Psychics swoop down on missing 12 year old's case

[Juustin]

There is a missing 12 year old getting a lot of news coverage in upstate New York. I admit I haven't had much time to follow too closely, but in general, the details are:

-12 year old Jaliek Rainwalker was in several foster homes before his current parents adopted him.
-Adoptive father is being extremely uncooperative with police. Says that due to happenings the night he was last seen, he feels he's still alive but won't give anymore info. Former fosters families of the boy have banded together in the search effort, and say the adoptive father has been seen ripping down fliers for their vigils, etc.
-Though I don't believe the adoptive father is officially a suspect, the implications from a lot of people seem to find his actions suspiscious.

Anyway, last week there was a story on the news, that 2 local psychics had met up to compare notes on the case and decided to go forward and help the police out.

Here is the original story from January 4: http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S303648.shtml

They say they feel the boy has passed, that the person responsible didn't mean to do it but acted out of anger, and that the other children in the adoptive parents' house are in danger. (Clearly cashing in on the feelings a lot of the public are expressing).

Story from January 10, a quick update mentioning that police and FBI agents had gone searching for evidence with psychics:
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S309888.shtml

Not much info in the second article, except (no surprise here) the pyschics weren't able to find anything.

[RSL's better half]

Interesting story. Hope they find him soon. And I hope the "psychics" bow out and leave the family alone.

[ExMinister]

Interesting. With the way the foster (adoptive?) father is acting, it almost seems he might suspect the 12-year-old ran away. Time will tell, but I notice the psychics always seem to repeat whatever the prevailing theory seems to be when there is one. Hope the child is okay.

In my own former New Age circles, I've been trying to educate people not only on the facts about Sylvia Browne but on the harm these psychics can do, especially in missing persons cases. Yesterday I had a situation come up in my own family where one relative, who believes herself to be psychic, contacted my mother to share a "frightening" vision she thinks she's received about my niece. This had my mother and sister in tears and my mother scared to death - my mother because she believes in the possibility of psychic information, and my sister, who doesn't believe, because she had to listen to such a gruesome, detailed scenario about her little girl for an hour. She frequently has these visions and they are never good - worse, they're never accurate, even though she is always convinced she's right (even in the face of evidence to the contrary). I have learned to ignore them because talking to her does no good. But they cause so much needless worry for those who believe there might be something to them!

Maybe we need a web site devoted just to this - stories of people who have been given "psychic" readings that did nothing but scare the hell out of them and cause them needless worry and anguish. Similar to the stories Kelly has posted on her site, but covering all life situations. It wouldn't work on the "wall of harm" (mentioned in another thread) because there's no real tangible damage - just needless grief and information that only adds to the confusion in people's lives.

Like the psychics in this article, what gives them license to meddle in other's people's lives like that? And why do the news reporters publish what they say?! They might as well publish what the neighbors are saying for all its worth.

[Juustin]

Yeah. Part of what I found interesting is that one of the psychics met with the kid a few days before he went missing. So they obviously have some background info into the case as well, at least more than you'd normally assume.

I'll be sure to follow up with any updates.

[MaryCBW]

Any updates?

[Worm]

Nothing substantial it would appear:

The 'Find Jaliek Task Force' (set up by former carers)
http://www.findjaliek.org/

A recent post about Forest Rangers searching around the Battenkill river
http://accordingtokim.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/forest-rangers-help-search-for-jaliek/

[MaryCBW]

Worm:
Thanks. Wish there was good news.:(

[Gene L]

As a cop, I have to add that cops generally don't believe in psychics. I've never seen one who did.

However, if the family of the missing person insists, and only then, do the cops "ask" the physics for help. I've never heard of a case where this worked, however.

Psychics are not a law enforcement tool. However, if the family believes in their power, it's not a good thing to argue with them or deny the psychics access to limited information.

If a law enforcement agency does not, and the body is found later on, the psychics will tell the family they knew where to find it but the cops wouldn't listen. That's trouble no one wants.

Psychics will announce to all who will listen that they're "Working with police to find the missing person" and when the missing person is found eventually, they'll announce again, "I helped find the missing person" regardless of what actual help (none) they gave. This is their only way of gaining credibility, and it's as false as they are.

[sophia8]

Yesterday I had a situation come up in my own family where one relative, who believes herself to be psychic, contacted my mother to share a "frightening" vision she thinks she's received about my niece. This had my mother and sister in tears and my mother scared to death - my mother because she believes in the possibility of psychic information, and my sister, who doesn't believe, because she had to listen to such a gruesome, detailed scenario about her little girl for an hour. She frequently has these visions and they are never good - worse, they're never accurate, even though she is always convinced she's right (even in the face of evidence to the contrary). I have learned to ignore them because talking to her does no good. But they cause so much needless worry for those who believe there might be something to them!Your relative clearly has mental health problems - perhaps a desire for attention, or some sort of anxiety-related disorder that make her prone to imagine the worst.
Talk to your mother about this relative. Point out that none of her "visions" have turned out to be true, point out the pattern of her behaviour and get your mother to start wondering why this person seems to like worrying the family with these horrible ideas.
Don't tell your mother "She's a lunatic, don't listen to her!"; just get her to see how destructive and negative this person's behaviour is.