Sylvia Browne & James Van Praagh — Proven To Be Frauds Once Again
With the amazing discovery of Shawn Hornbeck very much alive after several years missing, comes a reminder of how fraudulent self-proclaimed “psychics” truly are. In this case, Sylvia Browne (a favorite guest of Montel Williams) and James Van Praagh (claims to be able to speak to the dead) were on record saying their special “powers” told them Hornbeck was dead. From James Randi’s website:
Back in February, 2003, “psychics” Sylvia Browne and James Van Praagh were consulted by the parents of missing 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck – Pam and Craig Akers. That young man just recently turned up – very much alive and well, in rather sharp disagreement with the prognostications of the humbug artists. The Hornbecks had talked February 11th with Sylvia Browne on the Montel Williams television show, where she informed them that Shawn was “no longer with us,” which means “dead.” She said his body was in a wooded area “about 20 miles southwest of Richwoods, Missouri.” She said it would be near two large, jagged boulders that “seem out of place in that area,” and she added that the bicycle he was riding when he disappeared, is in a dump “in another state.” As a result of Browne’s fruitless guess, intensive searches by hundreds of volunteers were conducted in the general area described by her, but naturally, with no success. Not even “jagged boulders” showed up, let alone the kid – until he was found and returned home on Friday, January 12th. He’d been gone for 1,559 days!
But there was more specific drivel from Browne, She said that Shawn had been taken by a “dark-skinned man, he wasn’t black – more like Hispanic.” She said the kidnaper had long, black hair worn in dreadlocks and was “really tall.” He was driving an older model blue sedan, she said, a car with fins like in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Chevrolets. All of this drivel was wrong, from the description of the man – he is not Hispanic nor dark-skinned, he’s Caucasian, he’s heavy and not tall – and his car was quite the opposite of Browne’s invented notions: it was a white pickup truck.
The Akers also appeared in television segments on “Beyond” with James Van Praagh, another equally accurate “psychic.” He led the search in an entirely different direction, suggesting that a person who worked in a railroad car plant was involved, and that the body “might” be concealed in a railway car. Again, totally wrong, in all respects. This fatuous guess-fest also led to numerous detailed searches, including a railroad yard – all a waste of time and money, at the expense of the frantic parents.
This is yet another glaring example of how these leeches eagerly fasten onto grieving and vulnerable persons, exploit them, and profit from their situation. And it won’t stop. Larry King and Montel Williams will continue to give the scam-artists time and publicity – BECAUSE THEY JUST DON’T CARE!
Montel Williams, who regularly allows Browne to appear on his show to perform pretty poorly executed cold reading techniques while claiming them to be psychic abilities, should be ashamed of giving her a regular platform on his show. However he’s chosen to stoop to embracing such scum and villainy and now is too cowardly to come forward (so far) in response to Browne’s 2003 appearance on his show presenting false claims. Both Browne’s and Van Praagh’s records are quite poor. Their predictions have historically been shown to be below statistical chance in regards to probability. They’re both frauds and con artists with absolutely no psychic abilities with egotism and avarice being the main motivations for their activities. There is evil in their hearts.
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