as Martin suggested, and the body was found covered in dirt at the location she indicated. The body had deteriorated, but there was no sign of an attack. It is believed Prado died of natural causes, as Martin had said. However, Joe Nickell, a writer for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, said he was "underwhelmed" after watching tapes of Martin at work. He noted that Martin asked many questions of the police officer, who gave her information that helped her. Nickell said Martin was likely sincere but that her abilities were not scientifically proven.
In August 2010, an Aboriginal elder named Cheryl Carroll-Lagerwey claimed to have seen the location of a missing child, Kiesha Abrahams, in her dream. Police were investigating the disappearance when Carroll-Lagerwey took them to a location where a dead body was found. However, the body belonged to an adult woman, not the missing child.
In Sydney, Australia, in 1996, a Belgian-born psychic named Phillipe Durant was asked by the fiancé of a missing woman, Paula Brown, to help find her. Durant told police where to look for the body. A lorry driver found the body less than two kilometers from the spot Durant had indicated in Port Botany, New South Wales. A police spokeswoman said, "Even though the body was discovered purely by chance, the speculation by a clairvoyant appears to have been uncannily accurate." Durant used a plumb bob and a grid map, along with some hair from the victim, to help locate the body.
In 2001, the body of Thomas Braun was found by an Aboriginal clairvoyant named Leanna Adams in Western Australia. Police had not been able to find the body at first. The Braun family contacted Adams, who lived in Perth. The family asked police to search based on Adams's directions, but police did not help. Adams traveled 3,600 kilometers to Alice Springs, a town in the Northern Territory, and took the family to a spot on a ridge west of the town, about 20 kilometers away. The remains were not immediately identified, but police later confirmed they were Braun's using DNA testing.
Noreen Renier claimed to have solved the murder of Kimberly McAndrew, who disappeared on August 12, 1989. Six years later, in October 1995, the Halifax Regional Police hired Renier to help. Renier gave the police three interviews, which were recorded and later reviewed by Gary P. Posner, founder of Tampa Bay Skeptics. Using psychometry, Renier claimed to channel the murder victim. Posner said Renier led the detectives on a "wild goose chase" because her clues were misleading, vague, or incoherent. Renier said the body would be found before Christmas 1995, calling it a "nice Christmas present for everybody." However, the body has never been found, and as of 2024, the Government of Nova Scotia still offers up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Kimberly's disappearance.
In 2023, Charlotte Sena was reported missing from a campground in Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County, New York. This led to a large search effort involving over 400 people, including teams from the New York State Police, New York
Official police responses
Many police departments worldwide have made official statements saying they do not consider psychics reliable or helpful in solving crimes.
In Australia, police have stated they generally do not accept help from psychics. This followed a TV show called Sensing Murder, where psychics tried to solve unsolved murders. Western Australian police have a rule that they will not contact psychics for help with investigations, but they may accept information given by psychics. An Australian federal police officer was suspended after seeking help from a clairvoyant about threats against a former prime minister. A police official said they do not support using psychics for security matters. Some psychics have claimed to be trained by Australian police, but they have not provided proof of their qualifications or skills as psychic profilers.
Although Australian police officially do not use psychics for investigations, one former detective said police sometimes do use them, even though they say they don’t. In New South Wales, police used a psychic named Debbie Malone on several cases. Her information did not solve murders or missing person cases alone, but it sometimes supported other theories. In one case, her input was included in a coroner’s report. Some officers said her descriptions were helpful, while others said she did not provide new information. Two officers said they had not seen a psychic claim to know where a body was buried and take them there.
New Zealand police said spiritual communications are not a reliable basis for investigations.
In 2006, 28 British police forces told a group called the Association for Rational Inquiry that they had never used psychics. One force said no cases had been solved using only information from a psychic. In 2009, the Metropolitan Police denied using psychics but made a vague statement when emails suggested they might have. They said they would not discuss the matter further.
A 1993 study of police departments in the 50 largest U.S. cities found that one-third had used predictions from psychic detectives in the past. However, only seven departments treated such information differently from regular clues. No department reported that psychics provided more useful information than other sources. A follow-up study of smaller U.S. cities found that police used psychics even less often than in large cities. A former FBI investigator said psychics might be used as a last resort to provide clues not allowed in court, such as details about a criminal’s character or the location of a body.
Scientific studies
Many tests have been done to check if psychics can help solve crimes. These tests used control groups to compare results. One early test was done in 1960 by a Dutch police officer named Filippus Brink. He studied psychics for a year but found no proof they could solve crimes. In 1982, another test gave clues from four crimes to three groups: psychic detectives, students, and police detectives. Two crimes had already been solved, and two had not. The study found no difference in the groups’ ability to identify the crimes from the clues. Some problems with the scientific methods used in these tests were noticed. A better test was done in 1997, which tried to improve the methods. This study had two groups: three students from the University of Hertfordshire and three psychics (two psychic detectives and one non-detective psychic with a media profile). Both groups were shown objects from three serious crimes and asked to share theories. Again, no difference in accuracy was found between the groups.
To check claims about psychics solving crimes, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (now called the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) formed a group of investigators. They found that psychics often failed to give useful information to police. They suggested psychics might use "retrofitting," which means making up details after the fact, or giving vague clues and later trying to match them to real details. Other issues included "cold reading" (guessing information while pretending to get it through psychic means), exaggeration, and using non-psychic sources of information.
