# Has a "Psychic" Ever Solved a Criminal Case?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-psychic-ever-solved-a-criminal-case/239947>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 14, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-psychic-ever-solved-a-criminal-case/239947 "2004-04-14T12:34:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-psychic-ever-solved-a-criminal-case/239947/1 "2004-04-14T12:34:06Z")

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I caught the tail end of a show on the HISTORY CHANNEL last night-it concerned the disappearance of a coast guard officer . He vanished after being seen at a New London CT bar. The local police investigated; after 6 months there were NO clues. The DA called in a psychic, who proceeded to identify places where the missing officer had been. Finally, she pinpointed a spot , off the local pier-divers then found the man’s body inside his car.  
Now, the way the show was presented made me highly suspicious-they only showed the “good” information…but it made me wonder…yopu read about baffled police departments consulting “psychics”-is there ACTUALLY any documented cases where such a person has solved a crime?  
I am reminded of the very embarrassing episode in the “Boston Strangler” case of the 1960’s-a Dutch psychic (Peter Hurkos) was calledin, and he generated NO useful leads for the policeinvestigators.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-psychic-ever-solved-a-criminal-case/239947/2 "2004-04-14T14:07:51Z")

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[No.](http://skepdic.com/psychdet.html)