3/21/06 (PMP) Not a Psychic, Part I
Welcome to the Project Jason Voice for the Missing blog. We're in the midst of a series called "Psychics and Missing People". (PMP) (story to follow this brief re-introduction for new readers)
The purpose of this series is to demonstrate to families of the missing the methods used by psychics and make better decisions about this. Understanding what goes on behind the scenes should decrease any guilt feelings for not accepting offers of "help" from these persons, whether it is fee-based or not. We want to lessen the pain already present in our every breath, and arm families with the information to defend themselves against these persons.
There is not one proven case in which a psychic, using special powers or abilities not given to the typical person, has located a missing person, whether dead or alive. It may be possible that some persons have an ability that defies science and logic, but there is no known scientific evidence of this. These persons re-victimize families by taking away hope where it should stand, and giving hope where there is none. No person has the right to do this to another.
This series will be presented each day Monday-Friday, until its completion, unless urgent matters or posts pre-empt it. All posts in the series will be noted in the title with “PMP”, which stands for “Psychics and Missing People.” This way, you can easily identify other posts in the series by looking to your right in the “Previous Posts” section.
I’d also like to warn our readers that some of the stories presented, including my own, contain graphic descriptions of violent acts which may be disturbing to you.
The series begins with this post:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/03/30606-pmp-introduction-to-psychics-and.html
For your convenience, each post contains a link to the next one at the bottom of the post. If you are joining us for the first time, click on the link above to begin, otherwise, please read on.
Not a Psychic, Part I
We had many leads coming in about Jason from each airing of the Montel Williams Show. Unfortunately, none of them panned out. Several leads were given anonymously, which breaks my heart because the police can never go back to those people and ask them more questions. All they can do is to make sure law enforcement (LE) in that area is sent his photo and information.
There were a couple of leads from kind-hearted persons whom I remember.
One woman was from WI, and she was quite sure that she had seen Jason watching a kid's hockey game. I spoke to her on the phone since she called me directly, and I ended up sharing additional photos and information with her to help with the identification process. A few weeks later, he came back to the place where the game was played, and she saw it was clearly not Jason.
Then there was one which made my heart leap with hope. I knew I had to contain myself, because if it turned out not to be him, the plummet to the bottom of the emotional floor would be a long and painful one. A woman from NJ claimed to have met "Jason" in a local gym. She said that he told her he was a D.J. and that he worked with kids on the side. He also called himself "J.J", which was Jason's DJ nickname. I spent the entire afternoon looking up radio stations in NJ, looking for this "J.J".
While I didn't find him, I did find something that I thought was just too much of a coincidence, and that was a popular DJ duo that used to work at the same radio station where Jason did his internship in radio broadcasting. They were in NJ, too. It was too good to be true. There were too many coincidences, but as with the woman from WI, upon seeing more photos and taking another look, we knew it was not our Jason. We went back to square one and day one, which meant we knew no more than we did on June 13th, 2001.
The story of the "Shovel Lady" (see my last post) took place in between these leads coming in. Her story did not bother me. She seemed like a harmless quack, and it was clear to me that she was deluded. Even so, in between dealing with her and the failed leads, emotions were at low ebb. I had fought for three years to get Jason some type of national media exposure, which is incredibly difficult in a missing adult male case. That episode aired three different times, but nothing came of it. I felt like I had failed my son again.
These were the predominate emotions coming into the day in which a simple voicemail message caused much grief.
I was at work and I called home to check for messages on the Project Jason line. There was one from a woman. She did not indicate what she wanted to talk about, but just left her name and phone number. Her name was Letitia F, from Alabama. I decided to call her on my cell phone because it was a long distance call, and I didn't want to do that on work phone lines. I much preferred not to call on my cell phone for privacy reasons, but if she was someone calling about a missing person, I didn't want her to wait. Time is so critical in these cases, especially in the beginning. I waited until my lunch break, and then I dialed the number.
To be continued.........
The disclaimer you see below will be included at the bottom of each new post. We must make it clear what we are not in the business of proving or disproving claims made by psychics or those who are convinced that it is ALL real and true. We exist to assist families of the missing.
We understand that many people believe that psychics are effective in solving crimes and finding missing people. Please keep in mind that the goal of this series is to help families understand techniques used by persons making these claims and make better decisions about the use of psychics.
Project Jason and its volunteers cannot act as a clearinghouse for persons claiming success in using paranormal means to locate missing persons. We will be unable to respond to emails or other correspondence sent to us from persons making these claims or persons offering information about or referrals to psychics.
We instead invite those persons to present their evidence to the members of the James Randi Educational Foundation. They have a forum available for you to discuss your claims.
http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7
I would like to thank the members of the James Randi Educational Foundation forum. Even though our beliefs differ, they welcomed me with open arms, treated me with respect and dignity, and went out of their way to help me with my research. The assistance and support they provided to me has been of great value and was also instrumental in bringing this series to you.
They invite you to come to the forum, register, and post. They will be happy to work with any persons making paranormal claims, and to answer any and all questions posed to them. Please note that if you are making a claim, you will be asked to show evidence that your success came about via paranormal means.
You may also be interested to know that the foundation offers a verifiable prize of one million dollars to anyone who is able to prove their claim. If interested, the members will guide you to the proper area to learn how you may apply for the challenge.