In 2008, Ben Radford, editor of Skeptical Inquirer, challenged Alex Tsakiris, host of Skeptiko, to provide the strongest evidence of a psychic solving a crime. Tsakiris chose psychic Nancy Weber, who claimed in 2006 to help New Jersey police solve the 1982 murders of Amie Hoffman and Dierdre O'Brien. Police arrested James Koedatich in 1983, who was later convicted. Weber said she gave police information she could not have known. Radford spent nine months reviewing the case and re-interviewed the detectives and Weber. He found that the detectives had lost their notes and their story now disagreed with Weber’s. Radford also found that if Weber had given all the information she claimed, police could have found the killer in 20 minutes using a 1982 phone book. Radford believed the police and psychic were affected by "confirmation bias," but Tsakiris argued Radford misrepresented the evidence.
Critical commentary
In 2023, the podcast Worldwide: The Disappearance of the Thai Silk King released an episode discussing the risks of psychic detectives working on missing person cases. The episode focuses on Peter Hurkos and Sylvia Brown, explaining how psychics use methods to influence people and how their claims should be understood.
On August 17, 2011, ABC’s Nightline Beyond Belief program covered psychic detectives involved in the case of Ali Lowitzer. Often, in missing person cases, families are approached by people who claim they can help locate the missing person. Susan Lowitzer, whose daughter disappeared on April 26, 2010, said, “They told me, I see trees, water, dirt… but it is all very vague.” Retired FBI agent Brad Garrett said, “In 30 years…I have never seen a psychic solve a mystery.” Bob Nygaard, a retired police officer and private investigator who studies psychics, noted that no police officer he knew had worked with a psychic detective.
JREF investigator and mentalist Banachek believes psychic detectives often take advantage of families because they seek fame and money. He said, “They act like authorities, but they waste time and resources by leading police on false leads.” Psychic Georgia O’Conner claimed Ali was killed, tortured, and her body was dismembered. When asked by ABC’s JuJu Chang how she could share such information if she might be wrong, O’Conner said, “I can’t let my ego get in the way of what I see.” Despite these claims, Ali Lowitzer remains missing from her home in Spring, Texas.
No psychic detective has ever been officially recognized by the FBI or U.S. news media for solving a crime, preventing a crime, or finding a kidnapped person or body.
The Australian Institute of Criminology, Australia’s official crime research group, advises parents of missing children not to use psychics who contact them. Former FBI analyst Clint Van Zandt criticized psychic detectives, saying, “Psychics often use 20/20 hindsight after a case is solved to make their vague predictions seem accurate.” A 2010 study of Sylvia Browne’s predictions about 115 missing persons and murder cases found that, despite her claims of being correct more than 85% of the time, she was not correct in even one case.
Belief in psychic detectives
Psychologists, researchers, and other writers have suggested several reasons why some people believe psychics can give useful information about crimes. These reasons include confirmation bias (the tendency to notice information that supports what we already believe), wishful thinking (making choices based on what feels good instead of what is logical), and retrofitting (changing the details of a prediction after the facts are known). People sometimes reinterpret unclear statements made by psychics, a process called the "multiple out." Cold reading is a method that takes advantage of these thinking habits to create the appearance of knowing specific information. Police detectives and other writers also note that psychics may seem successful by making predictions that are likely, such as finding bodies near water or at dump sites.
Although police departments say they do not use psychics to solve crimes, they must check all tips that are serious enough to consider. If police do not deny this idea, many people may still believe that psychics are secretly working with law enforcement. If police say they do not use psychics, psychics often claim that the police are hiding the truth and not giving them credit for helping.
Finally, using psychics may help some people feel less anxious and meet emotional needs, especially when they are under a lot of stress.
In fiction
Psychic detectives appear in many types of stories, including horror, crime fiction, and other genres. One of the first known characters was Flaxman Low, created in 1897 by writers Kate and Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard, who used the names H. Heron and E. Heron. The stories were written for Pearson's Magazine by request of its owner, Cyril Pearson. The writers were surprised when Pearson promoted the tales as "real." Their stories were later published in a book titled The Experiences of Flaxman Low in 1899.
Other examples include Jules de Grandin (created by Seabury Quinn), Doctor Occult (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), and Agent Jasi McLellan (created by Cheryl Kaye Tardif).
The TV show Psych follows Shawn Spencer, a character who pretends to be a psychic detective but uses sharp observation, a strong memory, clear vision, and logical thinking to solve crimes. His claim to be psychic is a recurring joke in the series.
In Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently novels, the main character, Dirk Gently, sometimes appears to have psychic abilities. One story describes him trying to trick classmates by claiming he used psychic powers to get exam answers. To his surprise, the answers he gave were correct, leading to his expulsion from school.
Peter F. Hamilton wrote a series about Greg Mandel, a former soldier and psychic. Greg was part of an elite military unit called the Mindstar Brigade in the "English Army." He fought in a war in Turkey and helped end a rebellion in his home country. After retiring, he was asked to help a wealthy woman find the cause of industrial spying against her company, Event Horizon. The series explores Greg's psychic abilities, other psychics from the Mindstar Programme, and themes like social change, global warming, and scientific progress. Greg uses his powers for interrogation and as a tool for combat.
In The Simpsons episode "Bart the Murderer," a psychic helps search for Principal Skinner. In South Park's "Cartman's Incredible Gift," the show presents a critical view of psychic detectives.
The anime YuYu Hakusho features a teenage boy who works as a Spirit Detective, using psychic powers to fight demons. In the game Disco Elysium, the character Harrier Dubois has skills like visual calculus, which can help reconstruct crime scenes.