Jump to the next story:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/03/32206-pmp-not-psychic-part-ii.html
The purpose of this series is to demonstrate to families of the missing the methods used by psychics and make better decisions about this. Understanding what goes on behind the scenes should decrease any guilt feelings for not accepting offers of "help" from these persons, whether it is fee-based or not. We want to lessen the pain already present in our every breath, and arm families with the information to defend themselves against these persons.
There is not one proven case in which a psychic, using special powers or abilities not given to the typical person, has located a missing person, whether dead or alive. It may be possible that some persons have an ability that defies science and logic, but there is no known scientific evidence of this. These persons re-victimize families by taking away hope where it should stand, and giving hope where there is none. No person has the right to do this to another.
This series will be presented each day Monday-Friday, until its completion, unless urgent matters or posts pre-empt it. All posts in the series will be noted in the title with “PMP”, which stands for “Psychics and Missing People.” This way, you can easily identify other posts in the series by looking to your right in the “Previous Posts” section.
I’d also like to warn our readers that some of the stories presented, including my own, contain graphic descriptions of violent acts which may be disturbing to you.
The series begins with this post:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/03/30606-pmp-introduction-to-psychics-and.html
For your convenience, each post contains a link to the next one at the bottom of the post. If you are joining us for the first time, click on the link above to begin, otherwise, please read on.
Not a Psychic, Part I
We had many leads coming in about Jason from each airing of the Montel Williams Show. Unfortunately, none of them panned out. Several leads were given anonymously, which breaks my heart because the police can never go back to those people and ask them more questions. All they can do is to make sure law enforcement (LE) in that area is sent his photo and information.
There were a couple of leads from kind-hearted persons whom I remember.
One woman was from WI, and she was quite sure that she had seen Jason watching a kid's hockey game. I spoke to her on the phone since she called me directly, and I ended up sharing additional photos and information with her to help with the identification process. A few weeks later, he came back to the place where the game was played, and she saw it was clearly not Jason.
Then there was one which made my heart leap with hope. I knew I had to contain myself, because if it turned out not to be him, the plummet to the bottom of the emotional floor would be a long and painful one. A woman from NJ claimed to have met "Jason" in a local gym. She said that he told her he was a D.J. and that he worked with kids on the side. He also called himself "J.J", which was Jason's DJ nickname. I spent the entire afternoon looking up radio stations in NJ, looking for this "J.J".
While I didn't find him, I did find something that I thought was just too much of a coincidence, and that was a popular DJ duo that used to work at the same radio station where Jason did his internship in radio broadcasting. They were in NJ, too. It was too good to be true. There were too many coincidences, but as with the woman from WI, upon seeing more photos and taking another look, we knew it was not our Jason. We went back to square one and day one, which meant we knew no more than we did on June 13th, 2001.
The story of the "Shovel Lady" (see my last post) took place in between these leads coming in. Her story did not bother me. She seemed like a harmless quack, and it was clear to me that she was deluded. Even so, in between dealing with her and the failed leads, emotions were at low ebb. I had fought for three years to get Jason some type of national media exposure, which is incredibly difficult in a missing adult male case. That episode aired three different times, but nothing came of it. I felt like I had failed my son again.
These were the predominate emotions coming into the day in which a simple voicemail message caused much grief.
I was at work and I called home to check for messages on the Project Jason line. There was one from a woman. She did not indicate what she wanted to talk about, but just left her name and phone number. Her name was Letitia F, from Alabama. I decided to call her on my cell phone because it was a long distance call, and I didn't want to do that on work phone lines. I much preferred not to call on my cell phone for privacy reasons, but if she was someone calling about a missing person, I didn't want her to wait. Time is so critical in these cases, especially in the beginning. I waited until my lunch break, and then I dialed the number.
To be continued.........
The disclaimer you see below will be included at the bottom of each new post. We must make it clear what we are not in the business of proving or disproving claims made by psychics or those who are convinced that it is ALL real and true. We exist to assist families of the missing.
We understand that many people believe that psychics are effective in solving crimes and finding missing people. Please keep in mind that the goal of this series is to help families understand techniques used by persons making these claims and make better decisions about the use of psychics.
Project Jason and its volunteers cannot act as a clearinghouse for persons claiming success in using paranormal means to locate missing persons. We will be unable to respond to emails or other correspondence sent to us from persons making these claims or persons offering information about or referrals to psychics.
We instead invite those persons to present their evidence to the members of the James Randi Educational Foundation. They have a forum available for you to discuss your claims.
http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7
I would like to thank the members of the James Randi Educational Foundation forum. Even though our beliefs differ, they welcomed me with open arms, treated me with respect and dignity, and went out of their way to help me with my research. The assistance and support they provided to me has been of great value and was also instrumental in bringing this series to you.
They invite you to come to the forum, register, and post. They will be happy to work with any persons making paranormal claims, and to answer any and all questions posed to them. Please note that if you are making a claim, you will be asked to show evidence that your success came about via paranormal means.
You may also be interested to know that the foundation offers a verifiable prize of one million dollars to anyone who is able to prove their claim. If interested, the members will guide you to the proper area to learn how you may apply for the challenge.
Jump to the next story:
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2006/03/32206-pmp-not-psychic-part-ii.html
posted by Kelly Jolkowski at 12:30 AM
2 Comments:
Your original "psychic" http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1956.0
And if this is to be believed, she won't be scamming anyone else: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansascity/obituary.aspx?pid=164281625#fbLoggedOut
Thank you for letting us know about this. I believe it is her obit. Glad she won't be able to scam anyone else.
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